Let’s Get Back to the Basics at JTA

[Ken_FSU]

The more I read about JTA's current position, the more it reminds me of Jacksonville's pension crisis, which as a reminder, is still costing taxpayers more than $200 million a year to correct (more than parks, public works, and libraries combined).

Exact same progression for both:
1. We build a house on a foundation of overly optimistic financial assumptions and best-case revenue projections, making long-term spending commitments look way more affordable and bulletproof than they really are
2. Warning signs and underlying costs accumulate and grow over time, without anyone stopping to really notice
3. The true scale of the problem becomes clear and public only after very few painless options exist to course-correct.
4. Jacksonville is forced into major corrective action to restore financial stability, spending years paying down yesterday's costs while crippling the city's ability to move forward into the future.

You'd hope, at some point, we'd learn a lesson from all of this.

[jaxlongtimer]

Another revelation about a significant NAVI proponent being let go:

Senior leadership roles are among the positions slated for elimination. JTA Senior Vice President Greer Gillis, who advocated for the NAVI, is on the layoff list.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/jacksonville-transportation-authority-layoff-list-reveals-administrative-positions-that-will-be-cut/OZWM52BMP5BWFCRYMWKXDCKTWA/?tbref=hp

[thelakelander]

Clay County wants no more of JTA:

The Clay County Board of County Commissioners also voted Wednesday to terminate a funding agreement with JTA. The decision could affect Clay County's community transportation program, a public shuttle bus service.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2026/09/23/jta-board-approves-30-million-gas-tax-agreement-amid-39-million-budget-shortfall/

[fsu813]

^ by canceling their agreement first, I believe they are hoping to renegotiate.

[CityLife]

Under an agreement with the city of Jacksonville, JTA can use $30 million they've already received in local gas tax, to pay down a loan and severance packages. A JTA Spokesperson says they have 10 years to pay the money back. The funding will help the agency meet its debt obligations.

Easy fix. Sell the Autonomous Innovation Center and Sprinter Vans and call it a day. The AIC cost $41 million to build. Some of that is technology inside the building, but the building itself has to have substantial value. Lakelander has already said the building was designed to be able to be retrofitted for other uses.

Also, maybe it has already been done or is still in the process, but JTA and potentially COJ should have attorneys conduct a comprehensive review of the U2C contracts, procurement documents, consultant reports, public presentations, press releases and meeting records. Did Balfour Beatty or any of JTA's other consultants and contractors make material representations about the technology's capabilities, schedule, costs or deliverables that proved inaccurate, or fail to satisfy contractual obligations?

Now that Ford is leaving, the gloves should come off here.

[Charles Hunter]

Under an agreement with the city of Jacksonville, JTA can use $30 million they've already received in local gas tax, to pay down a loan and severance packages. A JTA Spokesperson says they have 10 years to pay the money back. The funding will help the agency meet its debt obligations.

Easy fix. Sell the Autonomous Innovation Center and Sprinter Vans and call it a day. The AIC cost $41 million to build. Some of that is technology inside the building, but the building itself has to have substantial value. Lakelander has already said the building was designed to be able to be retrofitted for other uses.

Also, maybe it has already been done or is still in the process, but JTA and potentially COJ should have attorneys conduct a comprehensive review of the U2C contracts, procurement documents, consultant reports, public presentations, press releases and meeting records. Did Balfour Beatty or any of JTA's other consultants and contractors make material representations about the technology's capabilities, schedule, costs or deliverables that proved inaccurate, or fail to satisfy contractual obligations?

Now that Ford is leaving, the gloves should come off here.

I'm not sure how much selling the AIC and vans would net, after JTA reimburses the USDOT for their share of the cost. What was the Fed's percentage on this?

[Charles Hunter]

I saw this on Facebook. All good points.

Katrina Brown
13 minutes ago  ·
🚨 MY VIEWPOINT: ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE JTA BOARD
I'm going to make this one short this morning.
We've talked about former CEO Nat Ford. We've talked about the executives. We've talked about the $39 million budget shortfall.
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE JTA BOARD.
The JTA Board has tremendous responsibility for the leadership and direction of this agency.
And according to my sources, board members knew JTA was facing serious financial problems.
My sources believe that's why the board wanted an INTERNAL interim CEO instead of bringing somebody independent in from the outside.
That allegation needs to be investigated.
What we can document is that the board voted to consider only internal candidates for interim CEO. It ultimately unanimously selected Cleveland Ferguson III, who had been with JTA since 2015 and had served as executive vice president and chief administrative officer for three years.
So here's my question:
WHAT DID THE BOARD KNOW WHEN IT MADE THAT DECISION,  AND WHEN DID THEY KNOW IT?
Because this financial situation didn't develop overnight.
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW THE EMPLOYEES WERE TREATED.
According to my sources, employees were called into a room and blindsided with the news that their positions were being eliminated.
That account is consistent with public reporting from at least one former employee, who said workers were called to the boardroom, given severance packets and had their IDs taken.
But my sources are telling me something even more troubling that I believe Councilman Ron Salem needs to investigate.
According to my sources, some employees were eligible to retire, but were not given the opportunity to simply retire out. Instead, they were required to take the severance package or lose their jobs.
And then my sources tell me there was an exception.
According to my sources, ONE EXECUTIVE was allowed to retire and allegedly walked away with an estimated $100,000.
I have not independently verified that $100,000 figure, so I'm putting the allegation exactly where it belongs:
According to my sources.
But if that's true, Councilman Salem, we need answers.
Why was that executive allegedly treated differently?
Who was the executive?
What exactly did the approximately $100,000 consist of , retirement benefits, severance, accumulated leave, another payment, or some combination?
Who authorized it?
And why weren't other retirement-eligible employees allegedly given the same opportunity?
THAT'S WHAT I WANT INVESTIGATED.
AND HERE'S ANOTHER BIG QUESTION:
HOW LONG HAD THIS LAYOFF AND RESTRUCTURING PLAN BEEN IN THE WORKS?
You don't identify dozens of positions, restructure departments, cut contracts, prepare severance packages and plan major service reductions overnight.
JTA publicly announced that it would eliminate 44 administrative positions and potentially as many as 150 operational positions while addressing its $39 million budget gap.
So I want the timeline.
When did planning start?
Who participated in the planning?
When was the board first briefed?
When was the layoff list created?
Who approved the names on that list?
What did Nat Ford know?
What did Cleveland Ferguson know?
And what did each JTA board member know?
AND MAYOR DONNA DEEGAN,  I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU TOO.
Please stop taking up for your JTA board appointees and start demanding answers from them.
Your administration has said the JTA Board didn't know how serious the financial crisis was until they were brought up to speed.
According to my sources, that is NOT the whole story.
Because according to my sources, the board knew there were serious financial problems before the public understood the extent of what was happening.
That allegation deserves a real examination of emails, meeting records, financial reports, executive communications and the timeline leading up to these cuts.
And remember: when the board was selecting an interim CEO in August, the financial problems weren't completely hidden from public view. Contemporary reporting said JTA was already dealing with budget deficits, previous layoffs and furloughs, and board members themselves were discussing the need for fiscal responsibility.
So Jacksonville, don't just:
FOLLOW THE MONEY.
🔥 FOLLOW THE TIMELINE.
Because the timeline may tell us WHO KNEW WHAT?  AND WHEN THEY KNEW IT.
And most importantly, let's find out whether the people at the top were treated differently from the employees who were shown the door.
Councilman Ron Salem, I hope you call for a FULL INVESTIGATION.
Jacksonville taxpayers,  and those employees,  deserve answers.
🔥 AND AS THE WORLD TURNS AT JTA... STAY TUNED.
Behind the Sauce Media will provide additional information soon.
Katrina Brown

[vicupstate]

The more I read about JTA's current position, the more it reminds me of Jacksonville's pension crisis, which as a reminder, is still costing taxpayers more than $200 million a year to correct (more than parks, public works, and libraries combined).

Exact same progression for both:
1. We build a house on a foundation of overly optimistic financial assumptions and best-case revenue projections, making long-term spending commitments look way more affordable and bulletproof than they really are
2. Warning signs and underlying costs accumulate and grow over time, without anyone stopping to really notice
3. The true scale of the problem becomes clear and public only after very few painless options exist to course-correct.
4. Jacksonville is forced into major corrective action to restore financial stability, spending years paying down yesterday's costs while crippling the city's ability to move forward into the future.

You'd hope, at some point, we'd learn a lesson from all of this.

Probably the smartest thing I will read today, maybe all week.

Changing mayor's every 4-8 years doesn't help with maintaining institutional memory of these debacles, I would add.   

[CityLife]

Under an agreement with the city of Jacksonville, JTA can use $30 million they've already received in local gas tax, to pay down a loan and severance packages. A JTA Spokesperson says they have 10 years to pay the money back. The funding will help the agency meet its debt obligations.

Easy fix. Sell the Autonomous Innovation Center and Sprinter Vans and call it a day. The AIC cost $41 million to build. Some of that is technology inside the building, but the building itself has to have substantial value. Lakelander has already said the building was designed to be able to be retrofitted for other uses.

Also, maybe it has already been done or is still in the process, but JTA and potentially COJ should have attorneys conduct a comprehensive review of the U2C contracts, procurement documents, consultant reports, public presentations, press releases and meeting records. Did Balfour Beatty or any of JTA's other consultants and contractors make material representations about the technology's capabilities, schedule, costs or deliverables that proved inaccurate, or fail to satisfy contractual obligations?

Now that Ford is leaving, the gloves should come off here.

I'm not sure how much selling the AIC and vans would net, after JTA reimburses the USDOT for their share of the cost. What was the Fed's percentage on this?

True. I believe NAVI and AIC were both part of Phase 1 of the project. Looks like JTA used $12.5 million of a US DOT BUILD grant for it and $13 million of state money. The remaining $40 million came from JTA/local sources.

You are right that the grant obligations may complicate disposing of those "assets".

Similarly, what are JTA's obligations to try to keep NAVI and the AIC operational? If NAVI is shut down, what exactly happens to the Autonomous Innovation Center? Does it basically become Discovery One at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a vacant ship packed with advanced technology but with no mission left to perform? How long will the AIC be floating in outer space with no use to the public?

[Todd_Parker]

what exactly happens to the Autonomous Innovation Center?

Use the AIC to display the artist renderings from every failed and value-engineered project in Jacksonville's history. Include a section on every development "study" that was conducted and then never put into action. Maybe a special Mooneyhan wing?

[fsu813]

^ it would make a great gas station/brewery combo

[thelakelander]

The Feds didn't put much into NAVI because they never believed in it. The AIC can be converted into a million different uses. We made sure that building design and cost would not equate to being a complete waste of money. JTA was hell spent on burning through public money for its construction.

We were not going to stop the foolishness without local political and support, but also knew NAVI would fail.

So that building can be anything from additional space at UF, a brewery, bakery, to F&B or a multi-tenant mixed use structure helping connect LaVilla to the retail environment in Brooklyn.

[vicupstate]

what exactly happens to the Autonomous Innovation Center?

Use the AIC to display the artist renderings from every failed and value-engineered project in Jacksonville's history. Include a section on every development "study" that was conducted and then never put into action. Maybe a special Mooneyhan wing?

You would need a building bigger than the Pentagon to do that.

[marcuscnelson]

Another update: The Skyway Social event has been canceled, as JTA will not have operational trains available on Saturday October 3rd. It's unclear if this means trains will still continue running the remainder of the month.

https://www.news4jax.com/community/2026/09/24/skyway-social-event-canceled-amid-jtas-39-million-budget-shortfall/

[Ken_FSU]

Another update: The Skyway Social event has been canceled, as JTA will not have operational trains available on Saturday October 3rd. It's unclear if this means trains will still continue running the remainder of the month.

https://www.news4jax.com/community/2026/09/24/skyway-social-event-canceled-amid-jtas-39-million-budget-shortfall/

It is so wildly depressing that the Skyway got dragged down with NAVI.