Suburban representatives on the DART Board fought against hiring Nathaniel Ford as the agency’s next CEO. Two months later, with Ford set to officially begin Monday and facing a subpoena in Florida, some board members’ concerns remain.

The DART Board approved “Candidate A” from a pool of three candidates on July 14 in a 9-6 vote largely divided along suburban/urban lines, as representatives questioned a process The Dallas Morning News editorial board ultimately described as “bungled.” Members from Irving, Plano, Farmers Branch, Garland and Carrollton joined Dallas director Patrick Kennedy in opposing the selection.

“Time is needed to do due diligence on the fact that every single agency that the candidate has left from has left under a cloud of spending controversies,” Farmers Branch and Plano’s Nathan Barbera said. “And I just simply do not want that to happen to DART in two years from now.”

Ford is currently under investigation in Florida, where he most recently led the financially beleaguered Jacksonville Transit Authority. On Sept. 28, JAX Today reported that the JTA was being subpoenaed amid an ongoing spending probe, with state investigators demanding, among other things, communications involving Nathaniel Ford and his wife, who has worked for a consulting firm that was involved in the development of Silver Line, DART’s most recent major rail addition.

Sign up for the This Week’s Top Stories newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox

THANK YOU!

You’re all set.

CLOSE

“Broken Process”

One week after the initial vote, Ford was named the finalist and later confirmed as the agency’s next CEO, with many of the same suburban representatives opposing the decision, although Kennedy and Barbara were absent from the vote. Suburban members described the hire as rushed, asking for a delay to work through their concerns but ultimately being shut down by a Dallas-led majority of the board, which is currently apportioned by population.  

“I will respect the process that basically the decision was made for an up-or-down vote,” former Irving Mayor and current board representative Rick Stopfer said. “But having said that, there are a couple of things I still have concerns about. So, not having the time to air those out anymore, I’ll respect the will of the chair and the board… But because of that, I’ll be voting against it.”

Carrollton’s Doug Hrbacek and other suburban representatives were less generous in their remarks, saying Ford’s past had been dotted with “red flags” and that he was “certainly disappointed” that the decision was being made without a chance to address his concerns, including the contract. He will receive an annual base pay of $515,000, a lump relocation sum of $80,000 and a $1,000 monthly executive stipend. 

“The numbers, the terms, the language in the contracts are not anything I’m comfortable with at all,” Hrbacek said. “We had a chance, and what we’ve been trying to do here is address some of the concerns of our constituents with some of the language in the contract. And that’s not gonna happen, so certainly disappointed in that.”

Plano’s Anthony Ricciardelli said he would be compensated more than Dallas’ city manager and that he could not vote for Ford because of it. 

DART Board Chair Randall Bryant defended the salary, saying it matched what other candidates received, and added that the board had multiple opportunities to interview and vet candidates over a months-long process. Some suburban directors previously said Ford had withdrawn from the candidate pool early, only to be named a finalist four days before they were asked to name their preferred pick. DART staff confirmed the timeline, although Bryant previously said the board had been given opportunities to interview Ford virtually before his hiring.

Before confirming Ford, Garland, Glenn Heights and Rowlett director Mark Enoch said he shared Ricciardelli’s compensation concerns but added that the process had been fair.

“Nobody has denied the opportunity to speak,” Enoch said. “It’s just that the people who had, in my judgment, criticisms did not win the day.”

When asked about recent headlines regarding the incoming CEO at a meeting of the Dallas City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Tuesday, Bryant stood by Ford and said he did not want to use his time at the podium to “get into a battle with the attorney general of Florida.”

“We have made our decision based upon what we knew at the time and what we know now,” Bryant said. “There is no belief on the part of the board that we should change that decision.”

On Tuesday, the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee also announced it had subpoenaed Ford to appear before it to answer questions about JTA performance, according to local reporting. In an emailed statement sent to the Observer, Hrbacek doubled down on his criticisms.

“Many red flags were uncovered during this broken process, and not just in Jacksonville,” he wrote. “The investigation in Florida raises even more serious concerns.”

Mending bridges

In addition to his time at JTA, Ford has prior transit leadership experience in Atlanta, San Francisco and New York City, according to his LinkedIn. At the time of the announcement, Bryant hailed the longtime executive as a hire that would bring “decades of executive leadership in public transportation, a proven record of organizational transformation, and a deep understanding that transit is about much more than buses and trains,” in a release.

He piloted the agency through major projects, including rolling out an automated transit loop at the JTA, and arrived in Dallas with high praise from Jacksonville’s current mayor and other city officials. But behind him, Ford leaves an agency facing a nearly $40 million budget shortfall and a flurry of bubbling controversies over the agency’s finances, which one Jacksonville council member recently told a local outlet pointed to a “death spiral.” These include high spending by other agency executives, overprojections, and questionable reporting practices. The Downtown Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation service, the aforementioned project shepherded by Ford, is also at the center of concern amid high costs, low ridership and technical issues. 

In a LinkedIn post reported on by D Magazine, Ford appeared to back the investment in the system. 

“Today, autonomous mobility represents the next great transformation,” he posted. “Like those before it, success will depend not only on technology, but on visionary leadership, thoughtful policy, public trust, and the courage to invest in the future.” 

Like other Dallas representatives, Bryant has repeatedly dismissed concerns about Ford’s past and said questions facing the candidate were answered during multiple rounds of board inquiries. Cockrell Hill and Dallas Director Enrique MacGregor said “These so-called red flags are not red flags,” and that “there’s a rational explanation for each of them,” before the final approval.

Jeff Bass, Garland’s representative on the board, did not address the issues in Jacksonville directly on a phone call, but he did question whether he was right for the agency at a pivotal time.

“What I was looking for in new leadership is someone to repair the relationships, repair relationships with the riders, repair relationships with the member cities, repair relationships with DART staff, repair the relationship with the board, all of those things,” Bass said. “Nat Ford has a long history in transportation, and he’ll even tell you he’s an innovator. Well, I don’t know if that’s what DART needs right now.”

Like Ford, the agency has also navigated its fair share of rocky waters of late. From 2025 to early 2026, six suburban member cities called withdrawal elections amid longstanding concerns over service equity and representation. Half were called off before Election Day, with only Addison, Highland Park and University Park ultimately putting it to a vote. Highland Park voters were the only of the three to approve an exit, bringing the agency’s membership to 12 cities.

Bass said the board “hamstrung” itself at several points, including by not considering splitting the position into two separate roles, a move other board members criticized as ultimately costing more than a combined President and CEO. He also said the search should not have been restricted to transit leaders only, likening it to how Fortune 500 companies operate. “No one would be surprised if you heard that T-Mobile was getting their new CEO from Starbucks, right?” Bass said.

He added that progress has been made in mending bridges with member cities under interim CEO David Leininger’s leadership. He also credited Bryant with reshaping the narrative around the agency. The chair played an integral role in negotiations with cities like Plano and Irving to sign agreements that staved off painful exit votes.

“They’ve done a lot to repair the relationships with the suburbs,” Bass said. “When Nat comes in, I don’t want to go backward. I want to continue on the path we’re on. But no, I think we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”

In defending the process at a press conference after the hire, Bryant noted that Ford had met with city managers and mayors throughout the system, something former CEO Nadine Lee hadn’t done before she was hired. 

“Now it’s time for us all to move forward together, not as 12 separate cities, not as some board members here and others there, not as Dallas versus suburbs or vice versa, but as one regional transit system,” Bryant said.

‘Just one person’

One of the officials Ford met with is Addison Mayor Bruce Arfsten. He was among the two lonely votes opposing the Addison Town Council’s decision to call an exit vote earlier this year, although he has called for reforms at the agency. In an interview with the Observer, Arfsten said Ford struck a different tone from past conversations with DART top brass, as has Bryant in his efforts to hold the system together, he added.

“There definitely seems to be a willingness and an understanding of the importance of listening and being more responsive to the member cities,” Arfsten said.

He highlighted moves DART leadership is pushing that suburban politicians have long called for, such as public safety improvements, cleaner facilities and adding fare gates to minimize free rides.

More fundamental changes are also expected as part of compromises reached with suburban members to avoid pull-outs. The agency is set to return millions of sales tax revenue to member cities through general mobility programs in response to concerns that they have contributed far more than they receive in services, while the agency’s Dallas-dominated governing board will likely also face changes.

“The governance model, getting that changed to a more favorable, more fair representation is really important to all the member cities,” he mayor said.

Currently, Dallas appoints seven of 15 board members and shares an eighth with Cockrell Hill, which was predictably evident in Ford’s hiring process. Other cities have only one representative or share with other cities, like Addison, which splits a seat with Richardson and University Park. The proposed compromise, approved by each member council in the spring, would reduce Dallas’ majority to no more than 45% of the board, while guaranteeing each member a dedicated representative and increasing representation for other major suburbs like Plano, which could hold three seats.

The proposal will require approval from the state legislature, something which Bryant and DART leadership have mobilized to achieve when the next legislative session begins in January.

Artsfen did not directly address Ford’s past controversies, and said he would prefer to let the investigations play out and leave decision-making to the board. While he expressed bullishness on the hire, he said the events leading up to it still point to a need for reform.

“Whether it would have been that much different under a new structure, that’s not knowable, but it definitely is one of the reasons that we want to have that change so we can have a little bit more balanced look at whatever the issue is,” he said.

The real challenge, and opportunity, he added, will be for the board to find consensus as it wades into a consequential period for the agency marked by talks of growing regionalism and evolving transit models.

“That’s just one person,” Artsfen said. “You have to look at the relationship between the board and the CEO, and how they work. How does the board work within itself and amongst itself? If you have a collaborative board that’s willing to work together for the greater good and not just become siloed in their own different districts. Then it doesn’t matter how great your CEO is if the board’s not working, not functioning well itself.