Nat Ford, Muni Chief, Leaves with a "Golden Parachute"

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Landing on his feet wearing Italian leather shoes

​Muni drivers were already deflated after an arbitrator forced what they thought was an unsavory contract deal on the union, which included three years of pay freezes. But then hearing that their soon-to-be ex-boss would be getting a $384,000 severance package that amounts to more than his annual salary -- well that cannot be going over well at the union hall today.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board Chairman Tom Nolan told reporters yesterday that the bittersweet goodbye was a mutual decision between Ford and the transit agency's governing board. And of course, who wouldn't take the deal Ford -- who is already the highest paid man in San Francisco -- is getting?

Ford will be stepping down as the Muni chief on June 30, two years before his contract expires, and taking $384,000 with him. Here is the breakdown: Roughly one year's salary (that's $308,000), three months of extended health benefits for Ford and his family, which will be another $9,000, and some other perks that have not been disclosed yet.

Politicians alike are expressing some disgust over what they are calling Ford's "golden parachute."

"I am deeply disappointed," says State Sen. Leland Yee, who is running for San Francisco mayor. "At a time when our budget is cutting critical social services for our kids and the most vulnerable in our city, we can ill-afford to be paying excessive payouts to administrators who are no longer working for the public."

Surely, he cannot be more disappointed than Muni drivers?

We called Nolan to ask him why Ford is getting such a sweet departing package when the agency is consistently in the red. Nolan assured us this was the best deal all around. The only other option was to buy out Ford's contract and that would have cost the agency an "outrageous"  $700,000, Nolan says.

"We felt it was a fair settlement -- it works for us, but I'm sure we will be hearing from a lot of people," Nolan told SF Weekly.

Nolan says there's no hard feeling between the agency and Ford; in fact, he was quick to point out some of the Muni chief's biggest accomplishments -- the budget is balanced, union contracts are signed, and he started SFPark, Nolan says.

The only thing left to do is repair trust between the union and Muni management.

"We have significant problems in terms of trust and we need a sense of stability," Nolan says. "We need someone to work that out right away."

In other words, it's time for Muni to bring in its relief pitcher. Does Brian Wilson have transit management experience? 

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