Muni Chief's Days May be Numbered

Despite repeated denials to the contrary, word around town is that Muni boss Nat Ford is job-hunting. Again.

Hopefully the train doors -- those that still function -- won't pinch him on his way out.

His latest destination: Washington DC, where he's up for the job of heading the Airports Authority, according to Muni insiders. He doesn't have any experience administering aviation facilities.

It's a familiar refrain: last September, rumor had it that Ford, the city's single highest-paid employee, was interested in heading up DC's transit agency, according to the Ex. Prior to that, his jobhunting had him investigating Los Angeles, New York, or Houston.

We'll know sometime in March whether San Francisco is losing the man who presided over Muni's latest round of fare hikes and service cuts.

Now's a particularly delicate time to lose the head of the transit agency. Muni is gearing up for contract negotiation with a union leadership that's been openly hostile to riders' interests.

Muni also faces a shortfall of a billion and a half dollars over the next few years. That's even higher than was predicted by SPUR just a few years prior.