Gerald Ensley: James Ford leaves quiet, steadfast legacy in city politics

People probably don't remember James Ford spent 14 years on the City Commission, which is the third longest tenure in history.

People probably never knew Ford was a Renaissance Man. He spent nearly 40 years as a teacher and principal in Leon County, was a certified electrician, TV/radio repairman, auto mechanic, antique-car restorer, carpenter and fruit grower - and today, at 80, spends Saturday mornings playing rhythm guitar with a blues group.

But what longtime residents think they remember about Ford is he was an invisible politician. They think they remember Ford as being so grateful to be Leon County's first Black elected official in 1971 that he made no waves and got nothing done.

They remember wrong - except for this: James Ford purposely cultivated a low-key public personality. He believed it was the only way to achieve racial progress at a time Tallahassee was just emerging from strict segregation.

Time has proved him correct.

"Had I done it any differently, I would have set back this city several generations," Ford said last week. "The direction I decided to take was to create a path so that other people like me would have no problem being elected. If I had been like (Leon County Commissioner Bill) Proctor, we wouldn't have (State Senator) Al Lawson today."

Thursday is the 35th anniversary of Ford's election to the Tallahassee City Commission, which made him the first Black elected official in Leon County since Reconstruction. Before Ford, nine Blacks had run unsuccessfully for office in Leon County, starting with K.S. Dupont's bid for the City Commission in 1957.

But after Ford won his seat on Feb. 23, 1971, the barriers fell. Counting Ford, there have been seven Blacks on the City Commission, four Blacks on the County Commission and five Blacks on the School Board. Lawson and Rep. Curtis Richardson represent Leon County in the Florida Legislature. Tallahassee's current mayor, city manager and police chief are Black.

"(Ford) was a trailblazer," said Anita Davis, who in 1990 was the first Black woman elected to the County Commission. "He opened it up for the rest of us."

A Leon County native, Ford succeeded by being the first Black candidate to win the support of white voters.

In 1971, Tallahassee had only 3,915 Blacks registered to vote - and Ford received only 20 percent of their votes. But he defeated longtime white commissioner W.H. Cates, 5,665 votes to 4,861 votes.

Ford, then the assistant principal at predominantly white Leon High, won because his students - including current City Commissioner Mark Mustian - lobbied their parents to vote for him. He won because white Florida State professors and students turned out in unprecedented numbers to vote for Ford.

He won because of what Ford called a "stirring" column by Tallahassee Democrat editor Malcolm Johnson. Though reviled in the Black community as a segregationist, Johnson extolled Ford as a moderate who would represent all citizens.

"We've been saying we'd elect a good Negro if one ever ran," Johnson wrote. "Now here's our chance to prove we aren't hypocrites."

Ford was re-elected three times and served 14 years. Only current Commissioners Debbie Lightsey (17 years) and Steve Meisburg (15) have served longer since the modern City Commission was created in 1920.

Despite his longevity, many residents mistook Ford's quiet politeness for ineffectiveness.

On five-member commissions often divided between Old Tallahassee conservatives and newly arrived progressives, the moderate Ford was repeatedly the swing vote. He helped forge the first city-county agreements to provide fire and recreation service to county residents. He led efforts to build the Civic Center. He was elected mayor three times by his peers.

"I think people misinterpreted James' laid-back personality for not knowing what was going on - and that was not true at all," said Joan Heggen, who in 1972 became the first woman city commissioner. "I think he had a commitment to not do anything that did not speak well for Blacks and because of that, he did not lash out at things others might have."

Ford often infuriated Black citizens, who wanted him to be publicly aggressive on racial issues. Davis, as president of the local NAACP, remembers there were "always complaints" about Ford from Blacks.

But Ford didn't care about being a firebrand for racial issues; he wanted to give Blacks a voice in city economic and policy decisions.

"I have been called an Oreo (black on the outside, white on the inside)," Ford said. "But I think the white community saw in me not the bitterness or divisiveness or incompetence they perceived a Black candidate would have. That was my role, and it was not an easy role."

And while Blacks may not have realized it, Ford worked constantly on their behalf. He got dirt roads in the Bond Community paved though they didn't meet state width standards. He got Walker-Ford Community Center built in the Bond Community where Black children had never had an Olympic-size pool or other recreation amenities. He was an unrelenting champion for increasing city hiring of Blacks: Today, 31 percent of the city's 2,943 employees are Black.

"James was criticized in the Black community because he didn't go far enough. And he was criticized in the conservative white community for pushing a Black agenda," said former Tallahassee City Manager Dan Kleman. "But James made the kinds of changes that stuck."

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Ford, a married father of three adult children, spends time these days tending to long-held properties along I-10, the Wakulla River and Lake Iamonia. Still lean and nearly 6-foot-3, Ford said he "never worried too much about public opinion, because it changes as fast as the issue changes." But as the 35th anniversary of his historic first approaches, he allows he is proud to have opened a door for political diversity.

"I think much of what has evolved was because of the attitude and manner I conducted myself," Ford said. "I think I could have been 'make or break' in the changes that have occurred."

Gerald Ensley was a reporter and columnist for the Tallahassee Democrat from 1980 until his retirement in 2015. He died in 2018 following a stroke. This column was originally published on Feb. 19, 2006. The Tallahassee Democrat is publishing columns capturing Tallahassee’s history from Ensley’s vast archives each Sunday through 2024 in the Opinion section as part of the TLH 200: Gerald Ensley Memorial Bicentennial Project.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Ensley: James Ford leaves quiet, steadfast legacy in city politics