Jax City Council calls for more oversight of JEA Board ahead of former CEO’s termination discussion Tuesday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — There were five options on the table when it came to the future of JEA in 2019. By the beginning of 2020, there were none.

$10 million of your dollars were spent without anything to show for it.

Action News Jax Courtney Cole spoke to Jacksonville City Councilman Danny Becton, the JEA Liaison. He told her JEA is now going back to what they refer to as the “status quo.” That means the public utility will continue to operate “as is” for now.

That is curious, because just a few months ago -- running JEA the way it is now was not seen as a viable option.

After five months, nine potential buyers and a process that left the city council and the public out of much of the process, the push to potentially sell JEA failed.

"The process was crafted in such away, I believe, initially to require disengagement, to require us to not have a voice. And that actually started with the notion of a cone of silence for city council,” said Councilwoman Brenda Priestly Jackson of District 10. This comes after JEA spent roughly $10 million trying to sell the public utility.

Even Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry wouldn’t touch the topic of privatization again, with a ten-foot-pole , that’s essentially what he told Action News Jax last week.

“If they come with a strategic future and if they think [at] some point while I’m in office, and they lay [a] privatization process question before me, it’s going to be a ‘heck no, I’m done,’" said Curry.

But what about the 1$0 million of taxpayer money? Will the city get it back?

Nikki Kimbleton, the City’s spokeswoman told me the following: “The City did not spend that money. JEA has its own budget and every dollar spent was approved by the board, senior leadership and in some cases, the Office of General Counsel.” Cole reached out to JEA. Spokeswoman Gina Lyle said most of that $10 million was in legal fees, so she assumes the city won’t be getting its money back.

She’s working to get a confirmation for Cole. Cole also requested a specific breakdown of how the $10 million was spent. She’s still waiting to hear back.

Potentially selling the JEA was just one of the controversial issues with JEA. The other was a bonus program that could have cost customers millions of dollars.

Both of the issues have one thing in common: a board of directors that voted for them. During Monday’s JEA fact-finding meeting, some city council members believe the process to become a board member needs to change. This comes after some JEA board members didn’t seem to know much about the performance unit plan they voted unanimously to pass.

That lack of knowledge was alarming to city leaders. "We have received at least 1,000 emails, each of us. And I will be bold enough to say at least 99% of them—from all walks of life, origins of the city, political persuasions, all faiths— have been against it,” said Jackson. Jackson is talking about the potential sale of JEA.

Back on July 23, 2019, the JEA board voted to move forward with the privatization of JEA. It’s a decision city leaders question if they were properly equipped to make. “It was disconcerting to me how we would have something of this magnitude keep growing like this…that appears to be inconsistent with the public’s will,” said Jackson. Now Jackson and some of her colleagues want legal safeguards put in place to make sure they can intervene if JEA or any other independent authority tries to shut them out in the future.

“Throughout the process, my colleagues and I kept asking questions and proposing legislation needed to be drafted to intervene the process that we thought it was off the rails, quite candidly,” Jackson said.

Just two weeks ago, Action News Jax reported Councilman Garrett Dennis plans to propose legislation to strip the mayor of his exclusive power to appoint the board members. Cole couldn’t get Mayor Curry on camera on Monday, but, just last week, he told Action News Jax he doesn’t direct those board members, he just expects them to take care of their responsibilities and take appropriate action.

The city council would also like to see members better prepared to handle their responsibilities. JEA’s spokeswoman told Cole board members receive “board governance training” and she believes, ethics training.

"The reality is, we are accountable to the public they elect us. If they are dissatisfied with us, they have mechanisms of adjusting. They can recall and vote us out of office…and [the] appointed board does not have that, and that’s the only way we make certain JEA board is answerable to the citizens of Jacksonville,” said Jackson. According to the city’s spokeswoman:, Mayor Curry has appointed or reappointed people17 times to the JEA board., and all but two have been unanimously approved. She says they each followed all legal guidelines and vetting before being sent to the city council for approval.

The power of JEA's board The power of JEA's board

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