Special Counsel says JEA Board deceived into voting for sale by JEA leadership

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — City leaders said they’re disgusted JEA leadership lied about the public utility’s status.

“I feel like we’ve been bamboozled. [I’m] horrified at the idea of what the sale of JEA would have done to customers,” said Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman of District 8.

Nelson Mullins, an outside law firm that’s been digging into JEA’s failed sale process, told Jacksonville City Council members it was all apart of a narrative created by the higher-ups to make money.

Action News Jax Courtney Cole shows us how the law firm said JEA leadership deceived the JEA board into pushing the sale through.

The Special Investigatory Committee on JEA, looking into the failed sale of the public utility, got its first look at information that explains how this all came about.

"This was an attempt, and maybe the biggest attempt, to swindle the people of Jacksonville based on the biggest lie ever told in our city’s history. And I find it absolutely disgusting,” said Councilman Rory Diamond.

Story continues below:

The investigatory committee is made up of four city council members: Diamond, the chair, Council President Scott Wilson, Councilwoman Randy DeFoor and Councilwoman Brenda Priestly Jackson.

Nelson Mullins, a law firm that interviewed to act as special legislative counsel for City Council to help investigate JEA, presented what it uncovered after doing some digging.

"There’s so much information that comes out that just blows my mind! On how the process was conducted a lot of it secretly,” said Valerie Gutierrez.

She’s the business manager of Union IBEW 2358 -- and represents more than 500 JEA employees.

Mullins said the idea that JEA was a sinking ship on a "death spiral" was a narrative created by JEA leadership to push the sale forward.

"It was actually increasing in value, not going down,” Diamond told Action News Jax.

This also now poses questions about the validity of the need for customer rate increases, last year, for sustainability.

Mullins told City leaders JEA leadership showed presentation slides to the JEA Board, last year, portraying misleading information about a decline in sales and manipulated information about customer growth and cash flow.

Councilwoman DeFoor questioned if these actions by JEA leaders could be considered fraud.

The law firm declined to answer directly, but said it certainly justified terminating former CEO Aaron Zahn, with cause.

"If there was doctored documents, there is absolutely fraud. And is stepping right up to the line right now. It sure looks like they were intentionally misleading the board. And if you’re intentionally lying to your own board and they are relying on that…that’s fraud,” said Councilman Diamond.

Now Diamond says the next order of business is getting new leadership at JEA, including the board and human resources staff.

“It’s perfectly clear to me that senior leadership wanted to make hundreds-of-millions of dollars off the backs of Jacksonville— and they were willing to do anything to get there,” said Diamond.

Wilson plans to make a move at Tuesday’s meeting to get seven new board appointees, put forth by Mayor Lenny Curry, as soon as possible.

“We’re just going to have to see what happens with the new board that’s brought on and see if they can be any changes made,” said

Gutierrez.

During Monday’s meeting, we also heard from a JEA employee for the first time.

Patricia Maillis, the current Director of Employee Service at JEA, spoke to the Investigatory Committee about the controversial bonus plan, known as the Performance Unit Plan or “PUP.”

Maillis told city leaders she was left out of the planning process for the PUP, and here’s why that’s relevant: helping to craft this plan would have been in her wheelhouse.

She’s in charge of talent acquisition and compensatory policy.

Maillis said she did not know the PUP plan was going to be presented until July 23, 2019—the same day the JEA board voted on it.

"I hear it on a daily basis— that a lot of them don’t trust the senior leadership team that’s currently in place,” said Gutierrez.

Maillis said she had a hard time understanding it and believes employees would have, too.

"If you look at the HR apparatus, these are the people who approved the performance unit plan, I don’t know how you can have those people stay. It makes no sense to me,” said Diamond.

JEA leaders accused of lying JEA leaders accused of lying

© 2020 Cox Media Group