Jacksonville City Council members say JEA stonewalling its special committee

Jacksonville’s last probe into its utility led to its CEO going to prison for attempting to sell the utility and take a hefty commission.

And while the stakes may not be that high this time around, the heat already is turned up, with a probe commencing just in time for the 2027 campaign cycle.

The Jacksonville City Council’s Special Investigative Committee on JEA, the city’s publicly owned power and water company, has been convened yet again amid questions about the utility’s activities, including unpaid capacity fees and concerns about its culture.

And some of those questions are going to be tough to answer.

Chair Ron Salem said that General Counsel Michael Fackler said that Regina Ross, the longtime attorney for the utility, “would not be available to this Committee for any services, due to some issues with privileged information.”

Committee member Rory Diamond, who has been critical of the city’s General Counsel and of the utility’s management for years, did not take the news well.

“There’s no mystery about what she heard and what she saw, that there’s a significant problem of JEA over years, not collecting capacity fees. And she’s up there jumping up and down, saying, ‘You have to fix this correctly. You have to do this right. You can’t just come up with Band-Aid stuff. You can’t do stuff behind closed doors. This is a public issue. It needs to be out front, needs to be done right.’ She’s no longer at JEA. She’s at the center of this question. And now OGC is saying that we cannot ask her questions. That’s nuts,” the second-term Republican said.

“Waive the privilege, so we can ask all these questions out in the public,” Diamond added. “What secret could there be between OGC and JEA that we all don’t have a right to ask questions about?”

Ju’Coby Pittman, a Democrat in her second term, expressed her own concerns.

“I can share with you what I’ve heard. There is one person who is advocating for about 15 other people. They are afraid because they don’t want to lose their job. And I’m just sharing with you just the people who are currently here. I’ve also had an opportunity to talk to people who were employed at JEA, and they were terminated. And some of the reasons for them being terminated are just unacceptable. And a few of them are also who were in management and who had been at JEA for several years. So, I’m here, and really just want to help the people who are afraid to speak. All they want to do is keep their job and do the work.”

Pittman wants information on the hiring and firing of members of ethnic minorities, and whether that will be provided is likewise an open question.

Deputy General Counsel Dylan Feingold appeared in the stead of a vacationing Fackler, assuring the Committee that OGC would assist “to the best and fullest” of its abilities and said that Ross didn’t face retaliation.

He also alleged that the City Council “may want to arrest (Ross),” and that he’s “certainly hoping that the City Council doesn’t do that.”

Salem called the comment “inappropriate.”

Council President Kevin Carrico said the city lawyer was “childish and irresponsible” in his comments, which seemed to reflect Mayor Donna Deegan’s belief that the Committee is a joke.

The tension was on the dais at times as well.

Visiting Council member Matt Carlucci said JEA’s Board would be better suited for this probe, leading to a sharp exchange with Salem, who said he was not recognized at the previous Board meeting where CEO Vickie Cavey got a vote of confidence, despite asking to speak.

“They sat on their hands,” Salem said. “And that’s why we’re here.”

Diamond agreed that the Board should be doing its job, but “bullied a vote of confidence” on Cavey.

“I don’t want to do this. But I’m going to have to do this now,” Diamond said.

Diamond also wants the Committee to request a “litigation hold” for document retention from executives and others, noting that when JEA was last under scrutiny, documents were destroyed.

The timeframe for this Committee remains open-ended, but hopes are that it will conclude in time for budget deliberations in August.