A City Council special investigative committee will place witnesses under oath as it looks into the origins and dealings behind JEA’s push to privatize.
City Council President Scott Wilson announced the committee at a Jan. 20 news conference on the steps of City Hall, which was closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
District 13 Council member Rory Diamond, a Republican and former special assistant U.S. Attorney, will chair the committee. District 10 member Brenda Priestly Jackson, a Democrat, and District 14 member Randy DeFoor, a Republican, will serve on the committee. Both are attorneys.
In prepared remarks, Wilson said the committee is needed because an ongoing federal criminal probe into JEA will be conducted in secret and may only focus on a small portion of JEA’s invitation to negotiate. The JEA board canceled the ITN on Dec. 24.
“The public has the right to know exactly what happened, why it happened, how it happened and who was involved,” Wilson said. “This special council committee will investigate every aspect, turn over every rock, look behind every curtain and bring all that we don’t know — and what we deserve to know – into the daylight for everyone to see.”
Wilson was joined by eight Council members, JEA union members and the chairs of the Duval County Democratic and Republican parties.
Wilson said the city Office of General Counsel is working on the official charge that will govern the committee’s work.
General Counsel Jason Gabriel asked Wilson to delay the committee until city lawyers have completed an employment investigation into fired former JEA Managing Director and CEO Aaron Zahn.
Smith Hulsey & Busey Chairman Stephen Busey as Council’s independent attorney will provide research and analysis for the committee. Council hired the firm in December for $1.85 million while the ITN was active.
Although Wilson said he would act as a fourth committee member when needed, the committee will have latitude to set its agenda and witness list.
The committee likely will request testimony from Zahn and former CFO Ryan Wannemacher, Diamond said in an interview after the announcement.
Diamond said he intends to submit a public records request when the committee convenes and “see where the documents take us.”
“When we go through the emails, we’ll see a bunch of names coming up over and over, it’s usually where you start. But we’ll start with the structure of JEA. We’ll start with their own office chart and move on from there,” he said.
Diamond said those names include a majority of the JEA executive committee.
The committee will have subpoena power should anyone refuse to testify. To compel a witness to appear, the special committee will request a subpoena from the standing Council Rules Committee, which will vote whether or not to serve the witness. Diamond said he would have no issue serving a subpoena if necessary.
“We’ll probably swear every single witness. We’re not going to pick and choose. Everybody can be placed under oath,” Diamond said.
Priestly Jackson and DeFoor said in an interview they would bring in the city’s ethics director, Carla Miller, as an early witness. Miller has been independently monitoring the ITN process.
“For this to be authentic and everything that we want it to be, which is independent, we have to bring everybody and anybody in that had anything to do with the ITN process,” DeFoor said.
Wilson said the committee will urge immediate termination for cause of any JEA executive or employee found involved in wrongdoing.
The JEAs board voted 5-1 on Dec. 17 to fire Zahn without cause. Board Chair April Green advocated for Zahn’s termination with cause, stating she feels the CEO misled her and the board on several issues. That included an employee bonus plan that could have cost JEA up to $600 million if the utility had been sold.
Zahn remains on paid administrative leave.
In a letter sent Jan. 13 to the general counsel’s office, Zahn’s attorney wrote that on Dec. 30, Zahn accepted reduced severance terms presented by JEA board Dec. 17.
The JEA board also charged city lawyers to investigate if there were grounds to fire Zahn with cause.
According to Steve Powell, chief tort and labor employment attorney with the general counsel’s office, city lawyers will report to the board at its Jan. 28 meeting.
Wannemacher was fired in a Dec. 27 email from Interim CEO Melissa Dykes after he admitted to Diamond during a Dec. 16 hearing he failed to respond to Council Auditor requests for financial information on the bonus plan.
The committee intends to recover the money spent during JEA’s invitation to negotiate, Wilson said. Dykes said Dec. 24 that figure is around $10 million.
“We will uncover and hold accountable anybody who had anything to do with trying to take advantage of our city and the JEA ratepayers,” Wilson said, “whether it’s lobbyists, investment bankers, lawyers, bidders or employees.”
Wilson told members of the media Jan. 20 that would include elected officials.
“Anyone who was involved and maliciously tried to sell our utility or committed any criminal acts should be held accountable,” Wilson said.
Wilson cautioned JEA board members and executives against moving forward with work to transition JEA into a cooperative or an publicly traded company through an initial public offering.
“Any consideration about moving forward in any manner regarding selling the JEA will not be looked upon kindly,” Wilson said.
Wilson said he will work with Mayor Lenny Curry to fill a JEA board vacancy left by Corner Lot Development Group CEO Andy Allen, who resigned Dec. 2. Allen said the utility’s issues had a “noticeable effect” on his business.
“I also want to thank the mayor for following our lead to look into what happened,” Wilson said.
No one from Curry’s administration attended the announcement. Wilson said he did copy the mayor’s office on his email invitation to Council members.
“They did not have a lot of notice of the press conference,” Wilson said.
The nonprofit group OurJax will work to assist the Council special committee. Organizers created the 501(c)(4) on Jan. 9 to provide financial assistance to people requesting information or documents from JEA and other city entities.
Mike Hightower, an OurJax founding member and former JEA board chair, said Jan. 20 the nonprofit will provide resources to acquire documents related to the investigation.
“When we have City Council meetings, we want to make sure that the Council knows there is a cross section of the community out there that is supporting them. And when they need a show of support, our folks will be there in mass,” Hightower said.
Hightower and Mike Tolbert from OurJax attended Wilson’s announcement.
JEA Media Relations Manager Gina Kyle said by email that Dykes and the board will discuss making sure that “any future conversation concerning structural changes in the operations of JEA which require legislative consideration, are done in cooperation with the City Council and community.”
“We appreciate City Council President Wilson’s decision to move forward with the investigation and JEA looks forward to working side-by-side with him and his colleagues to provide any and all information pertinent to their review,” Kyle said.
Kyle said the interim CEO will hold town hall meetings in each Council district in the coming weeks.
The Council president commended JEA employees, calling the public utility the city’s “most valuable asset.”
“During the secret process to sell the JEA , those employees — past and present — have been disrespected and treated unfairly,” Wilson said. “They, too, deserve to know the truth.”
