Amid questions over whether the hiring of JEA’s new interim leader, Vickie Cavey, violated state open government laws and whether she is qualified for the role, the JEA board approved a one-year contract for Cavey on May 21 to serve as the top administrative officer of the city-owned utility.
Cavey, named interim CEO and managing director April 15 after a board vote, will earn an annual salary of $560,000 under the work agreement.
Among other terms, she will be provided with a JEA vehicle or, in the alternative, a monthly automobile allowance of $850. She also will receive a $2,000 monthly allowance for telephone service and other business expenses.
The board approved the contract on a voice vote without comment. Four of the board’s seven members attended the meeting: Chair Joseph DiSalvo, Kawanza Humphrey, John Baker and Robert Stein. Vice chair Rick Morales was absent due to the death of his mother, and members Marty Lanahan and Zachary Faison did not attend.
The contract vote for Cavey came after a May 20 story by Action News Jax reporter Ben Becker that the city’s Office of Inspector General is investigating whether the board ran afoul of Florida Sunshine Law in hiring her for the interim position.
The board voted to hire her April 15, the same day it accepted the resignation of former CEO Jay Stowe, who had been JEA’s top administrator since 2020.
According to Becker’s story, at issue is whether the board acted transparently during the leadership change. In addition, questions have been raised as to whether Cavey meets a requirement in the charter for the JEA CEO to have five years of executive leadership experience.
A central question is how Cavey, the only candidate for the interim role publicly identified, was chosen for the role. There was no prior public meeting to discuss who was being considered.
Cavey said Stein, a former board chair, approached her about serving as interim CEO when Stowe signaled his resignation. That occurred a few weeks into her role as liaison and adviser for the board.
She said she initially told Stein she would consider the suggestion, then later told him she would be interested.
“And there’s nothing more to it than that,” she said.
Cavey, a longtime JEA engineer and administrator, came out of retirement in March 2024 when the board asked her to serve as a liaison between them and Stowe’s administration to review the utility’s organizational structure and help choose an independent consultant that the board would pay to examine JEA’s capital improvement plan.
DiSalvo said he supported Cavey for the role because her experience with JEA and her workings with the board made her a good candidate to lead the utility through the transition to its next leader.
During her decades-long career with JEA, Cavey held such positions as special assistant to the CEO for external affairs, director of strategy development and execution and director of strategic partnerships and acquisitions.
DiSalvo said no Sunshine Law violations occurred. He said he had no discussions about naming her to the position before the April 15 vote.
With Stowe leaving and Cavey again involved in the organization, he said, “It made sense to me to nominate her for the interim CEO.”
As for Cavey’s experience, Becker reported that Cavey had not held positions that were considered executive roles during her years at JEA. In 2020, the City Council voted to include the requirement for executive experience in the JEA charter. The move followed accusations that former CEO Aaron Zahn, who was hired in 2018 with limited executive experience, conspired to defraud JEA out of tens of millions of dollars through a plot to sell the utility and collect undeserved bonuses.
DiSalvo indicated that he felt Cavey’s experience in upper-level roles with JEA qualified her to serve as interim CEO.
Questioned about Cavey’s salary, DiSalvo said her compensation was at the level of Stowe’s when he was hired in 2020.
“It’s a 24/7 job. She is more than deserving of that,” he said. “Any going rate for an interim CEO would be more than what she’s getting right now.”