by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
As the new chair of the Public Health, Safety and Utilities committee, City Council member Art Shad already has a pretty good idea of where he’s going to take the often underestimated, overlooked committee in the coming year.
“I’m developing a plan,” he said. “It starts with beefing this committee up because it doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Think about it: half of the City’s budget is going toward its utilities.
“That’s a lot of money.”
Shad said he also wants to see JEA become more responsive to Council concerns.
“It seems like there’s a bit of a disconnect between the Council and JEA, which I don’t understand,” he said. “JEA is a very valuable City asset, they’re a gem, but sometimes it seems like they forget what the ‘J’ stands for.
“In my first year on this Council, I can honestly say that three out of the top five problems I had in my district were JEA-related.”
From not communicating with the Council or the City’s Public Works Department about ongoing projects, to generating “several constituent complains,” Shad said it might be time to try something different.
“As chair, I’d like to make it clear that JEA should be answering to the Council and the mayor. We need to carry more weight with them,” he said. “They should be acting as good municipal, quasi-corporate citizens.
“By working together we could save a lot of money. For instance, let’s not repave a road and then turn around and tear it up to make utility upgrades. That’s a big waste of time and money.”
Shad said the heart of the problem may lie in the fact that Mayor John Peyton appoints all seven JEA board members without any Council input.
“Sure, the Council approves those people, but we don’t really have a say in the actual selection process,” he said. “In the future I think it would work well if, maybe, the mayor appoints four and the Council president appoints three.
“That would be a good place to start.”
Shad said he would also like to explore the possibility of letting Council members serve on the JEA board.
“I don’t know the legalities of that, but that would be a great way to improve communication,” he said.
JEA representative Nancy Kilgo said they are open to improving communication lines.
“With the committee chairs changing, I think this is as appropriate a time as any to look at how we communicate with the Council,” she said. “We’re happy to work with all of the chairs to determine what they would like from us.”
In doing so, Kilgo said JEA representatives would meet with each chair in the next few weeks.
“In some ways I can see where (Shad) is coming from,” she said. “In addition to chairing PHSU this past year, Gwen Yates is also the JEA liaison for the Council. We’ve always had a lot of interaction with her.
“If others would like a similar relationship with us, we’re certainly open to that.
“If it’s a question of the timing of our projects, which perceptually may be a problem, we may also look into how we involve the Council in those decisions.”