JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JEA’s latest leadership controversy is driving public attention.
The JEA board meeting on Tuesday, marked by intense debate and a vote of confidence in CEO Vickie Cavey, drew significant public attention online, nearly surpassing the historic numbers seen during the utility’s 2019 leadership crisis under former CEO Aaron Zahn.
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Who says government meetings are boring?
Based on JEA’s review of its streaming vendor’s analytics, the most recent board meeting generated:
Peak concurrent viewers: 785
Total views: 2,515
Unique devices: 1,710
Metric notes:
- Peak concurrent viewers reflects the highest number of people watching simultaneously during the live broadcast.
- Total views includes all viewing sessions, even repeat access from the same user or device.
- Unique devices represents the number of distinct devices that accessed the stream.
How it compares to 2019
The December 17, 2019 board meeting, held amid turmoil that ultimately led to the firing of Zahn, recorded:
Peak concurrent viewers: 947
Unique devices: 1,934
Tensions surround CEO Vickie Cavey
Tuesday’s meeting came amid accusations that CEO Vickie Cavey created a toxic work environment within the utility.
Former JEA Chief of Staff Kurt Wilson alleged Cavey fostered a “fear-based culture” affecting dozens of employees and claimed he lost his job after raising concerns internally.
Vice Chair Rick Morales added to the controversy, stating he had heard troubling accounts from senior leadership and even alleging that Cavey had at one point agreed to resign before reversing course and eliminating the Chief of Staff position. Morales was the only board member to vote against the measure backing Cavey.
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Board Chair Joseph DiSalvo, however, forcefully defended the CEO and called for a vote of confidence, referencing the upheaval that engulfed the organization five years ago.
“We went through this crap five years ago,” DiSalvo said during the meeting. “ ... When the heck are we going to learn our lesson?”
In the end, every board member except Morales voted to keep Cavey in place. The board also declined to pursue Morales’ request for an external investigation into JEA leadership.
What started it all
Action News Jax’s Ben Becker obtained a text exchange between Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico and current JEA board member Arthur Adams last week, that appeared to show Carrico removing the sitting board member to repay what Carrico called a “big favor” to his boss.
Carrico followed that up by accusing Cavey of not only creating a toxic work culture, but also fostering racism at the utility.
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The current structure of JEA’s board was created after Jacksonville voters approved a charter amendment in 2020, following the failed attempt to sell the utility, a scandal that led to the federal conviction of Zahn.
Under that structure, City Council selects four board members, while the mayor appoints three, a system intended to create checks and balances.
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