JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Incoming Jacksonville City Council President Nick Howland says he will merge the Duval DOGE Committee and the Special Investigatory Committee looking into JEA matters together. And he’s creating the new Financial Audit and Oversight select committee when he takes office next week.
“It’s to shift the counsel’s role from investigation to oversight,” said Howland.
In a memo spelling out the changes, Howland says Duval DOGE completed its last open investigation, and the Special Investigatory Committee has three matters still open - allegations of a toxic work environment at JEA, the cancellation of a lobbying contract, and unbilled water capacity fees.
“One will be addressed by the board; that’s the workplace issue. Another will be addressed by the Attorney General, that is the lobbyist contract. And the remaining open issue is the water capacity fees,” said Howland.
Back in March, Action News Jax uncovered internal documents showing more than a dozen large commercial entities have not paid added Water Capacity fees to JEA, raising questions about record-keeping practices at Jacksonville’s public utility. This week, a City Office of Inspector General review determined JEA failed for years to track and collect the fees due to system failures, missing records, and poor oversight.
Howland says the new committee will focus solely on this issue.
“Really not to figure out why it went so wrong, though that’s important to understand, more to figure how we fix it moving forward and ensure that we maintain the public trust,” said Howland.
The FAO select committee will take effect on July 20th. They have until September 18th to submit their findings and recommendations on the matter to the council president.
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