JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JEA employees will likely end up getting two separate surveys aimed at vetting accusations of a toxic and racist workplace culture at the utility.
Despite JEA announcing last week that it had contracted with a law firm to conduct its own survey of employees, JEA Special Investigatory Committee Chair Ron Salem (R-Group 2 At-Large) made it clear he plans to move ahead with a council-led survey during the committee’s Monday meeting.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
JEA Board Member John Baker, who spoke to the committee in his personal capacity during the public comment portion of the meeting, pleaded with committee members to reconsider.
“For you to run a separate, simultaneous survey based on calls from disgruntled employees is a sure-fire way to split this city right down the middle and do harm to its most valuable asset,” said Baker.
Salem told Action News Jax JEA employees would have no faith in the JEA-led survey, especially after the board declined to consider the option of investigating employee complaints during a meeting in February.
“They’ve told me that, the employees that I’ve spoken to. They’re Leary of any survey as I’ve indicated. So, we’ll have challenges even with our survey,” said Salem.
Councilmember Matt Carlucci (R-Group 4 At-Large) argued the council is overstepping its bounds by inserting itself into personnel matters at the independent agency.
He also cautioned that dueling surveys will likely only lead to more problems.
“If our results come back different from the JEA’s results, that’s going to confuse the public, and it’s going to confuse matters, and we’re paying double for confusion,” said Carlucci.
When asked what would happen if the two surveys produce opposite results, Salem indicated he doesn’t anticipate that outcome.
“I could see differing results. Maybe not as bad or not as good as the other, but it’s hard for me to believe they would be on opposite ends,” said Salem.
While Salem plans to move ahead with the council-led survey of JEA employees, he did commit to keeping an open dialogue with the JEA Board as the process moves forward.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
