JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The JEA board member who Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico tried to replace as a “big favor to a friend” is now the board vice chair.
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At the JEA board executive committee meeting on Monday morning, the following slate of leaders were approved.
- MG Orender, Board Chair
- Arthur Adams, Vice Chair
- Donald “Worth” McArthur, Secretary
You can watch the nine-minute meeting as it streamed on Action News Jax’s YouTube page:
CLICK HERE to learn more about JEA’s board members
Action News Jax’s Ben Becker first told you February 16 that he obtained a text exchange between Carrico and Adams that appears to show Carrico opting to remove sitting board member to repay what Carrico called a “big favor” to his boss, Paul Martinez at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida.
In that exchange, Carrico wrote:
“What’s up bro… hey I owed a big favor to a friend and opted to put him on the JEA board as your term is expiring… Not sure if you wanted to stay but I needed to do this for my guy.”
INITIAL STORY: Carrico text suggests ‘big favor’ driving push to replace JEA board member with boss
Adams replied:
“My plan was to stay… I’m disappointed - I wanted to serve a full term and felt I was adding real value…”
Adams, formerly a 20-year CSX veteran, replaced Edward Waters University President Dr. Zachary Faison Jr. on the JEA board and was serving the final year of Faison’s term. Adams played a key role on JEA’s Capital Projects Committee.
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Emails obtained by Action News Jax show the timeline of the decision to nominate Martinez and that the wheels were in motion to replace Adams before he was told:
February 4: An email from Boys & Girls Clubs VP of marketing to the City’s Chief of Research. It contains Martinez’s JEA board application.
February 5: Carrico sent the text message to Adams, informing him his term was not being renewed because Carrico “owed a big favor to a friend.”
February 6: Another email from the city back to the Boys & Girls Clubs saying “The legislation for Mr. Martinez’s appointment to the JEA Board was filed today.”
February 10: The bill was introduced to the City Council.
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Here’s what’s happened since Becker’s initial story on the text message exchange:
February 18: Martinez announces he will no longer pursue the opportunity to serve on the JEA board.
February 19: Carrico accuses JEA CEO Vickie Cavey of “racism” and “toxic culture” after text controversy.
February 20: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan calls the accusations against Cavey a “smear campaign.
February 25: Carrico is served a subpoena by the State Attorney’s Office.
February 26: Jacksonville City Councilman Jimmy Peluso calls on Carrico to temporarily step down as City Council President until the State Attorney’s Office finishes its investigation.
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