JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Branch NAACP requested that Council President Kevin Carrico wait until the conclusion of the investigations surrounding JEA before appointing the utility’s next board member.
RELATED: City Council holds first JEA Special Committee meeting over potential unpaid capacity fees
The letter written by the branch’s President, Isaiah Rumlin, cites public trust and potential undermining of confidence in the process.
Read the full letter below:
This request came shortly before the special investigatory committee held its first meeting at City Hall.
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The committee was formed last week by Carrico after he said the Office of Inspector General asked for the council’s help in reviewing allegations about millions of dollars in potential unpaid capacity fees owed to the city-owned utility.
The committee will look into those allegations as well as claims of a toxic work environment.
The request from the NAACP comes as a State Attorney’s Office subpoena is requesting documents from Carrico related to his JEA communications.
Carrico responded to the NAACP with a statement saying:
JEA’s ongoing crisis is exactly why action cannot wait. With serious questions surrounding financial management, allegations of employee mistreatment, and skyrocketing rates impacting Jacksonville families, now is the time for stronger oversight - not delay. Waiting does nothing to restore public trust; decisive action does. The City Council has a responsibility to ensure JEA is led by individuals who will demand accountability and put ratepayers first.
Council President Kevin Carrico
Carrico will serve as a voting member of the special committee.
Tuesday’s meeting quickly encountered a dispute over whether the committee could question Regina Ross, the former JEA legal counsel who now works in the city’s Office of General Counsel (OGC). The office has indicated she is not available to answer questions because of her prior role.
“She no longer works at JEA. She is at the center of this question and now OGC is saying that we cannot ask her questions. That’s nuts,” Council member Rory Diamond said. “First of all it’s not legal. There is no attorney-client privilege among city government...and there is no pending litigation. It doesn’t exist. It is a lie.”
City Council lawyer Jason Teal told the committee it has the authority to compel testimony and issue subpoenas and outlined possible legal consequences for noncompliance. Salem said he would prefer to have even an informal conversation with Ross to help council auditors investigate the capacity fee issue.