JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Shortly after refusing to go under oath to address a special City Council committee that is looking into the possible sale of JEA, the mayor's chief administrative officer responded by email.
Both city Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa and JEA CEO Paul McElroy refused to be sworn in at Thursday's meeting of the special committee that's weighing the pros and cons of privatizing the city-owned utility.
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Mousa said that he would not take the oath and then left the meeting. Hours later, he emailed the committee's chair, City Councilman John Crescimbeni.
In the email, Mousa answered two questions he understood that the committee wanted answers to.
The first question Mousa answered was about the current status of the Request for Proposals that the city issued in December, looking for someone who could provide strategic financial advice.
Mousa's response to the question reads in part, "The RFP process is complete. No contract exists."
He went on to explain that no additional city funds of any amount were used on that process.
Since the RFP was conducted without talking to City Council members about it first, some on the council wanted Mousa and other speakers to answer questions in front of the special committee.
But things broke down when that committee suddenly asked the speakers to be sworn in under oath, with Mousa and McElroy declining.
The second question addressed in the email Mousa understood to be about whether the city would stop its work on the Request for Proposals to wait and see what the special committee concluded as it looks into whether the sale of JEA would be in the city's best interest.
Mousa's answer to that question reads in part, "RFP authorized by the [city] had nothing to do with the potential sale of JEA."
He went on to write, "The RFP was developed for a variety of other city infrastructure review, analysis and evaluation by qualified consultants in the event the [city] desired to pursue same on any proposal."
Mousa also said, "Since the RFP was not developed for the potential sale of the JEA, it will not be utilized by the [city] for any JEA activity."
But he added that the RFP that the city conducted may be used in the future for any other city infrastructure evaluation.
Mousa ended the email by asking the special committee to let him know if there's more they want to discuss, or if he has misunderstood their questions.
McElroy also refused to go under oath at Thursday's meeting, saying it was just sprung on him and he needed an attorney because of that.
The special committee decided that it will subpoena McElroy and force him to talk to the committee. At this point, the council committee does not plan to do the same for Mousa.
The special council committee on the possible sale of JEA will meet again on Thursday. JEA will hold a special workshop on Tuesday to discuss the proposed sale.