Two local longtime political powerhouses recall starting their political careers under Jimmy Carter.

It’s been nearly 50 years since Mike Hightower first met Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, but his memories remain vivid.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The chair of JEA’s board of directors would welcome an investigation by State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office if that’s what it takes to get to the bottom of a doomed plan to explore a sale of the city-owned utility. “If the state attorney decides that she wants to pursue an investigation, we support that,” Board Chair April Green told a News4Jax reporter outside City Hall. “Our community deserves to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it comes (to JEA’s) entire ITN process,” said OurJax director Mike Hightower, a former JEA executive. JEA’s board was set to meet Tuesday to discuss if he should be fired with or without cause – the difference between letting him walk away with nearly $500,000 or nothing at all – but that meeting was postponed. “I’m a member of this community who has done nothing but try to contribute to the community that raised my children,” she said.