Jacksonville ethics commission decides against pursuing investigation into possible Cumber JEA connections

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville ethics commission decided Tuesday it won’t be looking into a former candidate for mayor Leanna Cumber.


Complaints by some fellow Jacksonville City Council members filed against her said she had information about her husband’s involvement with a possible sale of JEA and did not disclose it.

MORE: City Council to reopen JEA committee to find out if Councilwoman LeAnna Cumber misled council investigators

A special city council committee was investigating since the end of February but it turned the investigation over to the city’s ethics commission to see if there were any ethics violations.

The ethics commission said the complaint by city council was not filed correctly and it was outside the statute of limitations, but the main concern was that the move to zero in on Cumber was political in nature. Some commission members said it was just brought up as an election ploy and that the commission should not be used in that way.

City Councilman Nick Howland who filed a complaint with the commission against Cumber and was co-chair of the investigating committee had no comment regarding the proceedings Tuesday.