JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A tense JEA Board meeting Tuesday ended with a 6-1 vote to confirm confidence in CEO Vickie Cavey as the leader of the city-owned utility. This came after a chaotic week of finger-pointing from politicians and Cavey over accusations of a toxic work environment at JEA.
During the meeting, JEA Vice Chair Ricardo “Rick” Morales III admitted that he privately asked Cavey to resign after he said employees voiced concerns to him about a “toxic” workplace culture at the city-owned utility.
WATCH: Press play below to watch the end of Tuesday’s JEA meeting, addressing Vickie Cavey’s leadership as CEO
Tuesday’s meeting came a day after former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry pushed back against a news conference that saw Mayor Donna Deegan and JEA officials address allegations about the utility’s culture and leadership just days earlier.
During the Tuesday meeting, Morales asked the board to consider an independent, external review of JEA leadership, saying he had heard over the last six weeks from “multiple senior leaders” who complained of micro-managing and declining morale.
Several members of the board questioned why Morales did not encourage those employees to go through the “proper channels” to raise their concerns.
Board member MG Orender said he also heard from an employee in December, but his response to the employee was “take it to HR.”
“Because that’s the way businesses should operate. You go to HR and let them do the investigation and then bring it back to the board,” Orender said.
Morales acknowledged, when questioned, that he instead privately took the employees’ concerns to Cavey and asked her to resign. A decision that multiple board members took exception to.
“I think it’s totally inappropriate for you to take that without bringing it to the board,” board member John Baker said. “This is beyond the pale.”
“The way this was handled was absolutely out of line,” Orender said.
Board member Arthur Adams Jr. also raised concerns, saying Morales had multiple opportunities over the last few weeks to bring the issues to the board so they could be addressed, but he instead opted to go to Cavey privately last week.
“From everything I heard, I thought it was the best way to protect Vickie and to do the right thing,” Morales responded. “I thought I was doing it the best way to protect the organization and the best way to protect Vickie.”
Baker asked Morales to share specifics about who lodged the complaints with him and what they said that might warrant the investigation Morales was asking for.
Morales declined to do so, saying that how Cavey responded raised concerns for him that if he revealed names, those employees might lose their jobs.
According to Morales, Cavey at first agreed to resign when they spoke privately, but then, he said, she backtracked and instead eliminated the chief of staff position.
“It is also important to note that the most recent leadership team member who voiced concern was shortly terminated thereafter,” Morales said. “The subsequent events raised serious concerns on whether others feel safe and candid with this situation that we currently have.”
Kurt Wilson, the former chief of staff who was recently terminated, spoke during public comment at the beginning of the meeting and heavily criticized Cavey, whom he accused of creating a “pattern of behavior and culture that harms employees.”
“Dozens of my remaining colleagues work in fear of retribution and hostility,” Wilson said. “As chief of staff, I’ve spent more time with Vickie than most and watched firsthand how she systematically created a fear-based culture.”
Cavey addressed the accusations against her, calling the claims that she has created a toxic workplace environment “unsubstantiated.”
“My leadership style is rigorous, and it is fair, consistent and grounded in respect. I hold senior leaders to high standards because JEA’s mission is critical,” Cavey said. “Unsubstantiated accusations of systemic morale or culture problems are false. And were they to be true, they would not suddenly appear overnight in a political news cycle.”
After the board discussed Morales’ decision to ask Cavey privately to resign, Board Chair Joseph DiSalvo asked the board to motion for a confidence vote in Cavey.
“Let’s just get the elephant addressed right now,” DiSalvo said. “Confidence in Vickie Cavey as our CEO. She’s got my confidence. I don’t buy into any of this hearsay, and that’s all it’s been, because they haven’t followed the appropriate processes.”
The board voted 6-1 to endorse Cavey’s leadership as CEO of JEA. Morales was the only board member who voted against it.
One voice that wasn’t heard in Tuesday’s meeting was City Councilmember Ron Salem, who’s the council’s liaison on the JEA Board. Twice, DiSalvo declined to recognize Salem when he asked to speak.
“I’m shocked as a sitting city councilman, the liaison to this board, because I’ve always been allowed to speak whenever I’ve raised my hand up,” Salem told News4JAX after the meeting. “And on this subject, what I wanted to say is I think an external survey is the appropriate way to handle this.”
Salem said the issue will almost certainly be discussed at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, so it’s unclear whether everything is settled.
Timeline: How we got here
Feb. 5: Texts about a ‘big favor’
The controversy began with text messages between City Council President Kevin Carrico and JEA board member Arthur Adams.
In the exchange, Carrico told Adams that at least part of his motivation to nominate his boss, Paul Martinez, for a position on JEA’s board happened because he owed him a “big favor.”
RELATED | Digging deeper into controversial text messages and the JEA scandal
Adams replied: “My plan was to stay…”
After an apparent phone call, Adams later texted that he was disappointed, but added, “I respect your decision.”
Adams was appointed to the board in January 2025, and his term is set to expire on Feb. 28.
Feb. 10: Legislation introduced to replace Adams
A resolution was introduced to confirm Carrico’s appointment of Martinez to the JEA governing body, replacing Adams.
RELATED | Support grows for JEA board member amid questions of ‘favor’ Carrico says he owed his boss
Martinez is the current president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, where Carrico works as the vice president of strategic initiatives.
Feb. 18: Carrico defends his choice; mayor’s office declines comment
As questions mounted about the text messages and the appointment process, Carrico defended the pick in a statement.
Carrico said, “The decision speaks for itself,” and said Martinez was appointed based on qualifications and a longstanding commitment to Jacksonville, citing Martinez’s role leading the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida.
The mayor’s office declined to comment at the time.
Feb. 18: Martinez withdraws
Later that same day, Martinez withdrew from consideration.
“I respect Paul Martinez’s decision and thank him for his decades of service to Jacksonville,” Carrico wrote in a statement. His leadership of one of the top-performing Boys & Girls Clubs organizations in the nation, serving 18,000 local children annually across 59 locations, speaks for itself. It’s unfortunate that political noise and unfair attacks sought to distract from a lifetime of service, but our community continues to benefit from his leadership and commitment.”
Feb. 19: Carrico raises leadership allegations; chief of staff let go
Carrico then shifted focus to leadership inside JEA.
News4JAX contacted Carrico to ask more questions about the “big favor” he was referencing in the text message. The councilman didn’t address that question directly, but instead sent a statement that made serious allegations and questioned the leadership of JEA CEO Vickie Cavey.
In a statement, Carrico said he had received calls and met with JEA employees raising allegations, including racism and a toxic corporate culture tied to the CEO. He said he expected to announce another name for the open board seat “in the coming days.”
That same night, JEA employees were informed Chief of Staff Kurt Wilson was let go, according to information shared with News4JAX.
In 2015, Curry appointed Wilson as Director and Fire Chief.
Carrico addressed Wilson’s departure, and a report from the Florida Times-Union that said JEA Vice Chair Rick Morales asked Cavey this week to step down from her post.
Feb. 20: Mayor, JEA board chair and CEO respond publicly
On Friday, Mayor Donna Deegan appeared alongside JEA board chair Joe DiSalvo and Cavey in a joint press conference.
“There is now a calculated initiative to intimidate our CEO and myself into resigning,” DiSalvo said.
Deegan called the situation a “vile smear campaign,” and said it escalated after Cavey resisted pressure to renew a lobbying contract with politically connected people.
Deegan and Cavey did not name the lobbying firm, and Cavey denied the existence of a “pressure campaign,” but Cavey did say that JEA ended its contract with the firm on Jan. 31 because JEA was not using its services.
State lobbying records show that lobbyists with Ballard Partners were registered to lobby for JEA, but in the fourth quarter of 2025, Ballard Partners was not compensated by JEA for any state lobbying activities.
According to Ballard Partners’ website, two partners are assigned to the Jacksonville office: Curry and Jordan Elsbury, Curry’s former Chief of Staff.
“This vile smear campaign magically appeared after [Cavey] resisted pressure to renew a lobbying contract with people who are politically connected to a handful of council members, including our council president,” Deegan said.
Deegan also tied the issue back to Jacksonville’s last JEA scandal.
“The JEA scheme was the biggest corruption scandal in Jacksonville’s history,” Deegan said.
Cavey addressed leadership and workplace culture concerns, saying she would not comment on personnel issues publicly and adding:
“Racism has no place anywhere.”
Following the news conference, Carrico sent a statement to News4JAX and said the “frantic press conference” showed there is a “growing crisis of confidence at JEA.”
“What is most troubling is Mayor Deegan’s direct involvement in what is supposed to be an independent authority,” Carrico wrote. “JEA was deliberately structured to operate free from political pressure, yet we are now seeing an unmistakable attempt to inject mayoral influence into decisions that belong to its independent leadership and board. When the independence of our public utility is compromised, every ratepayer should be alarmed - especially given the painful lessons from the attempted sale of JEA.”
Carrico called for all communications between the Mayor’s Office, Cavey, their staff, and JEA leadership over the past 60 days to be immediately preserved and made public.
Feb. 23: Curry disputes alleged role in JEA controversy
Curry told News4JAX he believes Deegan was referring to him and the firm where he is a partner, Ballard Partners, during a Friday news conference where the current mayor responded to Carrico’s claims that racism, a toxic work culture, and other leadership problems at JEA are tied to CEO Vickie Cavey.
Curry pointed to a moment during the news conference when Deegan described the allegations as a pressure campaign, and Cavey appeared to dispute that characterization.
“But in a live press conference, she was basically called a liar by the CEO of JEA. And she doubled down on it when Donna made these accusations,” Curry said. “Vickie, the CEO of the utility, said, with all due respect, Mayor, that never happened. And then she made some weird comment about the devil. Donna did. And Vickie said that didn’t happen, essentially saying, Mayor, that’s not true.”
Curry also pushed back on public reporting that tied him or his firm to efforts around JEA’s leadership.
“Allegations that I was somehow involved with what’s happening at JEA, the future of this current CEO. I was completely unaware of it.”
Feb. 24: JEA Board meeting
Curry also told News4JAX he is confident JEA will continue to operate amid the controversy, but did not attend the JEA board meeting on Tuesday.