JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico is calling for an independent, outside review of allegations involving leadership and workplace culture at JEA, while also responding directly to questions about the “big favor” wording in text messages tied to a JEA board appointment.
Carrico spoke with News4JAX after a day of tense public meetings — first at JEA headquarters, then at City Hall — where the debate expanded from who should sit on the JEA board to whether there should be an external look at claims about management and employee morale.
Carrico said he watched the JEA board meeting Monday and was surprised the board did not immediately move toward an outside investigation.
“I was a little taken back,” Carrico said. “We owe the people accountability and transparency,”
His comments came after emotional public comment at JEA.
Former Chief of Staff Kurt Wilson criticized CEO Vickie Cavey’s leadership and said her style at headquarters “has been anything but positive.” Wilson also claimed he raised concerns internally and did not have a job the next day.
Other employees spoke in support of Cavey, saying she supported the workforce and “steadied this boat.”
At the JEA meeting, members also debated the external review.
JEA board member Ricardo “Rick” Morales III said he believed it was “reasonable” to pursue an objective, outside review of leadership. But the board opted to go through standard HR processes first.
The board later passed a confidence vote in favor of Cavey.
When News4JAX asked Carrico whether it’s fair for board members to say concerns should go through HR and internal processes before bringing in an outside perspective, Carrico said the situation is more complicated and suggested employees may not feel safe speaking up inside the organization.
“Now there seems to be a culture of fear over there,” Carrico said. “Where if you speak up you could get fired.”
The conversation then spilled into Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Dozens participating in public comment and some addressing the situation at the public utility.
“We don’t want to go through another JEA scandal,” one resident said.
“Hey bro… the jig is up,” another said.
“You’ve got to get a better hold on some of these boards and these commissions,” someone told the council.
Carrico said City Council has options if the JEA board does not move toward an outside review — though he said he hasn’t decided whether to use them.
“It’s within the council’s authority to call an investigative committee,” Carrico said.
He said he hopes to speak directly with JEA board chair Joe DiSalvo about why the board did not immediately move toward an investigation, saying he believed there were allegations “from multiple sources” that should be looked at.
But the back and forth with JEA stems from a text message.
Last week, messages between Carrico and current board member Arthur Adams surfaced showing Carrico say he was replacing Adams referencing a “big favor” and appointing “my guy.”
“I believe that’s blown out of proportion,” he said. “It’s just my incorrect use of passive language and using the word ”favor" loosely... Let me be clear on that and definitive. There is no quid pro quo. There’s no raise. There’s no additional things that my CEO has offered me to sit on a volunteer board."
“It’s just a poor use of the word in my case so I have to own up to that but there is no favor.”
Carrico also said the JEA board seat remains open after the withdrawal of Paul Martinez, the nominee he had backed. Carrico said he is looking at “all options” for the full-term appointment, including the possibility of reappointing Adams, and said he expects scrutiny no matter who is selected.
“All possibilities are still open right now,” Carrico said, adding that he wants to nominate “a true community leader that people trust.”
Carrico was the one to bring the allegations within JEA leadership to the public eye. It came just after Martinez withdrew from consideration and as questions over the text messages remained. It had residents asking during public comment why he chose to announce it when he did.
“It was the time,” he said. I’d had several conversations and there was a board appointment up that I put forward. Obviously there was some backlash to that appointment. It didn’t go through so I thought that was the time to just go ahead and go public and let it out and that’s how it unfolded."
Carrico said his goal now is to restore confidence in what he described as “the people’s utility.”
“So I would say stay tuned and let’s work together as adults and move this forward and restore the public trust,” Carrico said.