JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The final report by a special Jacksonville City Council committee formed to investigate a botched attempt to sell the JEA in 2019 calls the plan greedy and found that it cost the city millions of dollars. The 132-page report released Monday morning was the result of 10 months of committee work, including witness testimony, and prepared by an attorney for the City Council. The report says the compensation plan “ran afoul through Aaron Zahn’s greed.” In closing, the report says “The ultimate cost to JEA and the City was millions of dollars. The truth around JEA’s strategic planning process is complex and definitively involved the Mayor, City Council, the entire Board, OGC and countless strategic advisors. He applauds the City Council investigation on JEA and says the report points to three huge problems.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One of Mayor Lenny Curry’s former campaign advisors is taking aim at the Jacksonville City Council committee looking into the aborted sale of JEA. Baker recently answered some questions about his involvement but refused to discuss his work as a consultant for FPL, saying that information is privileged. In an email, Bishop called the subpoena unlawful and said his client objects because the information the committee seeks is protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. “The City Council should either withdraw or decline to enforce these patently unlawful and invalid subpoenas. If the City proceeds with enforcement of these subpoenas, Mr. Baker will be left with no choice but to seek protection from this unconstitutional intrusion in the courts,” Bishop wrote.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Political consultant Tim Baker, who advised Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, is once again being subpoenaed by the City Council due to his role during the talks of a potential JEA sale. Baker, along with a host of others, has been questioned by an attorney for the special committee looking into the botched sale plan. He testified in September, but during a special meeting Monday, the committee said it wants more information about his role when he was consulting for JEA and Florida Power and Light. “There appeared to be a conflict of interest when he was serving both Florida Power and Light and JEA board at the same time,” said Steve Busey, counsel for the committee. A statement from Baker reads:“This is an unconstitutional overreach by the committee, and I look forward to vigorously defending my constitutional rights.”The committee hopes to issue a report of its findings by the beginning of December.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Another player in the JEA saga was questioned about what happened during the city-owned utility’s failed sales attempt. Tim Baker, a political consultant for Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, was questioned last month by an attorney for the City Council investigative committee about the role he played in the botched JEA sale. Zahn said that he flew to Atlanta on a plane provided by Conventus, LLC, a company co-managed by Baker. Sam Mousa, who recently retired from that position and is listed in public records as a co-manager of Conventus LLC, was also there. The testimony is being reviewed by a City Council committee looking into JEA and the practices surrounding the potential sale.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The special Jacksonville City Council committee investigating who initiated efforts to privatize the city-owned utility and if any laws or ethical standards were broken in during the process is hoping to have its final report completed by the end of September. During its meeting Monday morning, committee members expressed concern about access to testimony by the mayor current Chief Administrative officer Brian Hughes, who asserted executive privilege in order to not answer some of the questions. The City Attorneys Office has ruled that such privilege was allowed, but council members are looking to make some changes -- trying to not allow that to take place. Federal prosecutors are also investigating the efforts to sell the JEA. There is no word on when that probe may be completed.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. A political consultant subpoenaed by the Jacksonville City Council has agreed to provide a sworn deposition to the committee looking into the failed bid to sell JEA. Tim Baker is the consultant who represented Mayor Lenny Curry during his campaign, and he also advised JEA during the sale process. The botched JEA sale has been the target of a City Council investigation committee for months. Baker and Mousa were photographed attending an Atlanta Braves baseball game with Curry, former JEA CEO Aaron Zahn, former City Council president Scott Wilson, and Brian Hughes -- the mayors chief administrative officer. The trip was in October at a time when the JEA sale was being negotiated and there was a cone of silence in place.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. A City Council investigative committee looking into the failed bid to sell JEA revealed new information on Monday about an interview with a former member of the leadership team at the city-owned utility. According to its investigation, crucial information may have been intentionally destroyed on the personal device of the former JEA Chief Operating Officer. Some council members like Rory Diamond said that is criminal. Former JEA Chief Information Officer admits to intentionally putting the wrong password into then-Chief Operating Officer Melissa Dykes tablet destroying all documents there on. The JEA investigative committee plans to issue subpoenas Baker, Mousa, former JEA board member Alan Howard and Michael Munz, an executive at the Dalton Agency, to testify in the investigation.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayor Lenny Curry on Monday responded to the latest information released on the investigation into the scuttled attempt to sell JEA. NextEra, which is the parent company of Florida Power & Light, handed over the information after getting a subpoena from a special Jacksonville City Council committee investigating the negotiations. Also on the list of those who worked on the negotiations was Bold City Strategic Partners, run by Tim Baker. The special City Council committee investigating JEA is due to meet Tuesday, May 26. A federal grand jury has also issued a subpoena for records related to the attempted sale of the city-owned utility.

SPECIAL SECTION: Tracking the JEA sagaIn its response, the company identified 13 companies including Mousa Consulting Group, a firm led by Sam Mousa, the city’s former chief administrative officer. Baker, who has consulted for Curry, ran the firm with Brian Hughes, Mousa’s replacement as chief administrative officer, up until 2017. He also said the firm did not have any contracts with FP&L while Hughes was still on board. Fallout from the doomed sale included the dismissals of then-CEO Aaron Zahn, CFO Ryan Wannemacher and several other high-level JEA executives. “I have long believed and publicly stated there was a strategic and concerted effort by Lenny Curry to sell JEA,” Dennis said.

Standing in the background of Monday’s news conference was Tim Baker, a political consultant who worked on Mayor Lenny Curry’s campaigns and whose name was recently attached to the JEA saga. JEA has said that former CEO Aaron Zahn considered hiring Baker to help with a potential sale, that did not happen. Hughes, a political consultant before joining Curry’s staff, said he’s not concerned about the council investigation. “I have no concerns about the investigation because the investigation is to get information to inform public policy,” Hughes said in a statement to News4Jax. Her office has handed over its investigation of JEA to federal investigators.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former JEA CEO Aaron Zahn floated the idea of hiring one of Mayor Lenny Curry’s top advisers to consult on the since-scuttled plan to sell the city-owned utility, News4Jax learned Friday. “Aaron spoke of hiring Tim Baker as a consultant," Vinyard said. “He wanted to hire Mr. Baker through one of the law firms associated with the ITN process. “I have never worked for JEA,” Baker said Friday. “Tim Baker is a private business owner and does not discuss his private business interests with Mayor Curry,” the spokesperson said.

And a plan is in the works for City Council to get more control of JEA in the future. The JEA Board of Directors had called an emergency meeting for Tuesday to determine Zahn’s fate. I have not worked with Melissa on political matters for over 3 years and have no engagement with her should she run for re-election. Tim Baker, political consultantAlso Monday, City Council member Garrett Dennis said he wants to make changes to how the JEA Board of Directors is appointed. City Council has just as much of a vested interest in JEA as the executive branch does,” Dennis said.