QuoteCity Office of General Counsel says it found negligence, evidence that Zahn allegedly doctored a presentation slide
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/jea-managing-director-and-ceo-aaron-zahn-fired-with-cause
A lawsuit is filed. The case settles for about 1/2 of the entire amount potentially due. Hopefully that will be the last we hear of Zahn.
I look forward to the discovery portion on this appeal. Might try to take as many people down with him as he can.
Quote from: itsfantastic1 on January 28, 2020, 11:35:27 AM
I look forward to the discovery portion on this appeal. Might try to take as many people down with him as he can.
This. We're at the point that if the players are going to go "Donner Party" on each other, it begins now.
Board Chair April Green has resigned.
Quote from: Steve on January 28, 2020, 12:19:52 PM
Board Chair April Green has resigned.
Does this leave Fred Newbill as board chair? Dear god...
Quote from: itsfantastic1 on January 28, 2020, 01:06:54 PM
Quote from: Steve on January 28, 2020, 12:19:52 PM
Board Chair April Green has resigned.
Does this leave Fred Newbill as board chair? Dear god...
Talk about being asleep at the wheel... literally.
My fears are unfounded...the whole board is quiting. Of course; that is what got us in our current situation since the current Mayor picked all the board members...
https://twitter.com/ChrisHongTU/status/1222247221904773120?s=20 (https://twitter.com/ChrisHongTU/status/1222247221904773120?s=20)
Read a more detailed report linked in the JBJ about Zahn's performance. They basically say he orchestrated a plan to sell the utility, with the PUP plan in place as a get rich scheme for himself and other top executives.
Lenny's statement says they are resigning to help rebuild the public trust. Then he says he will work with City Council to appoint new board. Not how you build public trust, Lenny. You are the one who caused this mess. You need to go to timeout.
You're next Lenny!
First Coast News tonight ran a replay of Curry's explanation for replacing the enitre JEA board he inherited when he took over as mayor in his first term. Oh, the irony!
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/jea-board-exodus-is-the-second-of-its-kind-under-mayor-currys-reign/77-9723aa71-eab7-4762-8f7d-c96ccd5aff84 (https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/jea-board-exodus-is-the-second-of-its-kind-under-mayor-currys-reign/77-9723aa71-eab7-4762-8f7d-c96ccd5aff84)
Quote
JEA board exodus is the second of its kind under Mayor Curry's reign
In the wake of investigations, the current board members have announced a mass exodus, but it isn't the first time the city has seen a major shakeup like this.
Author: Shelby Danielsen
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — What's happening with JEA and the City of Jacksonville right now is unprecedented, with at least five known separate investigations underway and a CEO fired "with cause" after a failed attempt to sell the public utility.
In the wake of it all, the current board members have announced a mass exodus, but it isn't the first time the city has seen a major shakeup for the utility's Board of Directors.
Just five years ago, there was tension between the city and the JEA board of directors. The tension unfolded publicly in September of 2015, just a couple months into Mayor Lenny Curry's first term, as questions over transparency were investigated by city attorneys. The allegation was that meeting agendas were sent out to board members in advance, a practice some believed violated open government laws.
As that investigation started to wind down, Mayor Curry asked for all JEA board members at the time to submit their resignations.
In his letter asking for their resignation, Curry said the findings by the Office of General Counsel had so far led to "strong concerns about the behaviors and practices exhibited by JEA board members" at the time, but he went on to state that no proof had been found of illegal actions or wrongdoing. He writes that "no information produced or discoveries made that demonstrate any deliberate intent to skirt sunshine laws."
Prior to asking for their resignations, the mayor requested private meetings with each board member to discuss the issue of transparency. That request resulted in heated exchanges with at least two board members, which led to conversations that turned the question of transparency back on the mayor's office.
In one lengthy email exchange, the JEA Vice-Chair at the time, Peter Bower, asked the mayor's staff if he could bring his own attorney to the private meeting, or at least have the city's general counsel present, since he would be questioned by the mayor's administration and wanted someone neutral to be able to document the conversation.
"If the mayor still feels the need to have others present, then I want to have someone with me," wrote Bower.
Bower was scolded for making such an "unusual" request and was ultimately told he must attend alone or not come at all.
"Since the subject matter regards sunshine law issues, let's hold the meeting in the sunshine," Bower argued.
Bower is then accused of adding "obstacles and unnecessary complications" for the mayor's office by asking for the meeting to be held in the open. He was also denied information when he inquired about the subject of the meeting so he could "prepare." Ultimately, he was asked to immediately resign and the meeting never took place.
In another heated email exchange, the JEA Board Chair at the time, Lisa Strange Weatherby, also asked for the meeting to be held in the open, which she was also denied.
In an email to the mayor's office, she writes, "The mayor has chosen to insist on the government in the darkness."
She submits her resignation weeks later.
Mayor Curry accepts every resignation of that board, except for one. He allows Husein Cumber to remain on the board, at the insistence of some council members but appoints replacements for everyone else. City Council confirmed each of his appointees.
Since then, there's been more turnover at JEA with additional board replacements, the biggest of which took place in April of 2018 when longtime JEA CEO Paul McElroy announced he was leaving just as controversy was heating up over a possible sale of JEA.
McElroy's replacement, Aaron Zahn, was fired this week and remains under investigation along with the entire JEA Senior Leadership Team. With no permanent CEO in place and an impending exodus of the entire JEA board, there is still a question over who will lead the public utility.
On Wednesday, the mayor's office told First Coast News that he is already compiling a list of "qualified, potential board members". The mayor's office says he will work with the city council to make those appointments.
The next question many people have been asking is whether the people the mayor appoints to join the board will accept the position at such a turbulent and uncertain time?
The mayor's office says we should expect more details to come out about the board's future next week.
Has anyone brought a lawsuit on his removing people on boards for seats that have not expired? If not, it needs to happen. He overthrew precedent but it needs to be determined if laws were broken too.
Quote from: vicupstate on January 30, 2020, 09:17:59 AM
Has anyone brought a lawsuit on his removing people on boards for seats that have not expired? If not, it needs to happen. He overthrew precedent but it needs to be determined if laws were broken too.
To my knowledge, every person he "removed" was technically them resigning.
Quote from: Steve on January 30, 2020, 10:43:33 AM
Quote from: vicupstate on January 30, 2020, 09:17:59 AM
Has anyone brought a lawsuit on his removing people on boards for seats that have not expired? If not, it needs to happen. He overthrew precedent but it needs to be determined if laws were broken too.
To my knowledge, every person he "removed" was technically them resigning.
Too bad no one called him on it.
Was that true with the Planning Commission or whatever board he started his purging with?
Quote from: vicupstate on January 30, 2020, 10:51:21 AM
Quote from: Steve on January 30, 2020, 10:43:33 AM
Quote from: vicupstate on January 30, 2020, 09:17:59 AM
Has anyone brought a lawsuit on his removing people on boards for seats that have not expired? If not, it needs to happen. He overthrew precedent but it needs to be determined if laws were broken too.
To my knowledge, every person he "removed" was technically them resigning.
Too bad no one called him on it.
Was that true with the Planning Commission or whatever board he started his purging with?
Lisa King and some of her proponents made quite the stink over it. I do think the media on that issue was a little silent.
The media being silent certainly isn't an issue now as the JEA fiasco woke them up like nothing else I've seen here locally.
At that time, Curry rode in as a blond hair, blue eyed savior saving Jax from Alvin Brown. He could do no wrong to many people in town at that time. Now everyone knows better.
Quote from: thelakelander on January 30, 2020, 11:38:52 AM
At that time, Curry rode in as a blond hair, blue eyed savior saving Jax from Alvin Brown. He could do no wrong to many people in town at that time. Now everyone knows better.
Sadly, I don't know about "everyone knowing better". There are multitudes of citizens in Jacksonville who are completely oblivious to what has transpired at JEA. How can anyone out there with a heartbeat and mini brain, not suspect that Lenny's board and Lenny's CEO, Lenny's staff, Lenny's City Council, and Lenny himself, were behind this entire fiasco?
Finally....https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/jea-served-with-federal-grand-jury-subpoena
Chris Hong of the T-U posted it on Twitter. It is VERY thorough and VERY specific. It even goes back to subpoena's for communication with the Mayor's office regarding the selection of CEO (when Zahn was selected).
Additionally, they requested any communication on Confide, a "confidential" (no app is truly confidential) communication app. The fact that they named a very specific app is....interesting.
The Feds have their "Deep Throat" in the parking garage.
Prison worthy?
I don't know if anyone else noticed, but today when Curry was asked about the subpoena, he seemed to give the look of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A moment of uneasiness.
Here is a link to the subpoena. https://www.jacksonville.com/assets/pdf/staugustine/LK3499423.pdf
As Steve pointed out, it looks like the FBI agents (and perhaps other federal agencies) working the case already know what they're looking for.
I also wonder how much Melissa Nelson found. I'm assuming she also found something that made it a federal crime which is why she turned it over to them. I'm sure the feds have larger resources, particularly in the tech space.
Melissa Dykes terminated "without cause" today.
Quote from: blizz01 on April 28, 2020, 01:32:44 PM
Melissa Dykes terminated "without cause" today.
Had to happen.
Quote from: blizz01 on April 28, 2020, 01:32:44 PM
Melissa Dykes terminated "without cause" today.
I don't get the feeling she was the ringleader or driver of all of the craziness. I think she was in a tough spot personally. She earned a very nice salary ($422k) that is tough to find in Jacksonville.
But, given her role she clearly knew what was happening. She may not have known every detail, but she knew enough that she should have known it wasn't right.
If the board was going to build trust back anytime soon, they really had to do this.
Quote from: Steve on April 28, 2020, 03:51:22 PM
Quote from: blizz01 on April 28, 2020, 01:32:44 PM
Melissa Dykes terminated "without cause" today.
I don't get the feeling she was the ringleader or driver of all of the craziness. I think she was in a tough spot personally. She earned a very nice salary ($422k) that is tough to find in Jacksonville.
But, given her role she clearly knew what was happening. She may not have known every detail, but she knew enough that she should have known it wasn't right.
If the board was going to build trust back anytime soon, they really had to do this.
Agree, wrong place at the wrong time. I bet working for Zahn was torture. She probably tried to be a good team player under him but he just pulled her down with him. The board gave her glowing reviews even as they more or less apologetically let her go for, as the board cited, purely optical purposes. Subject to any new revelations from all the investigations, I suspect she will be quickly employed by another utility or other company pretty soon.
I looked up her profile on 'Linked In' to see where she went to school. Undergrad at UF then ONE YEAR at Dartmouth. Then "Vice President" at JP Morgan Securities. I assume she started lower on the totem pole and worked her way up. I mean is she seriously brilliant or well connected? $442,000 in Jax goes a long way.
For what THAT'S worth, Zahn went to Yale.
Quote from: MusicMan on April 28, 2020, 08:26:52 PM
I looked up her profile on 'Linked In' to see where she went to school. Undergrad at UF then ONE YEAR at Dartmouth. Then "Vice President" at JP Morgan Securities. I assume she started lower on the totem pole and worked her way up. I mean is she seriously brilliant or well connected? $442,000 in Jax goes a long way.
I mean, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg aren't college grads.
Being genuinely brilliant is not reserve for Ivy League Graduates.
I think Nate Monroe nailed it with his column yesterday:
https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20200428/nate-monroe-jea-board-hits-reset-at-top-toppling-once-promising-leader
Side Note - Nate Monroe may be better than Ron Littlepage....which IMO is some VERY high praise. To that point if you can't read the article because you don't have a subscription, pay the $10/month and at least get a digital one.
Titles in the banking industry are not congruent to other industries. Vice President is just a manager, and that might have been her title when she exited and she chose not to list all the positions leading up the that.
Quote from: Steve on April 29, 2020, 09:54:06 AM
Quote from: MusicMan on April 28, 2020, 08:26:52 PM
I looked up her profile on 'Linked In' to see where she went to school. Undergrad at UF then ONE YEAR at Dartmouth. Then "Vice President" at JP Morgan Securities. I assume she started lower on the totem pole and worked her way up. I mean is she seriously brilliant or well connected? $442,000 in Jax goes a long way.
I mean, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg aren't college grads.
Being genuinely brilliant is not reserve for Ivy League Graduates.
I think Nate Monroe nailed it with his column yesterday:
https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20200428/nate-monroe-jea-board-hits-reset-at-top-toppling-once-promising-leader
Side Note - Nate Monroe may be better than Ron Littlepage....which IMO is some VERY high praise. To that point if you can't read the article because you don't have a subscription, pay the $10/month and at least get a digital one.
Nate is one of the great Jacksonville columnists of all time. His voice was much needed and he came along and just the right time.