JEA Board to Consider Mass Layoffs/Privitization

[DrQue]

The Mayor's Chief of Staff in reference to a reporter: "We don't negotiate with terrorists"

Wow.

[Steve]

The Mayor's Chief of Staff in reference to a reporter: "We don't negotiate with terrorists"

Wow.

Stop it. He really said that? Who is the terrorist, someone that isn't willing to be a "yes man" to Curry?

[thelakelander]

Sounds like Nate Monroe was the terrorist in that email exchange.

[DrQue]

The Mayor's Chief of Staff in reference to a reporter: "We don't negotiate with terrorists"

Wow.

Stop it. He really said that? Who is the terrorist, someone that isn't willing to be a "yes man" to Curry?

From the February 2019 email from Brian Hughes:

"Thanks for the additional information. The process as you laid out in your email is one that I am advising Mayor Curry against. With all respect to Mayor Godbold and you, I can't advise Mayor Curry to take public, written positions in response to a journalist who consistently misinforms the public. Said in the language of another time, we don't negotiate with terrorists. The TU newsroom and Nate have, since the very beginning of the JEA discussion, been allied with the political motivations of Brosche and a few union bosses. We simply will not let Nate - an ill-informed and foolish person - dictate our movements."

[Charles Hunter]

Taken straight from the playbook of their idol in the White House.

[vicupstate]

Some questions:

1) Is the recent news creating a backlash or is it being ignored?

2) Is the Civic Council going to be silent on this issue as well?

3) Khan spoke out against selling before. Is he going to do that again?

[Snaketoz]

Some questions:

1) Is the recent news creating a backlash or is it being ignored?

2) Is the Civic Council going to be silent on this issue as well?

3) Khan spoke out against selling before. Is he going to do that again?

Yes

[thelakelander]

Some questions:

1) Is the recent news creating a backlash or is it being ignored?

It's creating a big backlash, as expected. However, it has been clear that things were headed this way for a while.

2) Is the Civic Council going to be silent on this issue as well?

The Civic Council is a joke. I can't imagine the public takes them seriously. It lost all credibility by remaining silent with all the foolishness going on downtown. If Brown were in office, they'd be all out full force in the media.

3) Khan spoke out against selling before. Is he going to do that again?

This remains to be seen, not that his opinion should carry much weight either. He doesn't even live here.

[Kerry]

Khan didn't want JEA privatized before because he thought Lot J was a lock for the new headquarters.

[jaxlongtimer]

Tell me the fix wasn't in for this week's JEA Board approval to pursue options to privatize JEA.  No way you could vet, negotiate a contract and hire these 4 firms in just 2 days for such a complex proposition.

Just two days after the JEA board decided to explore privatization of the city-owned utility, JEA announced Thursday in rapid-fire fashion it has hired four firms to provide financial and legal advice to JEA while inviting offers for the utility...

JEA hired J.P. Morgan Securities and Morgan Stanley & Co. as financial advisers. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Foley & Lardner will give legal guidance...

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190725/jea-takes-next-step-in-seeking-offers-for-utility

[vicupstate]

It's Jacksonville. The fix is ALWAYS in.

[KenFSU]

Khan didn't want JEA privatized before because he thought Lot J was a lock for the new headquarters.

This is patently absurd.

Who stood to benefit from a $3 billion economic windfall more than anybody else if the city had taken JEA public last year?

Shad Khan, whose plans for redeveloping the stadium district will obviously require hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies and who was locked into negotiations with the city when the discussion came up last year.

In terms of Shad Khan wanting JEA to stay public until a Lot J deal was brokered, again, it just doesn't align with the facts. Because JEA is a publicly owned company, it was never going to get the same incentives from the city for its headquarters that a privately owned company would. Morris was talked out of offering up the Times-Union property for this reason. To the best of my knowledge, there's been no major public ask from the Ryan headquarters. Doesn't feel like Ryan got a steep discount on the land.

If Khan was the evil genius you believe he is, he would have said, "Sell JEA tomorrow! The ratepayers will share in the economic windfall, the utility will be better equipped to serve the city of Jacksonville, and the city will enter into a new era of economic prosperity."

Instead, he proactively came out and suggested it was a terrible, foolish idea.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180419/shad-khan-selling-jea-is-terrible-idea

I'm hesistant to say why (you never know if he who shall not be named is still out there lurking, waiting to use something against you), but I've spent a lot of time around the Jags organization in the last six weeks or so, up to and including in-depth conversations with some of the highest ranking people there. To a person, every single human working for the Jags talks passionately about the organization's top-down goal of helping to transform Jacksonville into a world class city.

It's literally written on the walls.

Whether you agree with their methods or ideas for doing so is another story altogether, and there is obviously a vested business interest on their side with these plans as well, but there's absolutely no universe where Shad Khan is hatching an evil conspiracy against the city.

Everyone down there believes in Jacksonville, wants to see the city live up to its potential, and is all hands on deck toward making Jacksonville a great, successful, long-term NFL mainstay.

I think you unfairly villify Khan and the Jags.

If you think we bend too much to the Jags' desires (a reasonable argument), that's on the city, not on the Jags for asking.

Khan, as we've seen, clearly can't pull any strings on JEA on his own.

[Kerry]

Khan didn't want JEA privatized before because he thought Lot J was a lock for the new headquarters.

This is patently absurd.

Who stood to benefit from a $3 billion economic windfall more than anybody else if the city had taken JEA public last year?

Shad Khan, whose plans for redeveloping the stadium district will obviously require hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies and who was locked into negotiations with the city when the discussion came up last year.

In terms of Shad Khan wanting JEA to stay public until a Lot J deal was brokered, again, it just doesn't align with the facts. Because JEA is a publicly owned company, it was never going to get the same incentives from the city for its headquarters that a privately owned company would. Morris was talked out of offering up the Times-Union property for this reason. To the best of my knowledge, there's been no major public ask from the Ryan headquarters. Doesn't feel like Ryan got a steep discount on the land.

If Khan was the evil genius you believe he is, he would have said, "Sell JEA tomorrow! The ratepayers will share in the economic windfall, the utility will be better equipped to serve the city of Jacksonville, and the city will enter into a new era of economic prosperity."

Instead, he proactively came out and suggested it was a terrible, foolish idea.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180419/shad-khan-selling-jea-is-terrible-idea

I'm hesistant to say why (you never know if he who shall not be named is still out there lurking, waiting to use something against you), but I've spent a lot of time around the Jags organization in the last six weeks or so, up to and including in-depth conversations with some of the highest ranking people there. To a person, every single human working for the Jags talks passionately about the organization's top-down goal of helping to transform Jacksonville into a world class city.

It's literally written on the walls.

Whether you agree with their methods or ideas for doing so is another story altogether, and there is obviously a vested business interest on their side with these plans as well, but there's absolutely no universe where Shad Khan is hatching an evil conspiracy against the city.

Everyone down there believes in Jacksonville, wants to see the city live up to its potential, and is all hands on deck toward making Jacksonville a great, successful, long-term NFL mainstay.

I think you unfairly villify Khan and the Jags.

If you think we bend too much to the Jags' desires (a reasonable argument), that's on the city, not on the Jags for asking.

Khan, as we've seen, clearly can't pull any strings on JEA on his own.

Ugggh - go back and look at the timelines.  Khan was already planning on JEA when Lot J was announced.  If it was privatised BEFORE the deal was done Curry/Khan would have to sell the idea of Lot J to outsiders they didn't control.  When Lot J lost all of a sudden privatization was back on table, and at a speed which indicates it was back on table months ago.

JEA was a loss-leader for Lot J.  How many times has Curry and Khan said they need jobs before they can develop the residential and entertainment portions?  Answer, dozens of times.

If Khan was remotely capable of maling Jax a world class city how come it hasn't happened yet?  It's not like he just got here yesterday and this City is further from world-class than at any point since the 1901 and losing ground.

[Tacachale]

Khan didn't want JEA privatized before because he thought Lot J was a lock for the new headquarters.

This is patently absurd.

Who stood to benefit from a $3 billion economic windfall more than anybody else if the city had taken JEA public last year?

Shad Khan, whose plans for redeveloping the stadium district will obviously require hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies and who was locked into negotiations with the city when the discussion came up last year.

In terms of Shad Khan wanting JEA to stay public until a Lot J deal was brokered, again, it just doesn't align with the facts. Because JEA is a publicly owned company, it was never going to get the same incentives from the city for its headquarters that a privately owned company would. Morris was talked out of offering up the Times-Union property for this reason. To the best of my knowledge, there's been no major public ask from the Ryan headquarters. Doesn't feel like Ryan got a steep discount on the land.

If Khan was the evil genius you believe he is, he would have said, "Sell JEA tomorrow! The ratepayers will share in the economic windfall, the utility will be better equipped to serve the city of Jacksonville, and the city will enter into a new era of economic prosperity."

Instead, he proactively came out and suggested it was a terrible, foolish idea.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180419/shad-khan-selling-jea-is-terrible-idea

I'm hesistant to say why (you never know if he who shall not be named is still out there lurking, waiting to use something against you), but I've spent a lot of time around the Jags organization in the last six weeks or so, up to and including in-depth conversations with some of the highest ranking people there. To a person, every single human working for the Jags talks passionately about the organization's top-down goal of helping to transform Jacksonville into a world class city.

It's literally written on the walls.

Whether you agree with their methods or ideas for doing so is another story altogether, and there is obviously a vested business interest on their side with these plans as well, but there's absolutely no universe where Shad Khan is hatching an evil conspiracy against the city.

Everyone down there believes in Jacksonville, wants to see the city live up to its potential, and is all hands on deck toward making Jacksonville a great, successful, long-term NFL mainstay.

I think you unfairly villify Khan and the Jags.

If you think we bend too much to the Jags' desires (a reasonable argument), that's on the city, not on the Jags for asking.

Khan, as we've seen, clearly can't pull any strings on JEA on his own.

Ugggh - go back and look at the timelines.  Khan was already planning on JEA when Lot J was announced.  If it was privatised BEFORE the deal was done Curry/Khan would have to sell the idea of Lot J to outsiders they didn't control.  When Lot J lost all of a sudden privatization was back on table, and at a speed which indicates it was back on table months ago.

JEA was a loss-leader for Lot J.  How many times has Curry and Khan said they need jobs before they can develop the residential and entertainment portions?  Answer, dozens of times.

If Khan was remotely capable of maling Jax a world class city how come it hasn't happened yet?  It's not like he just got here yesterday and this City is further from world-class than at any point since the 1901 and losing ground.

Tin foil is a good look for you.

[Kerry]

I've actually given it a lot of thought and came to the conclusion that I really don't care that much anymore.  If you guys think Khan and company are going to make Jax world-class and Lot J is going to be the next greatest thing then more power to you.  Personally, Jax hasn't acheived a single thing since I moved here 16 years ago.