The Jacksonville City Council confirmed Mayor Lenny Curry’s seven appointees to the JEA board and approved a bill that will ask voters to change how selections are made.
Confirmed at the Council’s April 14 virtual meeting are:
• John Baker II, executive chairman and CEO of FRP Holdings Inc.
• Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph DiSalvo.
• A. Zachary Faison Jr., Edward Waters president and CEO.
• Dr. Leon Haley Jr., UF Health Jacksonville CEO.
• Marty Lanahan, IberiaBank executive vice president and regional president.
• Robert “Bobby” L. Stein, The Regency Group president.
• Tom VanOsdol, president and CEO of Ascension Florida.
Council approved Faison 18-1, with Brenda Priestly Jackson voting no. She was concerned about funding the college receives from the city could affect his independence.
It confirmed Haley 16-3 with Rory Diamond, Randy DeFoor and Priestly Jackson voting no. The three members, who make up the Council’s Special Investigatory Committee looking into JEA, feared UF Health’s annual city funding could be used as leverage to pressure Haley’s decision-making and independence on the board.
UF Health Jacksonville, formerly Shands Hospital, received $26 million from the city in fiscal year 2019-20, an $8 million increase from the previous year. Haley said April 7 the health system’s total budget is more than $800 million.
Six previous board members left after a failed effort to privatize JEA. Of the six, five resigned and one’s term expired. A seventh already had resigned.
Diamond and Council member Reggie Gaffney recommended the new JEA board select Baker as its president.
The newly appointed board is scheduled to meet April 28, when it is expected to launch the search for the utility’s next CEO.
Future JEA board selection
Council voted 19-0 to place a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot that would divide the job of appointing JEA board members, now solely held by the mayor.
If approved, the city charter change would give the Council four JEA board appointments and the mayor three.
For one of the Council JEA seats, the Council president must nominate an applicant who is a former JEA employee or a person recommended by an employee, union or group of current or former JEA employees.
Council member Garrett Dennis introduced the bill Feb 11. He argues that Council members have little to no influence in JEA without the ability to pick appointees.
The Council would have the ability to remove their picks under the charter change, and a two-thirds vote of the Council would be needed to remove the mayor’s appointees.
JEA board member terms and appointments will be staggered, allowing a different Council president to nominate a person to fill a board vacancy every year.
Members serve four-year terms.
The bill will require Curry to select three of his latest JEA board appointees to remain if the referendum is successful. The Council would nominate the other four. The Council could make its own selection or ask the other four Curry appointees to stay.