JEA’s board chair and top executive expressed appreciation to State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office over its finding that leaders of the city-owned utility committed no wrongdoing stemming from an accusation of Sunshine Law violations.
In written comments following the release of the report Dec. 20, JEA CEO and Managing Director Vickie Cavey praised the state attorney’s office for its “thorough investigation” into the matter.
The report called the accusation, which involved private conversations between board members during a leadership change in the spring of 2024, “unwarranted and unfounded.”
“The report determined JEA board members complied with the law and that no criminal conduct occurred,” her remarks read.
“The baseless allegations by a former employee cast a shadow over the good work our board and more than 2,200 employees do each and every day delivering foundational services to Northeast Florida. Maintaining the trust of our community is of utmost importance and this report could not have provided a clearer vindication.”
Joseph DiSalvo, JEA board chair, lauded the “diligent work” of the state attorney’s office.
“I think it is important to note their findings reinforce the fact that each member on the JEA board of directors fully embrace transparency and Sunshine Law compliance and our commitment to remain above reproach when it comes to ethics and integrity,” he said.
City Inspector General Matthew Lascell requested the opinion from Nelson’s office. The report said the allegations “were without merit and no referral should have been made” from Lascell’s office.
At issue were three conversations between board members, the inspector general’s report said.
In an April 10 phone call, JEA board member Bobby Stein and DiSalvo briefly discussed that the board should hold an emergency meeting to accept the resignation of then-CEO Jay Stowe and install an interim CEO.
The inspector general said Stein also informed board member John Baker that Stowe had submitted his resignation. In the third phone call, then-board member Marty Lanahan told Baker she was dissatisfied with Stowe’s performance.
The State Attorney’s Office ruled that none of the conversations violated Sunshine Laws because no board action was needed to accept Stowe’s resignation. Further, the office ruled that there was no discussion about naming Cavey as interim CEO, which occurred during the same April 15 meeting when the board accepted Stowe’s resignation.
The office also cleared Stein of wrongdoing in an April 4 conversation with two JEA administrators at Southern Grounds coffee shop in Avondale. In that discussion, Stein assigned the administrators to notify other board members about Stowe’s resignation, assemble a severance package for Stowe and draft an employment offer to Cavey to replace Stowe.
Stowe denied assigning anyone to draft the employment offer. Nelson’s office determined that even if he had done so, he would not have committed a violation. Assigning the draft could have been done without a publicly noticed meeting, the report said.