The city Office of Inspector General reported Oct. 30 that its Sunshine Law investigation into the resignation of JEA Managing Director and CEO Jay Stowe found that “some members did communicate with each other outside of publicly noticed meetings during the transition process.”
Stowe, who was hired by the city-owned utility in 2020, resigned during an emergency board meeting April 15.
Florida’s Sunshine Law prohibits two or more members of the same board from discussing business which should be limited to publicly noticed meetings.
The report states that staff are prohibited from acting as “go-betweens” to relay messages between board members. Topics prohibited by this law include any items that could potentially be subjected to a board vote or that have already been voted on by board members because there is always potential for reconsideration.
The OCG says it administers annual Sunshine Law and public records law training for JEA board members and management-level employees every spring.
Regina Ross, the Office of Inspector General attorney assigned to JEA, said the board member conversations detailed in the report did not rise to Sunshine Law violations.
The OIG said the report will be sent to the State Attorney’s Office to determine if any criminal violations occurred.
The report recommends that the JEA institute an enforceable policy against Sunshine violations and continue Sunshine Law training for board members.
The JEA issued a statement Oct. 30 after the report was released:
"JEA and its board recognize the importance of the Sunshine Law and their obligations to comply. The OIG report did not determine that JEA violated the Sunshine Law, and nothing in the report suggests that any criminal conduct occurred. The Board continues to acknowledge and adhere to Sunshine law provisions and ethical mandates.
We thank our board for its continued service to JEA, our customers and community."
Background
The report details the events surrounding Stowe’s resignation:
At the April 15 emergency board meeting, board member Joseph DiSalvo was named board chairperson and Stowe formally resigned.
After Stowe’s announcement, DiSalvo motioned for retired JEA employee and then-board liaison Vicky Cavey to assume an interim CEO role.
After a brief discussion, JEA board members Ricardo Morales, John Baker, Robert Stein and Marty Lanahan voted to approve the motion.
Board member Kawanza Humphrey voted no. Board member A. Zachary Faison viewed the discussion in an online forum but was unable to participate in the vote.
Cavey’s contract would later be unanimously approved at the board’s May 2024 meeting. Cavey would be promoted to permanent CEO in September.
The Office of Inspector General report said it received allegations that the board members violated Florida Sunshine Law guidelines when they communicated about JEA’s transition in leadership outside of scheduled public meetings.
In interviews with the OIG, board members acknowledged that their overall relationship with Stowe became tense in November 2023 when they learned several JEA projects ballooned in price, some exceeding Stowe’s $100 million budget authority as outlined in the city charter.
Stowe asked the board to increase his budget authority. The board denied his request and decided to audit some of the more costly projects.
In February 2024, the board requested Stowe rehire Cavey, a former employee, as a “board liaison” with oversight of the larger JEA projects.
Cavey had previously returned to assist with the CEO transition between Aaron Zahn and Paul McElroy until Stowe was hired as a permanent CEO.
Many of the board members worked with her during those assignments at JEA and felt she was qualified to complete the review.
The report said all board members were asked about their communications relating to JEA business and reported these interactions:
Stein and DiSalvo
The report said that Bobby Stein (the outgoing chairperson) and Joe DiSalvo (the incoming chairperson) said they engaged in two brief conversations via telephone while DiSalvo was working out of state. One conversation took place in March 2023 and centered on the need to schedule an Invitation to Negotiate meeting for the audit of the projects that ballooned in cost.
Stein advised DiSalvo that information given to the board for review needed to be simplified so members could better understand it at the upcoming meeting.
The second conversation took place April 10, 2024, where the two briefly discussed that an emergency meeting needed to be scheduled to announce Stowe’s resignation and the need to appoint an interim CEO at that meeting.
The meeting was set for April 15, 2024. That meeting would also be DiSalvo’s first meeting as board chairperson.
Stein and Baker
Stein and Baker admitted to briefly discussing some JEA matters outside of a public meeting. During that conversation, Stein advised Baker that Stowe submitted his resignation and asked that he contact Stowe for more information.
Baker and Lanahan
Baker and Marty Lanahan engaged in an in-person conversation in November 2023. Lanahan stated she was visibly upset with Stowe after the November board meeting. She and Baker met for lunch, and Lanahan told Baker she was considering resigning from the board. Baker encouraged her to meet with Stowe and discuss her concerns. Lanahan resigned from her position and is no longer a board member.
Ross reaction
The report said that Ross believed that Baker and Lanahan’s conversation did not violate Sunshine Laws because the board does not take any action when a member resigns, nor does it consider filling member vacancies. The mayor or City Council appoints candidates.
Ross further noted that Lanahan expressed her frustrations with Stowe and some of his staff openly and at length in many board meetings before her lunch with Baker. Simply reiterating that she was still frustrated would not be a violation.
Ross also stated that the CEO’s resignation was not something the board would vote on or discuss further. Notifying other board members of Stowe’s decision to resign would not be a violation. She added that Stein can delegate assignments to other board members as the outgoing board chairperson without violating Sunshine Laws.
Ross would advise against delegating assignments via phone, but if that was all that was said between Stein and Baker and Stein and DiSalvo, she believed the conversations did not rise to the level of a sunshine violation.
Read the report
The report is signed by city Inspector General Matthew J. Lascell. The full report is available online at jacksonville.gov/departments/inspector-general/reports.
This story has been updated with the statement from JEA.