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Hightower: JEA Privatization Attempt 'Could Be The Greatest Municipal Scandal In The US'

Pictured: Mike Hightower (left) was recently a guest on First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross (right).
HEATHER SCHATZ / WJCT NEWS
Mike Hightower (left) was recently a guest on First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross (right).

Former JEA board Chair and lobbyist Mike Hightower says that when all the investigations are complete, the public utility’s failed attempt to privatize “could be the greatest municipal scandal in the United States, ever.”

During a presentation Feb. 3 to the Meninak Club of Jacksonville, Hightower stepped up his criticism toward those involved in the attempt to sell the city-owned utility, according to Jacksonville Daily Record.

“This will be the greatest scandal in the history of Duval County. But more importantly, if this is where it looks like it could go, this could be the greatest municipal scandal in the United States, ever,” Hightower said.

Related: Hightower discusses JEA on First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross on Jan. 9

“By virtue of the money involved, the people involved and the amount of people that were affected,” he said.

Hightower retired from JEA after 16 years on the board and four years as an employed lobbyist on the utility’s staff. He is a charter member of the nonprofit OurJax, formed Jan. 9.

An expanded version of this story is at JaxDailyRecord.com.