Jacksonville City Council members investigating the attempted sale of JEA have run into delays in public records requests sent to the utility.
“We have asked for the JEA to provide us with a list of a little more than 80 areas… of concern… we have not received a single one. So, we continue to push to get information from the JEA,” said City Councilwoman Randy DeFoor on Wednesday's First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross.
If the City Council does not receive the requested documents, they will have to subpoena JEA and essentially themselves, as JEA is owned by the community.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reports city attornies are preparing subpeonas for JP Morgan Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC for documents tied to JEA’s failed attempt to privatize.
The Council is currently in the process of trying to obtain the deposition of Melissa Dykes, interim CEO of JEA as well as Paul McElroy, former CEO of JEA. Defoor feels both testimonies will be critical to the investigation.
When asked what she felt the outcome would have been if the sale continued, DeFoor said it would not have been in the best interests of the City.
“In my opinion, it was a corrupt process from the very beginning. And it was based on manipulation. It was based on false information. And it was really created in order to manipulate a certain outcome. So, when you have a corrupt process, you're going to have a corrupt result.”
Sarah Glenn can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org, 904-358-6317
