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A.G. GancarskiJune 28, 2018

A draft of the final report from the Jacksonville City Council special committee on the future of JEA revealed a consensus to keep the utility local and publicly owned. However, the report was not memorialized by committee passage, due to a lack of quorum. And that worries committee Chair John Crescimbeni. “I would hope that the committee’s […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 13, 2018

On Tuesday evening, the Jacksonville City Council approved incentives for The District, a 30-acre Southbank development on the site of the former JEA Southside Generating Station. As part of that deal, developers Peter Rummell and Michael Munz have a deal via their Elements Development to buy the land for $18.6 million from the JEA Board. JEA interim CEO Aaron Zahn, in […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 12, 2018

The Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday backed a committee vote and stopped a resolution drafted last week that would expressly discourage interim JEA CEO Aaron Zahn from applying for the permanent position. The vote was 4-10 against the resolution, with sponsor Garrett Dennis, Council President Anna Brosche, and Councilmembers Joyce Morgan and Reggie Gaffney the sole no votes. The bill […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 30, 2018

Jacksonville City Councilmen Jim Love and Matt Schellenberg, both second term Republicans, had expressed different visions for the future of Jacksonville’s public utility. Schellenberg’s 2018-242 would encourage the Mayor and the JEA Board to explore a review of a potential sale; Love’s 2018-248 would represent Council opposition to a sale. Both bills will not see the Council floor, after a […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 2, 2018

JEA CEO Aaron Zahn is settling into his interim role. Florida Politics spoke with Zahn in light of recent criticism of the CEO. Navigating a tricky political climate, a neophyte to the world of municipal utilities (he was on the board weeks before he made the CEO bid), Zahn has faced a unique pressure. We discussed this and […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 26, 2018

With the controversial debate about privatizing Jacksonville’s public utility JEA in the rear view mirror for now after Mayor Lenny Curry said he wouldn’t introduce a privatization proposal, the Jacksonville City Council Special Committee on the Future of JEA Thursday had a different feel. JEA’s interim CEO, Aaron Zahn, addressed the committee for the second straight week. […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 24, 2018

In a memo to JEA employees Monday, interim CEO Aaron Zahn hailed “a new dawn” for the Jacksonville utility. The point of the memo was clear. It framed Zahn, a board member for one month who leveled-up into the CEO chair, as an agent of stability for the utility, which has been rocked for months by […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 20, 2018

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said last month that he wanted the city to have a “mature conversation” about JEA valuation and whether privatization was the way forward. However, after yet another series of bad news cycles in which Curry, a popular mayor for most of his term, has seen that conversation and his mayoralty pilloried in […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 19, 2018

On Tuesday, the board of Jacksonville’s public utility JEA picked former board member Aaron Zahn as its new interim CEO to serve for the next year. Meanwhile, CFO Melissa Dykes, passed over the CEO opening, will receive some sort of role change. Zahn and Dykes appeared at Thursday’s meeting of the Jacksonville City Council special committee on the […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 18, 2018

Jacksonville City Councilman Garrett Dennis filed a bill this week that is his latest shot across the bow of Mayor Lenny Curry. The bill, while not likely to pass, will be an interesting litmus test of how much political capital Dennis has with Council in the wake of some difficult news cycles for the Curry administration. Per […]

Tag: Aaron Zahn
Mike Johnson. Image via AP.

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