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A.G. GancarskiSeptember 19, 2017

Almost 11 months ago to the day, the JEA Board gave the utility high marks for its performance during and after Hurricane Matthew. On Tuesday, it was time for an encore performance — as the JEA Board met, with Hurricane Irma on its mind. After a week in which the Mayor had “stern words” for […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 18, 2017

Monday’s Jacksonville City Council meeting saw local officials address the body regarding Hurricane Irma. Expect a big budgetary hit from this year’s storm, with infrastructural damage that is still being tallied. That cost was buried in the mix of a few speakers on Monday, but will be the long-range policy impact of the storm. The city’s […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 15, 2017

Sewage spills. Flawed communication with customers. Dead stoplights and live wires in the street. A board not accountable to City Hall. These are just a few of the issues vexing local policy makers as the week ends. A story percolating just beneath the surface of Jacksonville coverage of Irma: disquiet of local officials with the […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 14, 2017

The visual for television cameras was vivid: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry up in a bucket truck, on the scene of a JEA restoration. But what can’t be seen is worth noting as well: crews from all over the country, many of them responding to Jacksonville’s plight as seen on television news, coursing in to help with […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 13, 2017

FloridaPolitics.com patched into a call Tuesday involving the Jacksonville City Council and a representative of the Mayor’s Office; the hot topic was JEA power restoration. A representative of the Mayor’s Office noted that Curry had been “stern” with JEA CEO Paul McElroy, whose storm restoration efforts seemed to be moving slowly Tuesday. More than 163,000 customers […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 12, 2017

Daring rescues from floodwaters and a general co-branding of the media and the government characterized Monday, as Irma churned away from Jacksonville at long last. But attention turned to more quotidian details Wednesday — namely the large swathes of town still out of power. Southside neighborhoods, from Brierwood to Mandarin, along with large swathes of […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 7, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry briefed the City Council on Irma preparation — and an interesting question regarded JEA. In 2016, JEA was criticized for power restoration that took nearly a week in some parts of the city. And in 2017, a repeat performance was a concern. “They have mutual aid agreements. We have assured they are […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 7, 2017

One of the many discussions that enlivened Jacksonville City Council budget hearings in August was the city’s surfeit of minority engineers. Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa noted that some categories — such as “African-American engineers” — are “difficult to find.” “Most African-American engineers graduate from Northeastern universities and stay in the [Northeast],” Mousa added, explaining a shortfall […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 18, 2017

Friday morning saw the Jacksonville City Council’s Finance Committee review the Mayor’s proposed capital budgets for JEA. The discussion sprawled close to 90 minutes — double the allotted time — and was one in which budget line items were often directly related to equity in services throughout the city. ____ JEA was up first. The […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 3, 2017

Whatever Tom Petway wants, Tom Petway gets. On Monday, the Jacksonville City Council Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee approved an ordinance (2016-764) allowing JEA to meet at least every other month. This idea was hatched some weeks back in the catacombs of council committees. “At a Rules Special Meeting, JEA’s Chairman of the Board, Tom Petway, requested that […]

Tag: JEA

Lenny Curry: JEA crisis comms issues ‘need to be fixed’

Jax Irma costs: ‘Equal or a bit more’ than Matthew

Bill Gulliford vexed by JEA communications, performance flaws

Bucket list: Lenny Curry talks power restoration

Lenny Curry ‘frustrated’ with lack of clarity on power restoration timetable

With 163K still in the dark, Jax slogs out of Irma

JEA issues loom over Jacksonville Irma prep

Garrett Dennis wants answers on Jacksonville’s minority engineer shortage

Jax City Councilors mull JEA budget, ‘broken promises’ of Consolidation

Jacksonville City Council panel OKs JEA Board plan for fewer meetings