a bombshell text message from City Council President Kevin Carrico<\/a>, suggesting he wanted board member Arthur Adams replaced as a personal favor with Paul Martinez, who is Carrico’s boss at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida. The revelation ignited questions about nepotism, potential retaliation, and allegations of racism at JEA, putting Cavey in the crosshairs.<\/p>\nKurt Wilson, the former JEA chief of staff, didn\u2019t hold back. \u201cAs chief of staff, I spent more time with Vickie than most and watched systematically how she created a fear-based culture,\u201d Wilson said. His position was eliminated shortly after he raised concerns about workplace morale, prompting accusations that the leadership is hostile toward those who speak up.<\/p>\n
Vice Chair Rick Morales confirmed multiple senior leaders independently reported low morale, micromanagement, and a toxic environment, with some even considering resignation. Morales approached Cavey privately, urging her to resign. Instead, Cavey eliminated Wilson\u2019s position, leaving Morales and the board with more questions than answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did approach Vickie and asked her to resign, and she said yes. She thanked me for bringing the concerns to her,\u201d Morales explained. \u201cTwo days later, I received a phone call that said, I eliminated the chief of staff position, I\u2019m not going to resign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cavey, for her part, dismissed the accusations as politically motivated and unsubstantiated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe so far unsubstantiated accusations of systemic morale or culture problems seem false,\u201d she said, asserting that any real issues would have surfaced in employee reviews, board feedback, or independent assessments long ago.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Morales pushed for an independent outside review to investigate leadership practices at JEA. His motion failed to get a second. Board silence meant no discussion, no investigation, and no accountability, leaving concerns unresolved.<\/p>\n
City Council member Ron Salem voiced his frustration:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a potentially serious issue here that the board doesn\u2019t want to act upon. And I think the city council may act because of that, which is what I was trying to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salem criticized the board for shutting him down when he attempted to speak again after he first spoke, a move he said underscored the employees\u2019 fear of retaliation.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Chief Human Resources Officer Diane Moser refused to explain why Wilson was let go, offering only a \u201cno comment\u201d on the termination. She insisted that JEA is open to fact-finding and external review, but did not provide concrete assurances.<\/p>\n
The meeting escalated as board members wrestled with the process and ethics. Morales defended his six-week internal inquiry, saying he acted to protect both employees and Cavey. Board members expressed frustration over his unilateral approach, highlighting the tension between protocol and moral responsibility.<\/p>\n
Board Chair Joseph DiSalvo finally cut through the noise, calling for a vote of confidence in Cavey to end the spectacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to subject the JEA workforce or this community to unwanted drama brought on by external forces for whatever reason,\u201d he said. The vote passed overwhelmingly, signaling the board\u2019s backing of Cavey despite swirling controversy.<\/p>\n
Since the controversy first erupted with the text messages, Paul Martinez has withdrawn his nomination to the JEA board. Mayor Donna Deegan reiterated her full trust in Cavey, echoing statements she made weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
The next board meeting is scheduled for March 31, where unresolved questions about workplace culture, whistleblower protections, and leadership accountability are expected to resurface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The JEA board has voted to back CEO Vickie Cavey amid allegations of toxic culture and political pressure.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-169032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}