JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The executive committee of JEA\u2019s Board of Directors made an unusual — but not expected — move on Monday, opting to forego the traditional succession of leadership as controversies swirl around the city-owned utility.<\/p>\n
The committee settles on the \u201cslate\u201d of leadership for the next year, which then must be approved by the full Board.<\/p>\n
Typically, the process is pretty mundane, with the vice chair becoming the chair the following year.<\/p>\n
But events last week threw that traditional path into question when the current Vice Chair Ricardo \u201cRick\u201d Morales III publicly voiced his doubts to the Board about the leadership of JEA CEO Vickie Cavey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not ashamed or afraid or discouraged by trying to represent the employees of JEA,\u201d Morales said in Mondays JEA Executive Committee meeting. <\/p>\n
Morales said he spoke with dozens of employees who felt comfortable bringing their concerns to him. He said workers lack a meaningful way to raise complaints about the CEO.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately employees are left in a situation now, if they have an issue with their CEO there\u2019s no means of recourse, because they know they can\u2019t come to the board, and any complaint mechanism that they have goes to someone who reports to the CEO,\u201d Morales said.<\/p>\n
It was during last Tuesday\u2019s meeting, Morales asked the board to consider an independent, external review of JEA leadership, saying he had heard over the previous six weeks from \u201cmultiple senior leaders\u201d who complained of micro-managing and declining morale, calling it a \u201ctoxic\u201d workplace culture.<\/p>\n
The board decided against an external review and voted 6 to 1 to back Cavey\u2019s leadership<\/a> — with the one \u201cno\u201d vote coming from Morales.<\/p>\n Morales was again the lone voice of dissent on Monday, when current Chair Joseph DiSalvo called on the committee to opt for a different plan and not move Morales up to chair next year.<\/p>\n Instead, the committee approved current secretary MG Orender to become chair next year, with Arthur L. Adams Jr. as vice chair and Donald \u201cWorth\u201d McArthur as secretary.<\/p>\n Current board Chair Joe DiSalvo said it would not make sense for Morales to continue in a leadership role while opposing the CEO.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy would you want a board chair not supporting your CEO? It\u2019s not the way it\u2019s supposed to happen, especially when you have nothing to show, no evidence,\u201d DiSalvo said.<\/p>\n Again, those choices must be confirmed by the whole board at its next meeting.<\/p>\n RELATED | Timeline: How \u2018big favor\u2019 texts sparked a JEA board shakeup and allegations about utility leadership<\/a> | Jacksonville City Council president issued subpoena after controversial \u2018big favor\u2019 text sent to JEA board member<\/a><\/p>\n These decisions on leadership for the board came after recent controversies again plagued the utility.<\/p>\n Text messages from City Council President Kevin Carrico referencing a \u201cbig favor\u201d tied to a board appointment have sparked subpoenas<\/a> and political finger-pointing, which eventually led to allegations about Cavey\u2019s leadership and JEA\u2019s workplace culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that Adams\u2019 term as a board member is close to expiring, and Carrico has nominated former Jacksonville Association of Firefighters president Randy Wyse to fill the position.<\/p>\n \u201cOver more than three decades with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, Randy advanced through the ranks and eventually served as President of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters Local 122, where he was re-elected by his peers multiple times – a testament to the respect he commands and the trust placed in him by his colleagues,\u201d Carrico said. \u201cIn that capacity, Randy has balanced organizational leadership with a commitment to fiscal responsibility, negotiation, and accountability. That blend of operational insight and institutional experience is exactly what Jacksonville needs on the JEA Board – to bring stability to our utility, ensure the utmost transparency, fight for lower rates and remain focused on serving the people.\u201d<\/p>\n Carrico\u2019s desire to replace Adams on the Board with a nominee of his choosing was at the heart of his controversial text messages.<\/p>\n Initially, he planned to nominate Paul Martinez, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida. But after the controversy over Carrico\u2019s \u201cbig favor\u201d text, Martinez took himself out of the running.<\/p>\n So Carrico turned to Wyse instead to fill the position.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a deep honor to be nominated to serve on the JEA Board of Directors,\u201d Wyse said. \u201cThroughout my 32-year career with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and in my union leadership roles, my focus has always been clear: serve the community faithfully, advocate for transparency and accountability, and work collaboratively to solve complex problems. If confirmed, will bring that same ethic to the JEA Board ensuring that the voices of residents, workers, and ratepayers are heard, respected, and reflected in the decisions that impact our city\u2019s future.\u201d <\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The executive committee of JEA\u2019s Board of Directors made an unusual — but not expected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5890,116,118,117,501,5896,99,78189],"class_list":["post-175936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-donna-deegan","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jea","tag-kevin-carrico","tag-politics","tag-vickie-cavey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175936","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=175936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}