{"id":176492,"date":"2026-03-03T16:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176492\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:52:09","slug":"big-favor-big-accusations-a-big-subpoena-and-now-a-big-shakeup-for-next-leaders-on-jeas-board-104-5-wokv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176492\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Big favor\u2019, big accusations, a big subpoena and now a big shakeup for next leaders on JEA\u2019s Board \u2013 104.5 WOKV"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u201cbig favor,\u201d<\/a> followed by big accusations<\/a> and a big subpoena<\/a> have now led to big shakeups on the JEA Board of Directors.<\/p>\n

After last week\u2019s explosive meeting<\/a>, in which Board Vice Chair Rick Morales publicly accused JEA CEO Vickie Cavey of creating a hostile work environment, Morales\u2019 hopes of serving as the next Board Chair were wiped away Monday morning.<\/p>\n

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n

Morales had been nominated to become the next Board Chair, but the Board voted to rescind that decision and instead nominate MG Orender for the role.<\/p>\n

Despite the vote, Morales doubled down on his concerns regarding JEA employees\u2019 ability to file complaints about the CEO.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny complaint mechanism that they have goes through somebody that reports to the CEO and they have no way to make a complaint. They will not come to the board because of what happened and that, to me, is the disappointing part,\u201d Morales said. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about myself, whether I\u2019m Chairman. My concern is the employees of the JEA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Current JEA Board Chair Joe DiSalvo argued Morales\u2019 vote expressing no confidence in JEA\u2019s CEO last week<\/a> made it clear the Board needed to reconsider its next leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause why would you want a Board Chair not supporting the CEO? That\u2019s not the way it\u2019s supposed to happen,\u201d DiSalvo said.<\/p>\n

DiSalvo doubled down on his opposition to bringing in an external group to vet alleged concerns with the utility\u2019s CEO after Monday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

He argued channels to submit complaints already exist.<\/p>\n

\u201cUse the chain. In my perspective here, if you\u2019re a JEA employee that\u2019s got an issue, use your chain. So, your supervisory level, HR and eventually if you don\u2019t get anything then go to Board Members,\u201d DeSalvo said.<\/p>\n

Jacksonville City Councilmember Rory Diamond (R-District 13) was critical of the Board\u2019s decision to change course on future leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo not take him seriously and let him be Board Chair, and then when your Chief of Staff says there\u2019s problems and you fire that person that same day, there\u2019s serious issues at JEA,\u201d Diamond said.<\/p>\n

The Board also chose to nominate Arthur Adams<\/a> to serve as the next Vice Chair.<\/p>\n

Adams is the member who received the now-infamous text from Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico (R-District 4) in early February telling him he would not be reappointed to the board because Carrico owed a \u201cbig favor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Martinez, Carrico\u2019s boss and initial nominee to replace Adams, withdrew his appointment<\/a> after our reporting.<\/p>\n

Carrico has also been subpoenaed by the State Attorney\u2019s Office in relation to the \u201cbig favor\u201d text.<\/p>\n

Carrico has denied any quid-pro-quo.<\/p>\n

Just hours after Adams was nominated to become Vice Chair of the Board, Carrico announced he\u2019d selected a new nominee to replace Adams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Carrico\u2019s new pick is former Jacksonville Firefighters Union President Randy Wyse, who he called a \u201cproven leader\u201d in his letter announcing the appointment.<\/p>\n

If supported by the full council, Wyse\u2019s appointment could get final approval within six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to the Council Confirmation process. It is truly an honor to be nominated for such an important position,\u201d Wyse said in a statement sent to Action News Jax addressing his nomination to the JEA Board.<\/p>\n

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n

Diamond said he believes the Board\u2019s decision to elevate Adams into a leadership role, despite the fact the Council President had made it clear he planned to replace him, was meant to send a message.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re just essentially sticking the thumb up at the City Council right now and that\u2019s just not helpful,\u201d Diamond said. \u201cLook, we need serious people to take JEA seriously and worry about the ratepayers and not this drama that\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Adams\u2019 time on the Board may appear to have an expiration date, the Mayor\u2019s Office confirmed that Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan does intend to reappoint current Board Chair DiSalvo to another term.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u201cbig favor,\u201d followed by big accusations and a big subpoena have now led to big shakeups on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,75612,347,28,348,116,4040,351,118,117,501,75613,5896,83412,83411,349,73056,18571,350,78189,346,345],"class_list":{"0":"post-176492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-arthur-adams","10":"tag-cbs47","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-fox30","13":"tag-jacksonville","14":"tag-jacksonville-city-council","15":"tag-jacksonville-fl","16":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","17":"tag-jacksonville-news","18":"tag-jea","19":"tag-jea-board","20":"tag-kevin-carrico","21":"tag-kevin-carrico-big-favor-text","22":"tag-mg-orender","23":"tag-northeast-florida","24":"tag-paul-martinez","25":"tag-rory-diamond","26":"tag-southeast-georgia","27":"tag-vickie-cavey","28":"tag-wfox","29":"tag-wjax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176492","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=176492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}