\u2018You ready to play the game?\u2019: News4JAX reviews nearly 1,000 pages of records related to JEA subpoena<\/a><\/p>\nIn a Jan. 20 text message that Carrico confirmed he sent to Martinez, Carrico wrote: \u201cGuess it\u2019s time they get a new board member to show them who\u2019s boss\u2026.You ready to play the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sixteen days later, Carrico came under scrutiny after a separate text message surfaced in which he described the attempted JEA board appointment as a \u201cfavor.\u201d The \u201cfavor\u201d text was sent to JEA board member Arthur Adams, whom Carrico wanted to replace, according to the records and previous reporting.<\/p>\n
Florida Times-Union Executive Editor Nate Monroe, who has covered JEA issues, including the failed attempt to sell the utility in 2019 and the criminal trial of former CEO Aaron Zahn, said the tone of Carrico\u2019s texts may concern residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is now the second time the council president has to address his language and the way he talks about public business,\u201d Monroe said, adding that some people may view the matter as serious.<\/p>\n
Monroe also called for a clearer accounting of what was withheld from the released documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public is owed a full accounting of what, how much has been redacted and the laws citing the redactions, and we don\u2019t have that now,\u201d Monroe said.<\/p>\n
Other texts appear to show Carrico\u2019s relationship with former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. In one message to someone who appears to be a city employee, Carrico wrote: \u201cNeed this permit closed out bro, it\u2019s a favor to a church for Lenny Curry,\u201d referencing a permit related to demolishing a pool at a home where priests live.<\/p>\n
Monroe said he did not see documentation in the released records supporting Carrico\u2019s public allegations of a toxic or racist work culture at JEA \u2014 claims Carrico raised before calling for a special investigative committee focused on the utility.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no mention or substance behind the allegations that he made that there is a toxic or racist work culture at JEA,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cAs far as I can see in these records, the only real public pressure that he\u2019s gotten with regards to JEA is criticism for going after JEA in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
City Council member Matt Carlucci criticized Carrico\u2019s conduct and said the council presidency is a unique opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to be council president one time, and it\u2019s a real honor, and it is a real opportunity to do something good for your community,\u201d Carlucci said. \u201cIt\u2019s sad that this year has been wasted in my view.\u201d<\/p>\n
The records also include messages from reporters seeking answers from Carrico after the initial JEA-related text came to light, as well as emails from residents raising concerns about the nomination process and Carrico\u2019s allegations about JEA.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A longtime member of the Jacksonville City Council says Council President Kevin Carrico\u2019s priorities are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117,501,5896],"class_list":["post-303076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jea","tag-kevin-carrico"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303076","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=303076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}