{"id":311228,"date":"2026-06-18T01:37:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311228\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T01:37:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:37:05","slug":"jea-isnt-a-political-tool-jea-survey-comments-released-as-city-council-probe-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311228\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018JEA isn\u2019t a political tool\u2019: JEA survey comments released as City Council probe continues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville\u2019s city-owned utility JEA has released results from its latest employee engagement survey, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/politics\/2026\/06\/08\/jea-special-investigative-committee-to-hear-from-cao-former-legal-counsel-as-probe-into-city-owned-utility-continues\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/politics\/2026\/06\/08\/jea-special-investigative-committee-to-hear-from-cao-former-legal-counsel-as-probe-into-city-owned-utility-continues\/\">City Hall continues an investigation into concerns about workplace culture at the agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">JEA says 59% of employees participated in the survey \u2014 1,362 out of 2,314 employees. JEA says respondents also submitted 4,124 written comments. The utility says its overall results are benchmarked against \u201ccomparable electric and water utility companies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">On Wednesday, News4JAX combed through the comments to see what employees said about the utility company.<\/p>\n<p>Three results that stand out<\/p>\n<p>47%\u00a0of employees surveyed said they\u00a0feel well-informed about important decisions\u00a0at JEA.<\/p>\n<p>49%\u00a0said they\u00a0have confidence in JEA\u2019s chiefs.<\/p>\n<p>46%\u00a0said\u00a0directors, VPs and chiefs understand what is really happening at JEA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">View the survey below:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Those results come as City Hall investigates workplace culture issues raised about the utility. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Council President Kevin Carrico formed a special investigative committee to look into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/04\/27\/jea-hr-chief-faces-questions-on-employee-complaints-in-ongoing-workplace-culture-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/04\/27\/jea-hr-chief-faces-questions-on-employee-complaints-in-ongoing-workplace-culture-investigation\/\">culture complaints<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/10\/jacksonville-oig-launches-investigation-into-jea-over-millions-in-potential-unpaid-capacity-fees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/10\/jacksonville-oig-launches-investigation-into-jea-over-millions-in-potential-unpaid-capacity-fees\/\">capacity fee concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What employees wrote<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The newly released comments show a wide range of experiences across the utility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Some employees described pride in the work and serving the community, including one comment that said they love \u201chelping the people of our community in times of bad storms by getting their power back on in a quick, safe, and timely manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Others emphasized teamwork and stability, with one employee writing that they feel supported by coworkers and that the job\u2019s purpose is part of why they stay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">But other comments were sharply critical of leadership and workplace culture \u2014 including direct mentions of CEO Vickie Cavey and City Hall. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">One employee wrote: <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cI don\u2019t trust the Board or Vickie, or at this point anyone at City Hall. JEA isn\u2019t a political tool. It is a community service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">In another comment, an employee described the culture as \u201cunsettled,\u201d while others pointed to what they called constant change at the top and stress tied to outside scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Three other results<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The survey also included several higher-scoring measures related to employees\u2019 direct supervisors and overall satisfaction (each nearly on par with similar utilities):<\/p>\n<p>83%\u00a0said\u00a0their manager cares about their concerns.<\/p>\n<p>80%\u00a0said they are\u00a0very satisfied with their job.<\/p>\n<p>77%\u00a0said they would\u00a0recommend working at JEA.<\/p>\n<p>What JEA says happens next<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">In a statement released with the results, JEA said it is analyzing the survey and that senior leadership is developing action plans to address key employee concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">JEA also noted it has received three USA TODAY Culture Excellence Awards in the categories of Work-Life Flexibility, Professional Development, and Compensation and Benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville\u2019s city-owned utility JEA has released results from its latest employee engagement survey, as City&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117,501,8829],"class_list":["post-311228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jea","tag-survey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311228","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=311228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}