{"id":388973,"date":"2026-09-03T04:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T04:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/388973\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T04:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T04:32:12","slug":"personal-texts-reveal-pressure-frustration-during-vickie-caveys-tenure-as-jea-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/388973\/","title":{"rendered":"Personal texts reveal pressure, frustration during Vickie Cavey\u2019s tenure as JEA CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Vickie Cavey announced her retirement as JEA\u2019s<\/a> CEO on Wednesday, ending her tenure at the Jacksonville public utility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, hundreds of text messages released as part of a public-records request offer new insight into the job-related stress and political pressure Cavey experienced before her departure.<\/p>\n

The messages, exchanged between Cavey and her former chief of staff, Kurt Wilson, span several months. While many are routine, some show Cavey expressing frustration about negotiations, public-records requests and what she described as an \u201cadversarial\u201d environment.<\/p>\n

In October 2025, Cavey wrote Wilson about an upcoming executive leadership meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cCall me later about ELT meeting tomorrow. Feeling in the dark…for lots of reasons,\u201d Cavey said.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what Cavey was referring to in the message. At the time, one of the primary issues facing JEA was a proposed 5.1% rate increase. JEA said the increase was driven in part by debt-service costs associated with the Plant Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia.<\/p>\n

That month, it was also revealed that the Mayo Clinic owed JEA millions of dollars in unpaid capacity fees.<\/p>\n

Cavey\u2019s tone became sharper in November after what she described as a difficult day of negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could get ugly if it goes to council,\u201d Cavey wrote.<\/p>\n

She also referenced someone who she said was \u201cthreatening,\u201d although the messages do not make clear who or what she was referring to.<\/p>\n

Later that evening, Cavey discussed public-records requests involving text messages and phone calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand the adversarial nature. I really don\u2019t,\u201d she wrote at about 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5.<\/p>\n

The next morning, Cavey told Wilson:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m arriving to Pearl Street. Give me a call if you can. I don\u2019t wanna talk about this here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exchange suggests the matter was sensitive, though the messages do not provide additional details.<\/p>\n

The texts also include repeated references to political and public pressure surrounding JEA.<\/p>\n

In November, Cavey wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cInformation has already been sent to the JEA Board and to the Mayor\u2019s Office in case they get questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, she asked whether anything involving JEA had come up during a Jacksonville City Council meeting.<\/p>\n

During another dispute in February, Cavey wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have been told earlier about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next day, she added:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many problems today at work!\u201d<\/p>\n

In another message from Sept. 11, 2025, Cavey described the challenges she was facing:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are navigating rough waters sometimes my friend! Just leaving work. What a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of Cavey\u2019s messages were redacted as part of the public-records release. The records also do not show Cavey discussing the text-message smear campaign that was launched against her.<\/p>\n

Cavey said she decided to leave her $700,000 salary because it was the right decision for herself, her family and JEA. She did not provide additional details about the decision.<\/p>\n

Interim CEO Jody Brooks will continue serving as interim CEO and managing director while the JEA Board holds a special meeting to determine the next steps in the utility\u2019s leadership transition.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Vickie Cavey announced her retirement as JEA\u2019s CEO on Wednesday, ending her tenure at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1039,116,118,117,501,78189],"class_list":["post-388973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-duval-county","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jea","tag-vickie-cavey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388973","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=388973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}