The Florida Times-Union by David Bauerlein
January 20, 2020
Jacksonville City Council President Scott Wilson announced Monday a special investigative committee will “look behind every curtain” to give the public a full accounting of what happened when JEA put the city-owned utility up for sale.
The extensive probe by City Council will take several months to complete and involve obtaining a trove of documents from JEA. The investigative committee will conduct public meetings and administer an oath to those who come before the panel for questioning.
“Over the last few months, our community has been flooded daily with troubling accounts surrounding the failed attempt to sell the JEA and hijack it from the ratepayers and taxpayers of Jacksonville,” Wilson said on the steps of City Hall.
“What we know now, which I believe is only the tip of the iceberg, has rocked Jacksonville, cast a dark cloud over our city, and damaged trust in our government,” Wilson said.
He said the investigative committee will be comprised of council member Rory Diamond, who is a former federal prosecutor, and two other council members who are lawyers: Randy DeFoor and Brenda Priestly Jackson.
He said the City Council hired Steve Busey, a partner in the Smith Hulsey & Busey firm in Jacksonville, to assist the committee.
Wilson said the committee will “investigate every aspect, turn over every rock, look behind every curtain and bring all that we don’t know, and that we deserve to know, into the daylight for everyone to see.”
