For a brief moment, many Jacksonville taxpayers allowed themselves to believe that JEA had finally turned the page.
After the disastrous attempted sale, federal indictments, and years of reputational damage, the public utility appeared to be stabilizing. Leadership was reset. Governance reforms were promised. Trust — slowly — was being rebuilt.
And now?
We are right back in scandal territory.
This time, it centers on City Council President Kevin Carrico and text messages that appear to show him acknowledging he “owed” a political favor tied to a JEA board appointment.
If true, that is not just careless.
It reeks of cronyism.
See the text message below, in which he informs JEA Director Arthur Adams that he “owed a big favor to a friend” — a friend who happens to be his boss and the CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida — while recommending him for a seat on the JEA Board.
Favoritism Has No Place in Public Utilities
Public utilities are not political poker chips.
JEA exists to provide power and water to the people of Jacksonville — not to serve as a reward mechanism for political allies or bosses. Board appointments must be based on competence, independence, and what is best for ratepayers.
The appearance of political favoritism — especially documented in writing — undermines everything the city has worked to repair since the last JEA debacle.
So Many Questions
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida does critical work in this community. Dragging a respected nonprofit into a political controversy helps no one.
Why risk casting a shadow over an organization that serves children?
Why would Paul Martinez, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club want to serve on the JEA board when he has such a big responsibility taking care of local kids and families?
Why put JEA through another credibility crisis?
Why expose your own party to another ethics cloud?
And frankly — why put something like this in a text message? This part is simply baffling.
If someone were doing something questionable, you wouldn’t expect it to show up in a text message.
Which raises an uncomfortable question:
Was this careless? Arrogant? Or simply business as usual?
None of those answers inspire confidence.
Where are the other City Council members?
Where is the call for an independent review?
If no laws were broken, then transparency should clear the air quickly. If ethical lines were crossed, then accountability should follow.
Florida has statutes addressing misuse of public position and conflicts of interest. At minimum, this raises serious ethical questions.
JEA Deserves Stability — Not Headlines
JEA has spent years trying to rebuild trust after national embarrassment. Ratepayers deserve boring competence. They deserve transparency. They deserve leadership that avoids even the appearance of favoritism.
Jacksonville deserves better than this cycle of scandal, apology, and repeat.
This is not just about one text message. It is about whether political favoritism still has a home inside our city government.
And if it does — that is the real scandal.
