It is not a great day in Jacksonville yet it’s a great day in Jacksonville.
What was great?
Two very strong leaders in our community, Melissa Nelson and Melissa Dykes, both did the right thing today.
Melissa #1: State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced she has handed off the JEA investigation to the U S Attorney’s office and other federal agencies. Her office announced the Feds will take the lead and they will be a supporter to their investigation. Great decision, Melissa!
Melissa #2: JEA’s Interim CEO Melissa Dykes announced she would not throw her name into the hat for the permanent CEO position. She believes it is best for JEA to start over with a clean slate. We agree with you, Melissa!
Eye on Jacksonville gives Winks to those who stand with integrity and transparency in our city government. These two Melissa’s are recipients of Winks today! We applaud their integrity and appreciate them.
Now here’s why it is not a great day in Jacksonville —
Our city is now under Federal investigation.
What a sad and scary day it is.
We are not happy with today’s news of the Federal investigation and yet we know it is the best thing for Jacksonville.
Eye on Jacksonville began publishing our thoughts two years ago. Our hope was to shine a light on great governance by our city leaders and expose the darkness of corruption and cronyism so we could eradicate it and clean up our hometown.
The hard part will be the cleanup. Before you can clean something up, you have to go through the messiness of skeletons in closets and deals in the dark. It’s going to get ugly before Jacksonville can be pretty again.
Yet, when it is all over, this city can start with a clean slate too – as Melissa #2 stated.
We want to congratulate all the local media, city council members, board members and citizens who kept pushing for the right things to be done. You all deserve a Wink too!Now — let’s PRAY for our city and those who will be a part of the mess and the clean up. It’s time to Make Jacksonville Great Again!
