Here are a few JEA headlines that sucker punched me as they pushed their way into my inbox in the last few days:
Attorneys tell JEA investigative committee that executives misled board about utility’s financial picture
Councilman Diamond Says JEA Attempted ‘Swindle’ With ‘Biggest Lie Ever Told’
JEA gets a credit downgrade by Wall Street firm
In a nutshell…greedy “leaders” were out for themselves and they used every dirty trick in the “Hucksters handbook” to push for a sale. The manipulation, deception and lies are huge.
As a former consultant to the JEA board and the former executive team, I find all of this terrifying. The people I worked with at JEA were professionals with integrity and all had a common goal to serve the customers. They were wonderful people with excellent resumes and their knowledge kept JEA running smoothly for years.
So where were the voices on this Executive Team? Why didn’t they speak up? They KNEW the lies were big and if they didn’t, they did not deserve to be on the executive floor. That was their job!
Did the dirty trickster, Aaron Zahn, mesmerize them with golden dollars dancing in their heads and reflections of millions in their retirement accounts? Did they succumb to greed themselves?
Or were they just fearful to speak up? Did they fear losing their jobs if they did? Will they lose their jobs now because they didn’t speak up?
I wonder how they feel today. Do they wish they had spoken up? Do they regret sitting in silence? Are they now speaking truth to the investigators and attempting to right the wrong they made by staying silent? We can only hope so and pray they come clean on what they saw and knew. It’s time for courage to eradicate fear and clean up this mess.
Every person reading this and watching the JEA headlines has at some point in their life been deceived, manipulated and lied to. It doesn’t feel good and note this: “We don’t have to put up with it from public servants. They are there to serve the best interests of the community — all of the community and not just a few buddies, cronies or friends. They can be fired, removed from office and sent packing.”
It’s time for the golden handcuffs promised by trickery and manipulation to be changed for real handcuffs as deceivers head off to jail and prepare for their trials.
Every public servant who participated in this trickery must be held accountable and justice must be served. It is the only way to restore our faith in our local government and reclaim Jacksonville for the wonderful and loving people who live here.
