Rory Diamond is one of three people on the Jacksonville City Council's Special Investigatory Committee on JEA on Monday, April 13, 2026. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on May 19, 2026 at 6:04 pm
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The Jacksonville City Council’s legislative counsel has suggested testimony and documents gathered from subpoenas of JEA executives authorized Tuesday could lead city lawmakers to consider changes to the public utility’s charter.
The council’s Finance Committee voted 8-0 to subpoena JEA CEO Vickie Cavey, Chief Administrative Officer Jody Brooks and the utility’s former chief legal counsel, Regina Ross, to appear before the Special Investigatory Committee on JEA in June.
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The committee is investigating largely unconfirmed and anonymous allegations of a toxic workplace culture and racial discrimination at JEA; underpaid water fees by some of JEA’s largest customers; and the utility’s decision to move forward on a $1.57 billion natural gas-fired power plant.
Jason Teal, the council secretary/director and in-house attorney, said, depending on the committee’s findings, charter changes stemming from those issues could be part of the legislative rationale for the subpoenas.
When explaining the subpoenas to the Finance Committee, Teal said council could consider changing JEA’s charter to “compel” the ulity’s board of directors to investigate the toxic workplace environment instead of the current intent of making recommendations.
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“If there are allegations of a toxic work environment or a toxic culture with regard to the CEO or any executive management that maybe the board should be compelled to investigate that as opposed to within their discretion,” Teal told the committee. “That may be something that you could potentially come up with that would be a charter change.”
Other changes Teal suggested were codifying JEA’s tariff policy, which lays out the water capacity fees the utility charges its commercial customers, and requiring JEA to bring purchases as large as the natural gas plan to council for approval.
Teal’s comments don’t mean charter changes for JEA are a sure thing, but it’s the first time since council launched its investigation in March that a city official has offered specifics on possible changes to the independent city authority’s governing language.
Council member Ron Salem, who chairs the Special Investigatory Committee on JEA and sits on the Finance Committee, says its still “premature” to discuss charter changes as a result of the investigation. But he told Jacksonville Today that he’d be open to the discussion after the committee’s probe of the utility is completed, expected in late June or early July.
JEA’s charter was amended by council in late 2020 to erect more guardrails for ratepayers in the wake of the 2019 attempt by the utility’s executives to sell the city entity to a private company and profit from it.
One change allowed city lawmakers to amend the charter without a voter referendum.
Salem says it’s risky for JEA’s decision to place a nonrefundable down payment on the combined-cycle natural gas turbine from GE Vernova to replace an aging and less energy-efficient piece of Northside Generation Station. He says that could affect rates and JEA’s annual contribution to the city budget, which was $179 million in 2026.
JEA has not released the amount of the deposit, but City Council staff and Salem say it could be $350 million.
“I would not even consider a charter change until we get through June 22, as well as getting the survey back,” Salem said. “For example, if it’s accurate, that $350 million deposit on the combined cycle (plant) … should that have undergone more scrutiny? I think that’s a reasonable question.”
Salem added that he understands the counter argument that JEA is a independent authority with a chief executive and governing board that historically is allowed to make those types of business decisions.
“But that’s a lot of money,” he said.
What’s in the subpoenas?
Cavey’s subpoena sets her testimony in front of the council investigatory committee for 1 p.m. June 22, while Brooks will appear at 1 p.m. June 8.
They had previously canceled voluntary appearances before the investigatory committee.
Ross could testify twice — at 1 p.m. June 8 and June 22.
The subpoena also asks the executives to produce emails, text messages and correspondence and documents related to the three issues the committee is probing. The committee wants to see communications between The Mayo Clinic — the organization named most often in the capacity fee investigations — and Cavey.
The committee also wants to see certificates of compliance JEA filed with the state on its collection of tariffs and fees.
The subpoena also demands all complaints from any person “concerning Vickie Cavey’s actions toward any employee.”
Council member Rory Diamond, a member of the investigatory committee, told Jacksonville Today on May 6 that he had not seen any evidence to support a toxic workplace or allegations of racism at JEA.
Fackler: Subpoena puts Ross in ‘terrible position’
Ross is no longer at JEA but is still an attorney in the city’s Office of General Counsel. Diamond and Salem say the subpoena issued for her testimony is to allow her to speak more freely about what she saw and worked on at JEA without violating attorney-client privlege.
Before Tuesday’s vote, the city’s general counsel and Ross’ department head, Michael Fackler, asked the committee not to move forward with the subpoena.
“My request is, and I respectfully submit, that it is not good policy or good precedent to subpoena an attorney in my office to testify under oath,” Fackler said Tuesday during a Finance Committee workshop before the vote.
Fackler worries the subpoena could seed future distrust between the city attorneys and the government agencies they served. He also said there will still likely be questions she could not answer, despite being legally compelled by council.
“It puts Ms. Ross in a terrible position. She has ethical and legal obligations to protect the attorney-client privilege,” Fackker said. “Every question will force Ms. Ross and one of our attorneys to parse the question to ensure that she can cooperate as she is required to under the subpoena and comply with her ethical obligations not to reveal privileged communications.”
Third state attorney subpeona
There are multiple active investigations involving JEA that include subpoenas from the city, state attorney general, and the State Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville.
A third subpoena from State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office surfaced this week that appears to be investigating a canceled land deal between JEA and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Nassau County Foundation, according to Florida Trib and News4Jax, both Jacksonville Today news partners.
According to Florida Trib, it’s not clear why Nelson’s office is looking into the land deal, which JEA ultimately called off. The subpoena is at least the third prosecutors have issued this year regarding JEA, Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, where Carrico is a vice president.
