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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In his first major move since taking over JEA, Acting CEO Paul McElroy placed most of the utility’s leadership team on paid administrative leave last month.
On Monday, JEA confirmed that nine executives were fired without cause, according to JEA. Executives will receive 20 weeks of compensation and health benefits, JEA said.
“JEA is focused on moving forward to regain the trust of the community, its customers and employees,” said JEA.
McElroy first notified eight executives of the measure last month, saying employees, the City Council and the community no longer trusted their leadership, a public services spokesperson told News4Jax I-TEAM.
“Individually or collectively, actual or perceived, you have been an accessory or implicitly involved or simply a direct beneficiary of the (Invitation to Negotiate) or the Performance Unit Plan,” McElroy said in part. “In the past few weeks I have reviewed testimonials and talked to many people about the ITN and the Performance Unit Plan, nothing I have read or heard clarifies their role, real or positively perceived.”
“I have concluded them as individuals and as a group they have lost the trust of management, employees, the City Council, the media and the community.”
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Executives who were fired include: Caren Anders, VP / GM Energy Systems; Deryle Calhoun, VP / GM GM / Wastewater Systems; Shawn Eads, Chief Information Officer; Jon Kendrick, vice president / director of human resources; John McCarthy, Vice President / Director of Supply Chain; Steve McInall, Vice President / Director of Energy and Water / Wastewater Planning; Paul Steinbrecher, VP / Director of Environment; and Kerri Stewart, vice president / director of customer service. The move follows last month’s suspension of Administrative Director Herschel Vinyard. He was also fired without cause, JEA confirmed Monday.
“The completion of the Senior Leadership team appears to be part of a JEA effort to regain public confidence and have a fresh start. Part of the leadership team may have done their best under difficult circumstances and done nothing wrong, “News4Jax political analyst Rick Mullaney said. “Termination without cause supports this conclusion. However, the public arena often requires a change when the public’s trust is lost. ”
The shake-up comes as JEA faces intense scrutiny from the Justice Department and a special committee from the City Council. The Justice Department does not usually comment on active investigations, but has asked the Council panel not to interview key witnesses in the sunken plan to put JEA up for sale.
City Councilman Rory Diamond, who is leading the council’s committee investigation, said he was surprised by some of the names listed. He speculated that McElroy, a former JEA CEO who was hired to get the utility back on track, is taking steps to prepare the utility for permanent replacement.
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“There are employees there who have worked for JEA essentially throughout their lives, and some very good professionals there,” said Diamond. “This list is the best indication so far that Paul McElroy is essentially doing a clean sweep and starting JEA again.”
The investigations come from the ITN, or Invitation to Negotiate, a plan to woo potential suitors interested in buying or managing all or part of the city-owned utility. The JEA Board of Directors canceled those plans last year in response to public reaction and fired then-CEO Aaron Zahn, who is now being sued by the city of Jacksonville. The ousted JEA CEO responded earlier this month in response to the lawsuit filed against him by the city-owned utility company and is fighting for a private meditator to decide the contract dispute.
Also in question is the Performance Unit Plan, or PUP, which would have basically been a stock purchase plan that could have benefited executives and others financially if JEA were sold.
Over the next 20 weeks, these executives will continue to collect large paychecks. Records obtained by I-TEAM show that their wages, including Vinyard’s, range from $ 184,000 to $ 350,000 a year. In other words, they are making $ 88- $ 168 an hour to sit on the sidelines.
| Employee name | Title | Hourly rate | Base salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caren Anders | VP / GM Energy | $ 141.8 | $ 295,000 |
| Deryle Calhoun | VP / GM Water / Wastewater | $ 105.8 | $ 220,000 |
| Shawn eads | Vice President / Chief Information Officer | $ 132.2 | $ 275,000 |
| Jon Kendrick | HR director | $ 98.6 | $ 205,000 |
| John McCarthy | Supply Chain Director | $ 88.7 | $ 184,000 |
| Steve McInall | Vice President / Chief Energy / Water Planning | $ 96.2 | $ 200,000 |
| Paul Steinbrecher | Director of environmental services | $ 88.7 | $ 184,000 |
| Kerri Stewart | Vice President / Director of Customer Service | $ 113.3 | $ 235,500 |
| Herschel Vinyard | Chief Administrator Officer | $ 168.3 | $ 350,000 |
“What bothers me most of what we have learned in the committee is how consistent and all the effort Aaron Zahn made to get these ridiculous bonuses. It is without a doubt the biggest scandal in Jacksonville history when it comes to money. It could have been more than $ 1 billion, that’s outrageous, “said Diamond.
The consequences of the controversy around ITN and PUP have been very varied.
In addition to Zahn, it led to the resignation of former legal director Lynne Rhode and the firing of former chief financial officer Ryan Wannemacher. In February, the JEA board of directors resigned. In April, board replacements voted unanimously to remove interim CEO Melissa Dykes, a longtime executive who served as chief operating officer during Zahn’s time at the JEA. Most recently, Vinyard was licensed last month.
City Councilman Matt Carlucci said he doesn’t think everyone who has been suspended is worth the blame.
“I can’t help feeling bad about some people trying to keep their jobs,” Carlucci told News4Jax. “They were three more years before retirement and then this appears: Aaron Zahn appears and messes everything up.”
The list of determinations does not include Chief Legal Counsel Jody Brooks, Acting Director of Government Affairs Kurtis Wilson, and Acting Chief Financial Officer Joseph Orfano, who will serve in that role until his replacement, Brian Roche, begins to assume those roles on 22 December. June. At that time, Orfano will transfer to the treasury team of the utility company.
As part of the same measure, seven people will join the company’s senior leadership team on a temporary basis:
- Stephen Datz, Acting Chief Information Officer
- Bruce Dugan, Interim Director of Communication
- Ricky Erixton, Interim General Manager, Electrical Systems
- Angie Hiers, Acting Director of Human Resources
- Alan McElroy (unrelated), Acting Director of the Supply Chain
- Hai Vu, Interim General Manager, Water / Wastewater Systems
- Wayne Young, Director of Environment
McElroy announced last month that Hiers, along with two others, would be temporary additions to his leadership staff. Other additions include Vickie Cavey, a longtime JEA executive who spearheaded the strategic planning and development of the utility company from 2013 until she retired in 2017, and Gerri Boyce, another longtime employee who He served as a JEA spokesperson until his retirement in 2018.
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