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1Introduced by Council Member Dennis:

2
3 RESOLUTION 2018-
4 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
5 OF JACKSONVILLE URGING AARON ZAHN, INTERIM CEO
6 OF JEA, TO ABSTAIN FROM APPLYING FOR A
7 PERMANENT POSITION AS JEA CEO, AND URGING THE
8 JEA BOARD TO NOT CONSIDER MR. ZAHN A VIABLE
9 CANDIDATE FOR PERMANENT CEO; PROVIDING AN
10 EFFECTIVE DATE.
11
12 WHEREAS, in November 2017, former JEA Board Chair Tom Petway
13resigned from the Board of JEA; and
14 WHEREAS, upon his departure from the JEA Board, Mr. Petway in
15his closing remarks encouraged the Board to explore selling JEA to
16a private utility company; and
17 WHEREAS, Aaron Zahn was nominated by the Mayor to replace
18Petway on the JEA Board in January, and Zahn was confirmed by
19Council in February, 2018; and
20 WHEREAS, on April 6, 2018, Paul McElroy, CEO of JEA announced
21that he would not renew his employment contract which expired in
22September 2018, and instead would resign immediately; and
23 WHEREAS, after being a Board member less than two months and
24having attended one JEA Board meeting as a member of the Board, Mr.
25Zahn on Friday, April 13, resigned from the JEA Board in a letter
26in which he stated his intention to apply to become the Interim CEO
27of JEA; and
28 WHEREAS, on Tuesday, April 16, Mr. Zahn was selected by the
29JEA Board over one other candidate who had two decades of
30experience in the utility industry and six years employment with
31JEA without any advertising for the Interim CEO position and

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1without time for significant public input; and
2 WHEREAS, JEA is the nation’s eighth largest municipally owned
3utility company; and
4 WHEREAS, Mr. Zahn’s experience has consisted of his work as
5managing partner and chief executive officer at Pascal Partners,
6which describes on its website its attributes as specializing in
7operational aspects of startups, mergers and acquisition focusing
8on buying infrastructure; and
9 WHEREAS, prior to that role Mr. Zahn was chairman and CEO of
10BCR Environmental Corporation and NuTerra, which gained some
11notoriety, according to published reports, with its failed attempt
12to complete a new composting facility in rural Haines City, Florida
13which resulted in lost operating revenues, incurring of new
14expenses and laid off employees for NuTerra; and
15 WHEREAS, when interviewed for the Interim CEO position on
16April 16, Mr. Zahn indicated that he would begin the search for a
17full-time CEO immediately as well establish trust and open
18communications with JEA stakeholders and the public; and
19 WHEREAS, Mr. Zahn comes to the position of Interim CEO in a
20time of flux as the discussions between keeping JEA public or
21considering to sell it as an asset has caused great debate among
22the City’s government officials, civic leaders, employees of JEA,
23and the public; and
24 WHEREAS, current JEA Board Chair Alan Howard has proclaimed
25that “We need to hire a CEO who can take JEA forward into the
26future”; and
27 WHEREAS, given the complex nature of running a public utility
28and the current climate of change at JEA which has created distrust
29and concern from the JEA employees, ratepayers as well as City
30officials, the JEA Executive Director should have experience in
31running a large utility company and a good past track record,
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1including companies that have thrived under his or her leadership
2and stoke the public’s trust in the process, which does not appear
3to be the history presented by Mr. Zahn, thereby making his
4candidacy for the permanent CEO of JEA untenable; now therefore
5 BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Jacksonville:
6 Section 1. The Council of the City of Jacksonville hereby
7urges the Interim CEO of JEA, Aaron Zahn, to abstain from applying
8for the permanent position of JEA CEO as it is in the best interest
9for the future strategic planning of the JEA that an individual is
10selected as permanent CEO who has the experience to manage a large
11public utility and the unfettered motivation to have the best
12interests of the public in mind when making decisions which will
13inevitably affect the ratepayers, the employees, and the City
14itself. Further, should Mr. Zahn apply for the position of
15permanent CEO, the Council would urge the Board of the JEA to not
16consider him a viable candidate as it would be a disservice to the
17public to select someone who lacks basic knowledge or experience in
18the management of public utilities.
19 Section 2. Effective Date. This Resolution shall become
20effective upon signature by the Mayor or upon becoming effective
21without the Mayor's signature.
22Form Approved:
23
24__/s/ Paige Hobbs Johnston
25Office of General Counsel
26Legislation Prepared By: Paige H. Johnston

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