THURSDAY January 30, 2020
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THE VISION OF JAKE GODBOLD Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
JEA turmoil: What will happen next
City-owned utility needs a new board, leadership.
BY MIKE MENDENHALL
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
STAFF WRITER
The JEA board fired CEO Aaron Zahn with cause Jan. 28 and later that day, Mayor Lenny Curry announced the city-owned utility’s board members would leave by Feb. 28. Here’s what will happen next. A NEW BOARD
more about a new stadium. With just a few days of promotion, 50,000 people filled the old Gator Bowl stadium screaming for the Colts when Godbold and team owner Robert Irsay arrived by helicopter and landed on the 50-yard line. Godbold’s enthusiasm and his belief in what was a dream more than 40 years ago became reality in November 1993 when the NFL awarded its 32nd franchise to his hometown. But there was more to Jake Godbold than his determination for a football team. During his time as mayor, the city
The mayor appoints the utility’s seven board members with City Council approval. City Director of Public Affairs Nikki Kimbleton said Jan. 29 the mayor has started looking at appointees and will ask Council members and community leaders for advice. Council has about a month to approve the mayor’s appointees before Feb. 28 when the board members are gone. Council President Scott Wilson hesitates to Wilson act too quickly. “I wouldn’t want to enter them as an emergency if the Council members haven’t had a chance to vet the selections,” Wilson said. “Maybe as a one-cycle emergency.” Council member Rory Diamond is vice chair of the Council Rules Committee, where the board nominations will first be debated. He anticipates a thorough vetting process. “Ultimately, I think the City Council will work well with the mayor, but there will be more scrutiny on these appointments than you might have seen from past councils.” Wilson said he plans to identify some potential members for Curry. “Let me be clear, it’s his deci-
SEE GODBOLD, PAGE 5
SEE JEA, PAGE 6
JACKSONVILLE
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Jake Godbold served two decades as an elected official in Jacksonville city government, including more than eight years as mayor.
From courting an NFL football team to supporting the arts and fighting the privatization of JEA, people who knew the late mayor say he “never stopped advocating for Jacksonville.”
BY MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
A
populist and a visionary. That’s how people describe the late Jake Godbold. A City Council member from 1967-79 and Jacksonville’s mayor from 1978-87, Godbold died Jan. 23 at age 86. He is remembered for many contributions to his hometown, perhaps most notably, “Colt Fever,” a grassroots campaign in August 1979 to bring the NFL to Jacksonville by courting the owner of the Baltimore Colts, who discussed moving the team after talks with Balti-
THE BASCH REPORT
NextEra CEO ‘disappointed’ JEA ended possible sale Plus: FIS will maintain Cincinnati presence. PAGE 4 VOLUME 107, NO. 52 • TWO SECTIONS