Former Jacksonville mayor Jake Godbold (right) and former aide Mike Tolbert, who has written Godbold's biography, participated in a round-table discussion on Monday about the 40th anniversary of Colts Fever. [Garry Smits/The Times-Union] ▲

Shortly after Aaron Zahn was installed as JEA's half-million dollar a year boss, the late Pete Carpenter, retired CEO of CSX, wrote in a letter to the Times-Union that Zahn was a "snake oil salesman" and highly unqualified to run Florida's largest public utility, nor any other major organization.



Carpenter's description of Zahn, Mayor Lenny Curry's hand-picked applicant, was predictive. There was no doubt that he was put there to peddle the non-sensical snake-oil notion that to save the JEA from a pending "death spiral," the City Council and the community need to swallow what he is hawking: sell the utility to the highest bidder.



It was rubbish then and it's still nothing but stinking garbage today.



Unfortunately, there are a several independently elected council members who have been either bullied or hoodwinked by Curry into believing that for their own political survival, they must drink the junk that the mayor and Zahn are selling.



Thank goodness that it looks like Republican Councilwoman Randy DeFoor has decided rather than swallow her can of toxin, she will kick it down the road and join with other members like Matt Carlucci, Brenda Priestly Jackson, Tommy Hazouri and Garrett Dennis to tell the mayor, "Not so fast." Perhaps if these members refuse to die of fright, others will get the courage to stand up as well.



Recently, the Florida Municipal Power Agency, a collection of 31 public utilities in the state, pretty much called the suggestions that JEA is in financial trouble pure baloney. To help prove the case, the FMPA review said JEA's puffed up scare tactic is disputed by the utility's very own 10-year projections with Florida regulators, and with the JEA's real growth in sales for the last half-decade. Of course, rather than use facts to dispute the FMPA's findings, a Zahn spokesperson said FPMA was "ill-informed and misguided." More garbage.



The JEA's own filings with the Florida Public Service Commission show that the JEA expects increased sales for the next decade.



Now, let me re-visit the JEA before Zahn.



JEA had a highly qualified and very successful managing director in Paul McElroy, who was basically blown out of his position by the mayor so he could install Zahn. During McElroy's 5.5 years of leadership, the JEA made great achievements in financial stability, customer loyalty, organization and operational excellence, including:



‒ Moved from the 4th quartile to the 1st in J.D. Power customer satisfaction ratings, a 74 percent increase.



‒ Reduced debt $2.5 billion and secured AAA and AA bond ratings.



‒ Invested $1 billion in infrastructure without assuming debt.



‒ Locked in the highest JEA annual contribution to the city in history: $116 million.



‒ Maintained fair and reasonable rates that are below the median and industry competitive.



‒ Closed the coal-fired St. Johns River Power Plant early, saving JEA customers $400 million, securing $150 million payment from plant partner FP&L, and making a significant environmental contribution by reducing coal-related gases 45 percent by 2023.



‒ Refinanced $800 million in bonds in a record of three weeks to save customers $50 million.



‒ Initiated a JEA funded $50 million project to change 100 percent of the city's 100,000 streetlights to LED bulbs, cutting power use in half and reducing the city's electric cost.



‒ Moved toward having a business and employee population that reflects the community.



Putting it that way is simple. No snake oil here. But let's do a deeper dive on the great change in customer service under McElroy, which might help to explain some of the reasons JEA's customers — and its shareholders — are so loyal and up in arms about any potential sale of the utility. It's also a reason employee satisfaction was infectious inside the organization.



Before McElroy, most JEA customers weren't happy with the utility, especially its customer service, which is a direct influence on other aspects of the business. Out of 121 utilities, the J.D. Power Customer Service Index said JEA ranked 116. Intent on making customer service the foundation of JEA, McElroy set what seemed like an impossible goal: go from the fourth quartile to the first quartile in J.D. Power rankings in three years, a feat no other utility had accomplished.



Within three years, in 2015 JEA residential and commercial service went from worst to first, vaulting into the first quartile of customer satisfaction faster than any other organization in the history of J.D. Power surveys. Afterwards, JEA continued to maintain and improve its first quartile presence in both residential and commercial service. In 2016, JEA's commercial service was ranked best in the country.



When McElroy took over, JEA's balance sheet was unstable. Instead of raising rates on customers, McElroy focused on costs because the utility was spending more while earning less. As a result, despite flattening revenues, rates remained stable and JEA made one-time customer refunds because of the efficiency of its fuel purchases. In addition, JEA paid off debt early, saving customers $100 million.



Maybe you think the JEA only makes an annual contribution in lieu of taxes to the city, which under McElroy reached an all-time high. But there's more. During McElroy's leadership, in March of 2018 the City Council auditor released a report that outlined other substantive contributions JEA had made to the community. It included:



‒ Spent $53 million to install utility infrastructure at Cecil Commerce Center on the city's westside to spur economic development.



‒ Paid $20 million to purchase 5,000 acres of land for the city's preservation project.



‒ Spent $63 million to assist the Jacksonville Port Authority at its terminals.



‒ Matched the city's $15 million fund to phase out septic tanks.



‒ Launched a $10 million project to replace 100,000 city streetlights with LED bulbs that will reduce the city's street lighting costs around 50 percent.



Somebody really needs to explain why that kind of leadership and record of success is trashed and replaced by the mayor with a high-priced, smooth-talking, highly unqualified huckster like Zahn.



So, when Zahn and the mayor pull up their wagon in your neighborhood and try to scare you into buying their junk-juice, tell them to take their nonsense somewhere else, preferably out of Jacksonville.



Jake Godbold is a former mayor of Jacksonville.





