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JEA board fires interim CEO Melissa Dykes without cause, citing need to send a message

The new JEA board met today for the first time and just voted to terminate interim CEO Melissa Dykes without cause.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A brand new JEA board fired Interim CEO Melissa Dykes at its first official meeting Tuesday.

The new seven-member board was installed after the former board resigned en masse following the disastrous and ethically dubious effort to sell the publicly owned utility.

Dykes was appointed to the interim role after the board fired CEO Aaron Zhan, who led the charge to sell JEA. Dykes had already said she would not seek the CEO position permanent. She was passed over for the job previously when the board voted to hire Zhan, an executive with no utility experience.

Board members praised Dykes but said they needed to send a public message and make a statement to the community that they will hold everyone accountable. Board member Bobby Stein said he only had “great things” to say about Dykes but added, “we have a fiduciary duty to make a statement.”

Dykes is considered pivotal in the ongoing investigation into the failed sale of JEA. Just last week, the Jacksonville City Council voted to delay issuing her a subpoena to testify under oath, because she agreed to testify voluntarily after refusing to do so for months.

Dykes was terminated “without cause,” meaning she will get 20 weeks of severance pay as well as a six-month consulting contract at regular pay. City attorneys are currently looking at that consulting provision, part of the contracts of many on JEA’s senior leadership team, to see if it is legal under state law limiting severance pay to 20 weeks.

The item was not on the JEA board's agenda.

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News partners, The Florida Times-Union first reported on this story. 

For a closer look at how the board handled these proceedings, click here to read the story by David Bauerlein.

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