JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The failed sale of JEA, the city-owned water and sewer utility, is a scandal that rocked Jacksonville.
Next week City Council will reopen a Special Investigatory Committee into the failed sale, this time with plans to investigate one of its own members.
The special committee's new investigation centers around whether City Councilmember LeAnna Cumber misled the original committee regarding her husband's involvement in the attempted sale.
The newly formed committee will hold its first meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 8, but some council members have sharply differing opinions about whether this meeting should even happen.
Cumber will be investigated for not disclosing her husband Husein's role in the sale of JEA.
Cumber's representatives denied a request for comment about this story, but previously stated that she was not required by law to disclose her husband's role and that he was not paid.
Council members Rory Diamond and Nick Howland asked for the investigation and will lead the committee. Diamond will be the committee's chair and Howland will be the committee's vice-chair.
Both support Cumber's opponent, Daniel Davis, in the race for mayor. City Council member Matt Carlucci has a problem with that.
"They've already made comments that show their bias against the person they want to investigate, and they become chair and vice chair. To me, to Matt Carlucci, that's not fair," said Carlucci.
But Council Member Randy White, who also backs Daniel Davis, said he's fine with the committee's appointed leaders.
"I 100% stand behind the council president, that was his [Terrance Freeman] choice, so I'm good with it," said White. "He's reconvened that committee to go further, and I think it's the right call and the right thing to do."
It's not clear what the possible outcomes of the investigation will be, but it is definitely a disruption to the race for mayor.
Meanwhile, two former JEA executives, CEO Aaron Zahn and CFO Ryan Wannemacher, who were indicted on criminal charges related to the scandal, face the possibility of 25 years in prison if convicted during a federal trial scheduled for later this year.