JEA CEO Vickie Cavey will take a leave of absence for up to 60 days, and Jody Brooks will serve as interim CEO while she is away, the utility announced July 29.
JEA board Chair MG Orender wrote in a July 28 letter to board members that Cavey requested the extended leave of absence for 14 to 60 days. Orender did not say in the letter why she sought to take it.
"I am fully confident that the JEA leadership team will continue to deliver the exceptional level of service that our community deserves and expects during this time," Orender wrote to board members.
JEA spokeswoman Gerri Boyce McKenzie said the leave is for personal reasons and not because of any job performance issues.
JEA notified City Council members and released a public announcement on
July 29 that said Orender had designated Brooks to serve as interim CEO in accordance with the utility's succession plan.
"I am grateful for the board's confidence and honored to serve JEA in this role," Brooks said. "Our focus remains unchanged: supporting our employees, serving our customers and continuing to provide the safe and reliable utility services our community depends on every day."
City Council member Rory Diamond said the the public "deserves more information and transparency" about why Cavey is taking the extended leave.
"IF the CEO has a health problem, we don't need to know what, but we need to know that," he said in a post on X. "JEA is too important for this vague announcement."
Diamond served on a special City Council investigatory committee that scrutinized whether Cavey fosters a "toxic workplace" culture at JEA, a charge she has denied. She has said she sets high expectations for JEA employees while treating them respectfully.
City Council member Kevin Carrico, who formed the special committee while he was council president, said JEA's announcement about the extended leave creates "more questions than it answers."
"Given the concerns that have been raised over the past year and the courageous JEA employees who came forward, the public deserves timely and transparent communication about the leadership of one of Jacksonville's most important public institutions," he said in a statement.
The committee ended its investigation last month after Cavey testified as the final witness. The committee also hired a firm to survey the top tier of administrators at JEA for their views on what it's like to work with Cavey as CEO.
The city's Office of General Counsel separately hired an outside attorney to conduct an investigation of complaints made by the utility's former chief of staff Kurt Wilson about his contentions the utility has a toxic workplace at its headquarters.
The survey done by City Council and the outside attorney's investigation will go to the JEA board and have not yet been released.
Cavey started at JEA as a mechanical engineer and worked 32 years at the utility before retiring in 2016. She returned in 2020 to work for interim CEO Paul McElroy until the board hired Jay Stowe as CEO. She came out of retirement a second time in 2024 when the board made her interim CEO after Stowe stepped down.
The board approved a three-year contract extension for her in February 2025.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JEA CEO takes extended leave while interim leads utility
