Money & Power: A timeline

Curry expresses concerns about what he read in a Times-Union story detailing potential Sunshine Law issues and other concerns over a JEA practice of preparing scripted talking points in advance of its board of directors meetings, telling his top officials in an email he wants to find out “what the hell” is going on at the city-owned electric and water utility.

Curry seeks a clean sweep of the JEA board of directors, sending the members letters that say he is troubled by Times-Union reports about potential Sunshine Law violations and governance issues. Kerri Stewart, then Curry's chief of staff and later a JEA executive, says at the time: “The mayor felt it necessary to communicate with the five remaining board members given the recent admonishment by the general counsel of the city of Jacksonville and further revelations by the Times-Union of purported dysfunction of the board."

JEA board member Tom Petway, who was stepping down from the utility the next month, suggests at the tail end of a board meeting exploring the possibility of privatizing the utility. “Would the customers of JEA and the people of Jacksonville be better served in the private marketplace?” he says. “Should JEA and the city of Jacksonville consider the financial benefits that would come from the privatization of JEA?”

Mayor Curry says he welcomes the review: "With his challenge to explore privatization, he has made a simple request that citizens and city leaders explore the value of their public assets and how utility customers in our city can best be served. As a reform-minded mayor, I welcome this challenge and will work with City Council leadership to answer these questions."

Alan Howard, the chairman of JEA’s board of directors, requests an expedited review of JEA’s assets, a move that he said would help determine whether it’s viable to sell the city's utility.

“A decision this large should not be made by politicians who will gain an open checkbook to spend on buildings that will have a plaque with their name on it,” Anna Brosche says

At a City Council meeting, JEA board Chairman Alan Howard says that based on the high prices that utilities are attracting nationally, the city has a “once in a generation” opportunity for a sale that “could be transformative” for Jacksonville.