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Details of the ethics investigation into city officials, former JEA CEO, lobbyists released

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 2019 trip to Atlanta to see a Braves baseball game landed many city officials in hot water.

The game was attended by six people - Aaron Zahn, Mayor Lenny Curry, Brian Hughes, Scott Wilson, Sam Mousa, and Tim Baker. They all traveled to Atlanta in a private aircraft to attend the October 4 game. They got seats several rows behind the third-base dugout and access to a lounge with unlimited food, beer, and wine. The trip, tickets, and transportation was paid by Conventus, LLC. A company that was owned by Baker and Mousa. Baker was an FPL consultant and Mousa’s company, Mousa Consulting Group, was a paid consultant for FPL. The owners of FPL, NextEra, was one of the companies that was interested in buying JEA.

JEA would select which ITN respondents they want for contract negotiations ten days after the trip.

The Jacksonville Ethics Commission looked into the claim that the above mentioned city officials accepted gifts that were above $100 - a violation of local and state laws.

WOKV looked into the claims and found that each person on the trip was at least questioned by the Jacksonville Ethics Commission. All meetings were behind closed doors and only recently became public. All complaints and claims were dismissed.

COSTS OF THE GAME AND THE PLANE

The price of the ticket was first estimated by Baker in a text message as a face value of $150. However, the Ethics Complaint Commission state that the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that the cost of the ticket was closer to the price range of $280 to $300. The value of the private plane trip is harder to calculate.

In Hughes’ statement to the Commission, his lawyer included a breakdown of the price as provided by Conventus:

  • The average price for a round trip unrestricted coach airfare from Jacksonville to Atlanta in October 2019 was $200.
  • Ground transportation between Fulton County Airport and Suntrust Park, totaling approximately $60, was apportioned equally among the attendees.
  • The value of each ticket to the Game was $190 ($140.00 face value plus admission to the Delta Sky 360 Club valued at $50 per person).

Eventually the ethics commission concluded that the value of the trip, ticket and airfare, was $786 ($140 for the game, $50 for the admission to the Delta Club, $10 for ground transportation, and $586 for the plane trip). Each official had to pay for the trip was a total of $686 in order to be within gift compliance.

FORMER CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT SCOTT WILSON

The first complaint of the six was filed against Scott Wilson - the sitting Council President at the time. The complaint was anonymous. It was through that complaint that led to the investigation of the other five.

Wilson was invited to the game by Mayor Lenny Curry. He told the Commission that he had no idea what the value was of the charter plane.

“I regret making the decision. It was probably one of the worst things in my life. I wish I could think of back and do it over again. So my apologies to the commission, my apologies for the City of Jacksonville, and the residents I represent,” Wilson told the Commission on June 26.

Wilson requested an invoice on December 17 for the trip, according to Mousa. December 17 was the same day Zahn was put on administrative leave by the JEA Board while they decided whether or not to fire him with or without cause. Wilson received an invoice of $400 from Conventus, LLC on January 3, 2020. The complaint committee stated in a closed-door meeting on February 3, that the invoice had no other documentation with it for the item-by-item cost. Wilson sent the payment of $400 by check (dated December 29) and it was deposited on January 21.

Wilson said the amount of $400 was the amount he was told to pay and he was reliant on Baker and Mousa to give the right amount.

An issue was raised in the Ethics Commission that an invoice should have been asked within one week of the game, and the payment was not made within 90 days, in fact it was made in 91 days. So there wasn’t just a value issue the Commission was looking at, but now also a technical issue.

“Other than maybe the lobbyists, I see Wilson’s activity here is maybe the most culpable. I mean, he waited. He was the only one who had no thought of maybe I should repay this before eighty seven days after the trip when he asked for the for the invoice. And so he just waited forever to even think about that. And I don’t make fifty five thousand dollars a year, but if somebody tells me to just meet them at Craft and I haven’t gone online to book my own ticket, I have a pretty good suspicion that I’m about to get a very valuable gift.”

Wilson paid $350 to Conventus as part of the agreement with the commission- more than the required $300 he would have had to pay.

When it comes to the ITN discussion, Wilson noted in his disclosure to the City Council Special Investigatory Committee that Curry did approach him during the game and suggested that they talk to Zahn about releasing the names of the companies who responded to the ITN. He said that he did not know the procurement law well enough to make a recommendation.

MAYOR LENNY CURRY

Curry said that he believed the costs for the trip was dealt with before he stepped on the plane. Curry’s trip was payed for by Baker via Conventus, through Conservatism Counts (a political committee). Baker paid $400 to cover Curry’s travel expanses. Baker says that he did this as Curry traveled to “make requests for fundraising assistance and to share his political vision” so that Baker could further ask his clients to assist in Curry’s fundraising activities.

During the winter break, Curry talked to Wilson and the note of the invoice was brought up.

“But it got me thinking, why not cover myself twice, I wrote a check. I did not need to do it, but I did. I would say in retrospect I think its important that all of us elected officials think about the optics of something even if it is allowed under the law,” Curry said to Ethics Director on a call on June 23.

Curry then contacted Baker and asked to also pay for the Atlanta trip. He sent a personal check of $400 to Mousa on December 27. This check was deposited on January 24, 2020 according to Baker.

The phone call with the Ethics Director on June 23 also brought up other issues. The phone call was his statement for the committee - something the commission wasn’t a fan of.

“But my question is more, why didn’t he make a written statement? Why didn’t he make a video statement? Why is this and maybe this is something that’s common, that’s done within the city for somebody to have a conversation and another person to dictate it. I just never seen that before. So I’m a little confused as to why that method was used,” Darcy Galnor said in a meeting on June 26.

The reason why Curry didn’t appear in the meeting over Zoom, was over security issues.

“The reason that I did not join the zoom, I would have preferred to have done this in person and if we weren’t in a COVID era, I would have addressed the body personally just technology, the ability that someone could hack even if its encrypted, I was not willing to do this through technology because of that risk,” Curry said. “It is a personal decision I made.”

The case was dismissed during that same meeting. The dismissal passed unanimously under the understanding that Curry paid his amount.

“I think it’s clear, based on the information we have, there’s been no violation. It’s clear to me, based on the information we have, that that the mayor did not violate the ethical code. And so, I think that’s pretty much it,” Chairman Joseph Rogan said.

Curry said that the trip was to “look at the development around the Atlanta park, as Jacksonville is interested in that type of project.” When asked about the ITN, he said that he remembered making a statement to Zahn that “you have transparency problems”.

WOKV has reached out to Mayor Curry but has not received a statement at this time.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER BRIAN HUGHES

Hughes was invited to the game by Baker at the end of September. Baker told the commission that he had verbal communication with Hughes about the cost before the trip, stating that it was $400. Hughes paid Baker $400 dollars in cash on the day of the trip. That money, according to Baker, was used for beers, taxi and other expenses. It was never put into the Conventus, LLC. bank account, however Conventus did send him a receipt on October 8.

On February 3, Hughes was asked if he had any proof of a cash withdrawal from a bank. He told Miller the following:

“My spouse handles all of our family accounting. We have multiple cash accounts across multiple banks in two cities. I often have hundreds in cash on my person that I get from my spouse periodically. I’m not reconstructing months old transactions when you are in possession of a receipt and facts from me plus a member of the Florida Bar (Mr. Baker). You have the facts and the documents that respond to your inquiry”.

Hughes’ lawyer, Tiffany Cruz answered most of the communication from there on out.

The main argument on Hughes’ end was that Baker was not a lobbyist. Therefore Hughes could accept gifts from him, but even then, Hughes paid back the appropriate amount.

The commission agreed that Hughes paid the amount in a timely manner, just not the full amount the trip should have cost. The commission also dismissed the claim that Baker was not a lobbyist, and he was in fact a registered lobbyist at the time of the game.

Hughes paid $350 to Conventus as part of the agreement- more than the required $300 he would have had to pay.

Hughes said that he doesn’t remember discussing the JEA ITN, but says there may have been an exchange between Aaron Zahn and Scott Wilson about releasing bidder names to the public at some point during the game.

WOKV has reached out to Hughes but has not received a statement at this time.

AARON ZAHN

Zahn first received a letter from the Ethics Commission about the trip on January 23, 2020. In that letter, Carla Miller, the Ethics Director, said a complaint was not filed yet. However, following a unanimous vote on February 20, a formal complaint was filed.

According to an email from Zahn’s lawyers to the ethics commission, Zahn was not aware of who paid for the plane or the who else was going on the trip. Baker invited Zahn to the game. After the game, Zahn’s lawyer, John Mullen, said that Zahn and Baker discussed payment for a reimbursement.

“In this instance, Mr. Zahn recognized that he was invited on this trip and took the trip. It had value. And he immediately said on October 4, he asked Mr. Baker after the trip. So I want to pay you for the value of this trip. Mr. Baker didn’t ask for it and didn’t give him an invoice. But Aaron knew based on his obligations, Mr. Zahn knew that he should pay for this,” Mullen said during a closed door meeting on June 26.

Zahn decided to estimate the cost himself and transferred $750 to Baker’s wife’s venmo account. The payment was made on October 6 and was made from his personal funds. According to his lawyer, he deducted the value as the following:

  • $120 for the game
  • $350 for the flight. This was based on the price of a Delta flight between Jacksonville and Atlanta.
  • $280 to cover any other expanses, especially, as his lawyer stated, they took a private plane and not a commercial plane.

“Mr. Zhan’s rough estimate here to pay seven hundred and fifty dollars was sufficient and certainly more than sufficient to address what the law requires. You pay for the value of the ticket. You paid for the value of the flight. You paid for the value of the ground transportation. He covered his own food and drink. And frankly, he paid above and beyond that to get to the seven hundred and fifty dollars by doing the math.

One question that was brought up by Commission member J.J. Dixon was the use of venmo over a business or bank account.

“I think the answer to that question is when Mr. Zahn asked Mr. Baker, how can I pay for the value of this trip of Mr. Baker, said, my wife handles our Benbow account and give him that information,” Mullen replied.

Mullen went on to say that Zahn did not discuss JEA or the ITN negotiations going on at the same time while on the trip.

When it came to the private discussion between the commission members on June 26, there was a reminder from Chairman Joseph Rogan that this decision was based on this trip and the alleged gifts, not on any outside matters going on.

“We’re not here to judge the things that Mr. Zahn is being judged about elsewhere. And none of that is before us, thankfully. I’m happy to not be the judge or jury assigned to any other matter,” Rogan said. “So my vote here on this motion has nothing to do with my thoughts on Mr. Zahn or of any situation in the news.”

Commission member Mary Love motioned to dismiss the complaint as Zahn appeared to have paid the cost.

“I think the analysis is the same as we did for C I think we do have someone who’s made an effort to pay and pay quickly and finally under either state or local analysis and so on,” Love said.

The dismissal was unanimous.

WOKV reached out to Mullen who sent us this statement:

“Mr. Zahn, without being asked, immediately paid $750 to the trip organizer to more than adequately cover the estimated value of the travel expenses and game ticket.  Mr. Zahn also covered all his own food and beverage in connection with attending the Braves game on his personal credit card.  On June 26, 2020, when Mr. Zahn demonstrated these facts in response to their investigation, the Jacksonville Ethics Commission quickly cleared Mr. Zahn of any allegations of wrongdoing.  During his tenure as a Board member and as the CEO of JEA, Mr. Zahn was careful to observe the laws and regulations relating to gifts.  Please see the email below from ECO Director Carla Miller on July 7, 2020 confirming the above.”

TIM BAKER AND SAM MOUSA - THE LOBBYISTS

According to the JEA Investigation report released by City Council on Monday, Hughes and Mousa told the committee they did not talk about the sale during the game. The report states that Baker and Mousa paid a portion of the trip expenses for Hughes and Wilson.

The report states that Baker and Mousa ultimately entered into an agreement with the Ethics Commission that resolved the matter. The agreement was for Mousa’s company to pay $1,400 to the First Coast Relief Fund. Baker and Mousa also agreed to work with the ethics commission to develop ordinance code revisions that will clarify responsibilities of lobbyists and officials for gifts of travel and events.

According to emails on October 5, the donation was changed to the United Way as First Coast Relief Fund was no longer accepting direct donations. The check was written on October 6.

Baker and Mousa told the commission that they attempted to comply with the ethics law and did not intend to offer any reporting official a gift. There was no formal complaint against the two and the matter was closed.

“The agreement is self explanatory. Ethics thought a few people should pay more to our firm to cover costs and so they did and we donated their money to charity,” Baker said following the published reports of the decisions by the Ethics Committee. “No complaint filed and no violations found. I think a very fair resolution to their inquiry "

WOKV has reached out to Baker and Mousa but has not received a statement at this time.

THE TAKEAWAY

The Jacksonville Ethics Commission overall impression of this whole complaint was that the trip was not properly planned.

“Just seems like it was uncoordinated, it was unorganized, and they just should have had a better handle on what the trip cost and when it was due and how it was going to be paid and all of the things they did not. And so I think maybe some sort of like some people have mentioned, the letter of construction or something to to just let them know that next time things need to be a little bit more clean,” Darcy Galnor said in a meeting on May 28.

There was discussion about possibly changing the law in the future to help tightened these gift regulations. Some of the suggestions included mandatory training on lobbyists. Carla Miller, the Director of the Office of Ethics, said that Curry was supportive of this move. She said that both Curry and Wilson would come down to the Ethics Office without an attorney to discuss reforms. As part of their agreements, Hughes, Wilson, Baker, and Mousa agreed to work with the Ethics Commission to help clarify responsibilities to officials and lobbyists. Baker and Mousa agreed to make sure there was a policy for Conventus that outlines procedures about officials for any gifts.

The final meeting was on September 30.

Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee is a General Assignment Reporter for 104.5 WOKV.

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