JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three of Mayor Lenny Curry’s closest advisors lobbied on behalf of two different companies that tried to buy JEA.
A new document obtained by First Coast News shows the mayor’s former Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa and the mayor's former campaign manager Tim Baker had contracts to lobby for NextEra Energy, the parent company of FPL.
Mayor Curry’s current Chief of Staff Brian Huges was formerly a manager and co-founder at Baker's lobbying firm, Bold City Strategic Partners, or BCSP, LLC.
FPL was on the shortlist of companies bidding to take over JEA before the deal was scuttled amid scandal, and was considered the front runner.
The sale process is now the subject of a federal grand jury investigation.
FCN reached out to the mayor’s office for comment. Curry has long maintained he was not involved in the push to sell JEA.
In a statement to First Coast News his spokesperson, Nikki Kimbleton said,
"Brian co-founded Bold City Strategic Partners and divested all of his shares a month prior to his employment with COJ. (Divested in Dec 2017) When Mr. Hughes worked for that company, there was no connection to Next Era.
As for Mr. Mousa and Mr. Baker, they are both private citizens and are welcome to conduct business with private companies. As are all of those mentioned in that document."
However, Sam Mousa had a sole source contract with the city as a consultant, which started just a few weeks after his retirement in June 2019.
The JEA sale process called an Intent to Negotiate, started in July 2019. Mousa previously refused to say if he was consulting for FPL/NextEra Energy. Baker told our news partner the Florida Times-Union that he didn’t work for any entities trying to buy JEA.
But there were many cross-connections during the ITN process. In October, Hughes and Baker were seen chatting with FP&L CEO Eric Silagy in a Jacksonville Jaguars luxury suite.
In December, Curry joined Baker, Mousa, Hughes and now-fired JEA CEO Aaron Zahn along with City Council President Scott Wilson on a trip to Atlanta on a private plane to watch a playoff game.
Baker also advised JEA officials on their ITN efforts. JEA officials acknowledged Zahn tried to hire Baker as a consultant but said JEA ultimately did not pay Baker for his services.
Mousa, who didn’t return a message seeking comment, has refused to say whether he’s working for Florida Power and Light or NextEra.
This is a developing story.