WOW! I had no clue we had such a high rated utility authority! Last week Paul McElroy informed us JEA is rated #1 on the commercial side and # 24 on the residential side in customer satisfaction; after being near the bottom in the low 100’s just 3 years ago. It was also interesting to hear that of our $1 Billion city budget, JEA collects $235 million in taxes and fees making up about 24% of our city budget. Since taking over the position a few years ago, Mr. McElroy has created an environment that looks at residents as “customers” and though JEA has no competitors locally, satisfaction is something towards which he has his team working diligently.
Now I have a confession to make. Usually I’m drafting these messages on the Wednesday prior to the newsletter distribution in order to get it to Elyk in time for our site update. Our great web partners update the site once weekly for the new speaker and spotlight at which time the President’s message goes into a “queue” set to populate on Sundays. In order to get the site updated the day after our meeting, I need to have this message to them ahead per our very generous arrangement. That being said, when looking at the weather for last Saturday’s annual Fishing Trip there was a 50% chance of rain. So you’ll understand I hesitated to have you all opening your newsletter reading “we had a fantastic time yesterday on the fishing trip not to mention great weather!!!”
With that in mind….we had a fantastic time last Saturday on the fishing trip not to mention great weather!!! Frank Wallmeyer eagerly boarded the boat with us intent on defending his title from 2015 for the biggest catch (one we didn’t have to release.) Throughout the day we caught a variety of fish, but I was told we threw back more than 60 red snapper. Towards the end of the day, after an hour or two of Frank’s bait being stolen he reeled in a 13+ pounder to take the win once again! Coincidentally I ended up seated between Frank and Angie Tekin who also reeled in some pretty large sushi, I wish we could’ve kept her snapper. We posted a video of her reeling one in below that would make anyone jealous. Should they open snapper for a brief window this year or next, Julie Clements and I have agreed we may need to schedule a 2nd trip as there would be too much to pass up! This was the first time I attended the trip and I’m now kicking myself for never having done so previously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD_QoC6qCWw
This week Senator Aaron Bean will address our group on the recent session. Over the past 9 years we’ve been fortunate to have within our membership several elected officials at various levels of government. When scheduling this program, we told Aaron how disappointed we were to go from 3 in the legislature (Reps. McBurney, Ray, and Renner) to only 1. Upon learning this he immediately stated he couldn’t let that stand, and submitted an application for membership. I can’t recall the last time we inducted a member the same day they were the weekly speaker but we’ll do so this week. Also beyond his legislative portfolio, Aaron has a special talent he’ll share with us this week.
Speaking of Reps Ray and McBurney, they were both in attendance last week and Charles took a moment during our Business Acknowledgments to express his heartfelt gratitude for the club’s support of his candidacy for appointment to the Circuit Court Bench. The governor has yet to announce his decision, he has until June 24th. Regardless Charles has committed to keeping us in the loop upon learning one way or the other; hopefully we soon find ourselves addressing him as “Your Honor!”
Finally don’t miss out on the FIRST MEET-A-MEMBER of 2016 THIS THURSDAY!!!!! Jeff Hubbard gave us a sneak peak at the details confirming a raffle every 30 mins, but held the prizes close to his vest. When we spoke on Wednesday he said we’re already up to 38 so sure to be a great event. Details are below and you can purchase your tickets for $10 on the club’s website by clicking here. /event/?events_id=594 I hope to see you there, let’s make this one for the record books!
P.S. Please bring EXTRA door prizes this week!!!
