Gainesville city manager resigns amid big shakeup

City Manager Lee Feldman submitted his letter of resignation Monday following a tumultuous week at Gainesville City Hall.

Feldman became the third of six charter officers to resign in the past week and fourth since the start of 2021. He will officially leave the city manager position on Nov. 12.

Last Wednesday, City Clerk Omichele Gainey and City Attorney Nicolle Shalley submitted emails of resignation. On Aug. 23, in a Gainesville City Commission special meeting, commissioner and mayor pro-tem Gail Johnson announced her resignation. And on April 30, the city’s director of equity Teneeshia Marshall quit.

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Last week Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe asked Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) general manager Ed Bielarski to resign, but he has so far refused.

While announcing her resignation last month, Johnson pointed to Feldman as a key reason why.

Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker moved to terminate Feldman on the spot but did not receive a second. Following last week’s resignations, Duncan-Walker put Feldman on this week’s commission agenda.

“While I believe that I maintain the solid support of a majority of the city commision, the issue of my retention as your city manager continues to be a topic of discussion,” Feldman wrote in his resignation letter. “This in turn has a detrimental effect on our organization and impaires our ability to address the priorities that have been collectively identified by the city commission.”

Feldman will leave a little more than two years after starting as city manager on Nov. 4, 2019.

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