The Alachua City Commission canceled an external inquiry into the resignation of 75% of its planning department during comment time at a regular meeting on Monday, after the city attorney brought back a recommendation for an attorney to conduct the inquiry. 

Upon the request of city attorney Marian Rush, the commission waived its rules to allow for a vote during comment time. Two weeks ago, commissioners had voted unanimously to direct Rush to bring back suggestions for an outside attorney who could independently conduct an inquiry or investigation into the reason for the planners’ exodus. 

Rush said she made the assignment her top priority and has spent well over 25 hours working on it, searching for attorneys with experience with municipal governments. 

Her final recommendation was to hire Mark Barnebey of the Blalock Walters law firm in Bradenton. She said the firm has no relation to Commissioner Jennifer Ringersen, whose former surname is Blalock, and Barnebey has extensive experience in municipal government and planning departments. 

Rush said in the interest of starting the inquiry quickly, she had already negotiated a contract with Barnebey for $375 per hour, significantly lower than his standard rate. 

Rush said Barnebey understood that time was of the essence in the investigation, had committed to starting next week at the latest, and would complete the process within four weeks. She said he would come in person and speak with all three of the planners, as well as the city manager, and would follow up with others by phone. 

The recommended motion was for the commission to hire Barnebey to independently investigate the resignation of the planning director and principal planners. 

Vice Mayor Ed Potts made the recommended motion to extend the contract offer to Barnebey, seconded by Commissioner Shirley Green Brown. 

With the motion on the floor, public commentors streamed to the podium to weigh in—some applauding the commission for looking into the matter, and others saying the city needs to look to the future, not concern itself with former employees. 

Mitch Glaeser, CEO of Emory Group and co-developer of Tech City, said he has had bad experiences with the planners who resigned and kept quiet about it for fear of retribution. He said he would rather the city look to the future and try to build the best possible planning department instead of following up with the planners who resigned. 

“When we talk about the resources that you’re going to put into this look-behind, and the amount of money, let’s do that in terms of trying to reach out to the greater good and the future… and if you want to interview someone, interview people like me, a customer. Now I have the opportunity to tell you the truth, and not feel like the regulatory agency is going to oppress me,” Glaeser told the commission. 

Rudy Rothseiden, a citizen and chair of Alachua’s Community Redevelopment Agency Board, said though he has not always liked the answers he’s gotten from the planners, they were always open communicators. He agreed the city should look to the future, but said the city still needs to search out and resolve any existing issues. 

“We make the rules, we have to set the rules, and you as commissioners have to take an open look at what’s going on within our city, good or bad,” Rothseiden said. 

When discussion returned to the dais, Commissioner Dayna Miller said that her motion two weeks ago, to direct the attorney, was not intended to launch an investigation. She said she was surprised to find that Rush came on Monday with a contract already negotiated. 

Miller and Ringersen said they did not like the idea of a full-blown investigation and noted that former employees may not want to talk to anyone about why they left, even an outside attorney. 

City Manager Mike DaRoza said he believed two of the planners had already gone through the city’s usual exit interviews, and a third was beginning the process, before the Feb. 10 meeting. DaRoza said when he heard the word “investigation” at that meeting, he put the third planner’s exit interview on hold to see how the city would proceed. 

Mayor Gib Coerper said if the planners want to move on to new jobs, they should be allowed to leave without being hassled for exit interviews. He said he speaks to city employees regularly and they seem happy and comfortable talking with him. 

“Not every day is perfect, and not everything you get is perfect,” Coerper said. “But if you keep in the right attitude, and I think these people did, you’re gonna keep moving forward.” 

Potts and Green Brown said they still supported the idea of having an outsider talk to the planners, but Potts said he was open to changing his motion to hire Barnebey to conduct exit interviews with the planners instead of allowing him to talk to anyone necessary for an investigation. 

“If three city employees of similar expertise and seniority left in three different departments in our city, I would be concerned,” Potts said. “Three of four in one department: I think we’re burying our heads in the sand if we don’t want more information about how that happened and whether or not we can do something better as a city.” 

For clarity, Potts retracted his original motion and made a new one for Barnebey to conduct exit interviews, seconded by Ringersen. 

The motion failed 3-2, with Potts and Green Brown in favor, and the rest against.