In the space of about two weeks, three members of the city of Alachua’s planning department submitted their resignations, leaving the city with one planner to handle its projects.
Principal planner Adam Hall submitted his resignation on Jan. 21, effective Feb. 6, after nine and a half years with the city, and was the only one of the three to state that he had accepted a position with a different organization.
Justin Tabor, another principal planner, submitted his resignation on Feb. 4, effective Feb. 20, after 17 years with the city.
Both principal planners submitted their resignations to Planning and Community Development Director Kathy Winburn, who submitted her own resignation to City Manager Mike DaRoza on Feb. 5. According to her resignation letter, Winburn had been with the city for 17 and a half years.
In her letter, Winburn thanked the City Commission and all four city managers she has worked with and praised her planning staff for their work.
“During my nearly two decades of service to the City, I have witnessed numerous changes and challenges and I have always approached these challenges with dedication and commitment,” Winburn wrote.
During public comment on a planned development during the City Commission’s regular meeting on Monday, a resident mentioned the planners’ exodus.
At the end of the meeting, during commissioner comment, Commissioner Shirley Green Brown said she wanted to talk to the planners about why they are leaving and asked other commissioners for their suggestions on how to approach the situation.
“I cannot leave this meeting tonight knowing that three of our planners have submitted their resignations,” Green Brown said. “That speaks volumes to me. They have committed their time, their lives, their service to this community and to this city. And I am very, very upset, and I really would like to find out more about why… We can’t just sit here and pretend it didn’t happen; it happened.”
Commissioner Jennifer Ringersen said it would be helpful for the planners’ exit interviews to be conducted by someone outside of the city of Alachua.
“I think it’s important for people to be able to say something and be able to feel OK with saying it and be brought to our attention so that we’re aware,” Ringersen said.
Attorney Marian Rush recommended other attorneys as the best candidates to conduct the investigation. The city does not need to issue requests for proposal when hiring attorneys, so Rush said it would help expedite the process and bring findings before the commission as soon as possible.
Commissioner Dayna Williams made a motion to direct Rush to bring back suggestions for outside attorneys to do an independent investigation, which passed unanimously.
The commission also discussed the possibility of creating a moratorium on new planning projects while the search for new planning staff takes place, but DaRoza said he would rather not jump to that moratorium, as he is already working toward a solution.
DaRoza said staff has already taken an inventory of everything in the planning process and is determining how to address the projects. The city has also already posted the planning positions to fill, and DaRoza said he’s reached out to other professional services for help, including the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council.
“I’m not trying to replace anybody, just I have to make sure that the city’s business continues one way or another,” DaRoza said. “This is not something that makes me happy, but I’m committed to finding a solution, and moving forward, and being better because of it.”
Unless the city hires another planner before Feb. 20, Carson Crockett will be the only planner left in the department. Crockett earned his master’s degree in 2023 and has only been working for the city since June of that year, according to his LinkedIn profile.
According to his profile on the city website, Crockett is working toward an American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) certification.
“You’ve got 75% of our professional staff in the planning department leaving. It’s catastrophic,” Commissioner Ed Potts said. “We need to know more about why it happened… We’re losing 95% of our tenure and expertise. I love Carson, but Carson can’t manage this by himself.”
I don’t blame them for leaving. This city has gone to s**t.
And why so you believe so?
Greg, you relatively new to Gainesville? As someone that’s spent nearly 40 yrs in and around the city, it has changed a lot and that’s to be expected. Too much of that change has not been good.
This article is about the CITY of Alachua, and not Gainesville.
That being said, things are *always* going to be changing (we live in Florida!). It’s just a matter of being intentional about the change to make sure its changing in the right way.
Though you’re correct Mike, I actually am rather intrigued to why they left.
As someone who has lived in Alachua—the city my entire life, it has grown and changed tremendously. While James’s comment is slightly on the pessimistic side, Gainesvilles growth and economics directly and indirectly impacts the city of alachua. One only needs to look at all of the temporary residents in Gainesville due to the university, how much of the county taxes collected by the residents of the city of Alachua actually gets distributed to the city of alachua? The reason I bring this up in regards to planning, the planners are limited by this intrinsically as we already have one of the highest county taxes in state. A lot of people I know have moved out of the city of alachua because of it, and if one were to raise them any more it would likely only get worse. So the planners have a very difficult job, to essentially make the most of an already limited budget.
TL:DR
Gainesville does affect the city of Alachua’s growth intrinsically, it’s a multivariate problem and more than likely the reasoning behind them leaving was due to that to some degree. Though I am curious about the specifics.
Duh,…really?
Intriguing story. Good journalism- nice change of pace from other news outlets. Thank you!
As an Alachua City Commissioner between 2010 and 2022, it was my distinct honor and special privilege to work with these exceptional professionals. Prior to commission meetings, on occasion, I would meet with one of them regarding questions/concerns I had about proposals coming before the commission. They were patient and extended me the utmost courteous.
I wish them every success n their future careers. They are the best of the best!
Maybe they’re pursuing federal job openings now that some 75,000+ have accepted early retirement? It seems doubtful, however, they’d have better job security in that space.