The Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority decided to keep Tony Cunningham as the general manager and chief executive officer at a Wednesday meeting while also voting to negotiate for an interim attorney.
Board member James Coats IV proposed a motion to fire Cunningham effective immediately after grilling the general manager and also asking two chief officers at Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) to speak about their interactions with Cunningham.
The motion died after no one seconded it.
Coats handed out binders that documented his reasons for the termination, running from Cunningham’s lack of business education, a services agreement between GRU and the city of Gainesville’s general government and a bond delay that cost $2.9 million.
“The issue that I have with you is that I don’t trust anything you’re saying based on the fact that it’s in data—it’s in writing,” Coats said, again referencing an IT contract with the city of Gainesville.
Coats also accused Cunningham of creating a hostile work environment. He asked GRU’s Chief Financial Officer Claudia Rasnick and Chief Information Officer Walter Banks about their relationships with Cunningham.
“Is, in your opinion, Mr. Cunningham the leader that GRU needs right now to fix these issues,” Coats asked Banks.
Banks responded that he wasn’t sure if he was even qualified to answer that question and that he didn’t know. He did say that he thinks GRU should do better to save funds considering the utility’s financial position.
Banks said he had his name taken off a drafted agreement for IT services given by GRU to the general government of Gainesville because he didn’t agree with the contract and thought there was a better way. He also said it was hard to bring forward these concerns to the authority and that employees shouldn’t have the same fears around speaking up.
Coats asked Rasnick about the bond delay in March. She said she stands by her memo that the commission didn’t direct GRU to hold the bonds and that direction came from Mayor Harvey Ward. She said a delay could only result in higher costs to GRU and that the action didn’t make sense—even if Cunningham wanted to wait for a debt reduction plan.
Cunningham defended his actions concerning the delayed bond issuance and the contract with the city of Gainesville. He also said he was confused by the accusation of a hostile work environment, noting he’s always worked well with Banks and Rasnick even if they come from different perspectives.
On the contract, Cunningham noted that general government only paid around $1 million in the past for IT services provided by GRU. The new contract puts the number at $2.9 million. Cunningham said that’s more than for the past decade and would give the utility a year to look at its budget and consider how it could manage, or drop, general government IT services in the future.
On the bond delay, Cunningham said Ward gave his thoughts on the matter during a meeting with other top staff. However, Cunningham said he decided to not place the new bonds before the commission until after a debt plan and reduced general services contribution had been settled.
“We do work in an environment that is high stress, but we’re also in roles where we have to make difficult decisions.,” Cunningham said.
He noted that the past year had been very stressful for the entire leadership team and said he stands by his past decisions.
Chair Craig Carter said he’d like GRU to stop making concessions for the general government side, which he said has been the trend. He said the IT contract is one of them.
While making more money than in the past, the contract still has GRU cover costs for the general government side—according to Cunningham, Banks and Coats—as the utility side deals with high debt that many blame on past City Commission management.
Carter said he wants Cunningham to take “a couple black eyes” by working for GRU. He also said he would put his support behind Cunningham for the general manager position and doesn’t expect to go through the same kind of meeting again.
However, Carter said if one of the other board members, Robert Karow or Eric Lawson, had seconded the motion then he would have been the final vote to fire Cunningham.
During public comments, many GRU employees spoke in support of Cunningham along with one in support of Banks and his work at the utility.
Included were comments by Brett Goodman, GRU’s chief operating offer. He said he was hired by Cunningham to reduce overhead, and he also backed Cunningham’s decision on the delayed bond issuance. He said if the bond had been delayed without a debt reduction plan or finalized general services contribution, then employees’ jobs would be on the line. Mitigating that risk would be worth the extra $2.9 million every time, he said.
Cunningham said he would continue to work professionally with Banks and Rasnick, saying they had nothing to fear concerning their jobs.
Cunningham was appointed general manager by the Gainesville City Commission in January 2022 after former general manager Ed Bielarski was fired. Cunningham has worked at GRU for 22 years, leading the water and wastewater division before his appointment to general manager.
New attorney for authority
Since the authority took control of GRU in October, the members have discussed whether or not it needs legal counsel outside of the Gainesville city attorney. Currently, Daniel Nee serves in that position, and he is hired and fired by the City Commission.
Members have raised concerns about conflicts of interest and the awkwardness of the situation for Nee. Nee has said that the entire city and all its departments are his client, including GRU.
However, the concern continues.
Carter asked during member comment that he be allowed to negotiate with Scott Walker from Folds & Walker LLC. as interim attorney for the authority. The board members agreed, making the motion and passing unanimously.
Walker attended the authority’s November meeting, along with the one Wednesday night. Carter said he’s also talked privately with Walker on some of the issues the authority faces.
If hired, Carter said the authority could then get his expertise on whether or not the authority needs to use the city’s procurement process and other matters. Carter said the authority might issue a request for proposals anyway to see what other attorneys offered services.
The contract for Walker will return at the next authority meeting scheduled for next week. Walker also serves as city attorney for High Springs, Newberry, Lake City and other local municipalities.
Coats highlighted an item on Thursday’s City Commission agenda that illustrates the authority’s concern.
The item, if approved by the City Commission, directs Nee to draft an ordinance to amend chapter 27 of Gainesville’s Code of Ordinances. The change would revoke GRU’s current ability to access the city’s right-of-way without permits.
The backup says the change would improve coordination and communication and ensure consistency with code requirements. The change would also cost GRU around $150,000 annually.
“You continue every time we have a conversation to say that you can be our attorney, but yet, your boss tomorrow is instructing you to create an ordinance that has a negative impact on us and is a politicized piece,” Coats said to Nee.
You can watch the entire meeting on YouTube. The item starts an hour and 40 minutes into the video. Cunningham starts with a 20-minute presentation on his plans for the next year followed by Coats’ lines of inquiry.
To be fair, he is somewhat just the messenger.
The real problems lie in Tallahassee.
That CIO is full of BS. He has created a dozen useless positions in the department (literally people collecting 100K+ salaries with 0 deliverables except stroking his ego). The “security” team he put in place has 0 experience and is routinely called out for making terrible mistakes by those with actual technical knowledge and experience.
Hopefully the authority checks with HR and finds all the complaints against him and reads all the employees reasons for leaving (Banks is the one creating hostile toxic work environments).
Mr. Coats has a flare for the dramatic, it appears. Watching him in the video of the meeting , I am not sure what strengths he will have in helping lead our utility except as a fly in the ointment and good local meme material. As a business leader, I would hope that those in Tallahassee will see what happens when you appoint on politics alone and not strength of character and leadership ability. Also, please pass on to him that it’s fiscal year, not physical year when budgets are being discussed. This is our utility and the board has an important job for the citizens. His first few meetings leaves this citizen quite concerned, frankly, that he is even on this board with his apparent political mission. If the thought is that the city’s politics is what led to the mismanagement of the utility’s finances over the years (and the need for the new board), then wouldn’t it be wise to take politics out of the equation for the good of our community and our utility? In the end, this is staffed by local residents for local residents of our area. It is about local economies, jobs, budgets, and services for local families and businesses. Politics should be a non-factor. The job for the board is overseeing that the utility is being run in a fiscally responsible manner that will lead to longevity of services for it’s citizens and customers. I’m not sure how firing the fairly new appointed GM of an organization in transition is going to better anything in this process, unless he is unwilling to work with the board. That does not appear to me to be the case with the GM while watching the meetings. Put your head down and start working on the job at hand Mr. Coats. You appear to me to be distracting this mission thus far for the board, the utility and the citizens that you are serving.
Get the chip off your shoulder and move past the denial stage. The City of Gainesville has done what no other Public Utility in the State of Florida has done by destroying GRU with intentional political agendas and taking transfer funds that we not supported by profits. Look at the massive, out of whack debt burden City Leaders created. Some people would consider that theft. Mr. Coats was factual ,has the testimony about the GM’s failures. Maybe pointing them out will get the GM on the right track. The GM does seem sincere and was obviously bullied by the City leaders. If proper governance has the appearance of politics, so be it. Meanwhile Gainesville can enjoy unprecedent tax hikes that they have earned and additional reductions in transfer fees . Party time is over, they just still can’t accept that. They continue to breed crime and chaos in the City of Gainesville.
Juan, I totally agree that the city’s actions over the years put GRU in the place where a different governance was well warranted – that is not my issue at all and there is no chip on my shoulder with that issue. My issue is that the board has an important job to do to keep GRU viable and working for our community. It appears to me that Mr. Coats is taking a path that will not lead to this outcome and seems politically motivated at best, incompetent at worst. Running a business is not usually very sexy or exciting to the outside viewer. Large scale changes in organizations are usually only warranted in situations where the leadership is clearly sabotaging a situation, are vastly incompetent, or are participating in illegal or highly immoral behavior. GRU’s problem was judged to be a result from the governance the city (and the board that was to be overseeing the utility). This seems correct to me from what I have observed and, as you pointed out, with the large, seemingly un-warranted transfers of funds to the city, the evidence is clear. The job now, I believe, is to let the leadership teams and the employees correct course now that the identified problem has been removed. Playing politics by coercing a leadership team to turn on one another is ludicrous unless Mr. Coats was actually planning on exposing the CIO and CFO as bad members of the leadership team that need to be dismissed. What I don’t want to see is GRU failing and being sold off to a much larger corporation at a discount price. That would be bad on many levels for us in the Gainesville area. Small , medium, and regional corporations are the backbone of our economy in this county. The seemingly unfettered growth of large, multinational corporations in this country is alarming and I believe could be the downfall of our economy if allowed to continue. We, the people, must fight for the smaller businesses to keep our economy healthy and keep the American dream alive for both mid-level professionals and the working class, which comprises the majority of households in our area. I don’t believe that Mr. Coats’ actions to this point are leading GRU to the best chance of a successful path in this new environment for GRU leadership. It appears distracting to the board and hostile to the leadership team from my perspective.