Gainesville City Commission postpones City Manager selection to 2027, approves red light camera contract

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During the morning session of the April 2 Gainesville City Commission meeting, Commissioners voted to delay a decision on a permanent City Manager until early 2027 and approved a contract for red light cameras.

Mayor Harvey Ward: “It’s going to cost us between $50,000 and $100,000 to do a search, and given the ‘Free State of Florida,’ given lots and lots of things in the current environment, I have a hard time believing that we’re going to spend $100,000 and come out with a different product than what we have in front of us right now.”

Mayor Harvey Ward introduced the agenda item regarding a national search for a City Manager by stating that he would prefer to hire Interim City Manager Andrew Persons as the permanent City Manager: “It’s going to cost us between $50,000 and $100,000 to do a search, and given the ‘Free State of Florida,’ given lots and lots of things in the current environment, I have a hard time believing that we’re going to spend $100,000 and come out with a different product than what we have in front of us right now. I’m happy if it’s the will of the Commission to go through this process, but I do not believe it’s necessary. I think we should stick with what we have, frankly, but that’s my thought.”

Human Resources Director Laura Graetz reminded Commissioners that Persons became Interim City Manager in October 2025, and at a meeting a few days later, the Commission asked staff to come back in March 2026 to discuss the timing of a national search; she said that was shifted to the April 2 meeting. She said a search would cost between $22,000 and $100,000 and would take 16 to 20 weeks. 

Graetz said candidates are typically interviewed in the third or fourth month of the search, and she reminded them that there is a City Commission election in August, along with budget discussions that are held in the months preceding adoption of the budget before October 1. She suggested two options:

• Option 1: Start the search in August, allowing newly-elected Commissioners to participate in part of the process (Commissioners are elected in August, with a possible runoff in November, and they are sworn in in January);
• Option 2: Start the search in October; Commissioners elected in August can participate from the beginning of the process, even though they would not be sworn in yet, and will be in office by the time the final decision is made. 

Commissioner Bryan Eastman said the City Manager position in Gainesville is “sort of a strong mayor-type role,” and “I think having a public search for something as important as this makes a lot of sense… We should probably go forward with our standard process.”

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut agreed, “I think we owe it to the public to do a thorough search.” She supported Option 1: “I just don’t see delaying the beginning of the process to October.” She said she would like to make that motion after other Commissioners had a chance to comment.

Commissioner Casey Willits said candidates might withdraw their applications if voters approve a potential constitutional amendment to eliminate property taxes on homesteaded properties; because of that, he favored Option 2 because he preferred to make the decision after the elections this fall. 

Commissioner James Ingle said he wasn’t sure they needed to do a search “if we’ve got a qualified person that’s already doing that job. But I’m also not 100% on that, one way or the other… I would say I am a bigger fan of Option 2, mostly because… starting in the first part of January, we are going to have at least one new Commissioner, and potentially four new Commissioners.”

Commissioner Ed Book said that following the search process “is probably the best way to ensure legitimacy and trust.”

Commissioner Duncan-Walker: “I’d like to get down to business, absolutely, but I also am very sensitive to the fact that whoever is sitting at this dais should certainly be a part of making that decision in who they will… work with when they’re seated here.”

Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker supported doing a search: “When we open up [the search process], it’s accessibility, it’s transparency, and it’s the kind of trust that we need to continue to try to build with the public… I’d like to get down to business, absolutely, but I also am very sensitive to the fact that whoever is sitting at this dais should certainly be a part of making that decision in who they will… work with when they’re seated here.”

Eastman supported Option 1 because “it’s important to get someone in that is permanent and get this done,… and then be able to move through other priorities.”

Commissioner Willits: “If we go with Option 1, you can literally have a majority of this Commission that… won’t have to face the consequences of working with the next [City] Manager.”

Willits said that while newly-elected Commissioners might have “input” into the process, that’s not a vote: “If we go with Option 1, you can literally have a majority of this Commission that… won’t have to face the consequences of working with the next [City] Manager.” He supported Option 2. 

Chestnut said that Eastman “was invited to sit at the table in each discussion” between his election in August 2022 and being sworn in the following January: “I suspect all of you will be re-elected in August, except for one who’s not running, and you’ll be at the table until we begin that process in January.”

Ward said, “This is likely, or at least potentially, to become a campaign issue, if we do it with Option 1. I don’t think you want to choose a City Manager by ballot. That’s not our system.” He supported Option 2. Regarding a possible constitutional amendment on property taxes, Ward said, “Anybody we might want to hire is already watching that.”

Ingle said he had decided to support Option 2 because most of the process would take place after the budget is adopted. Book said he was now leaning toward Option 1 because he likes “to de-politicize anything that we’re doing.”

Motion

Chestnut said it looked like most Commissioners supported Option 2, so she made a motion to “begin the search process and start that process beginning in October, hopefully to conclude in February.” Willits seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

City Auditor budget request

After hearing an update from the Public Works Department, Commissioners heard a request from the City Auditor to unfreeze a Senior Auditor position and freeze a Staff Auditor position instead, along with a $45,000 budget amendment.

City Auditor Stephen Mhere said he was asking for $45,000 so his office could use private internal audit consulting firms, which “helps us to complete our audits in a timely manner.” He also wanted to promote a Staff Auditor to Senior Internal Auditor, a position that is currently frozen. He said the Staff Auditor has been with the office for four years and has become a Certified Internal Auditor, an international credential. Mhere said that even if Commissioners approve the additional $45,000, his office’s budget will be 11.6% lower than last year.

Interim City Manager Persons said he hadn’t heard any concerns from the budget office about the $45,000, “and I think that’s largely because of the Auditor’s willingness to swap essentially one position for the other.”

Book reminded Commissioners that they had agreed in February to unfreeze a position in the Office of Equity and Inclusion. He said, “I’m always hesitant to increase things during the budget year, but on the other hand, our City leaders should have the ability to make small and incremental additions and subtractions that allow them to be efficient,… and I think this is one of those cases.”

Duncan-Walker said she thought it was “a reasonable request,” and she supported it.

Chestnut said she supported an additional $11,000 for the Senior Auditor, but she didn’t support the $33,000 to hire consulting firms, even though the City Auditor’s office plans to do 10 audits this year, more than the six audits that have typically been done in a year.

Commissioner Willits: Audits are very important and can identify “real concerns” to prevent fraud or security threats

Willits supported swapping the positions and encouraged the other Commissioners to review two audit reports that were on the meeting’s Consent Agenda: “I was very impressed by those two, and… the ones I’ve seen this spring… [They’re] very important.” He said one audit had “identified real concerns to make sure that we can prevent future fraud or any kind of security threat.” He asked whether the City Auditor’s office conducted enough audits prior to FY2024 and reminded Commissioners that the City had “issues with certain parts of our government that led to staff transition,… and I’m talking about Reichert House, like real concerns.” He said the additional audits are valuable, and “we can’t give them more work without some more resources.”

Willits referred to the $55,000 for Heartwood Soundstage that would be considered on the afternoon agenda, with a staff recommendation that the spending be audited: “It will be hard to understand someone voting yes… for Heartwood, but not the money to go track [the funds].”

Commissioner Ingle: “If anybody is given that type of responsibility, I think they need to be given the pay commensurate with that; otherwise, we are just saving money off the back of one worker, and I am in no way in favor of that.”

In response to a question from Commissioner Ingle about the position, Mhere said a Senior Auditor “will require less supervision, thereby allowing the other auditors to work a little more on other projects.” Ingle said, “If anybody is given that type of responsibility, I think they need to be given the pay commensurate with that; otherwise, we are just saving money off the back of one worker, and I am in no way in favor of that.”

First motion

Eastman made a motion to unfreeze the Senior Auditor position, freeze the Staff Auditor position, and add $11,448 to the City Auditor’s budget. Chestnut seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

Second motion

Duncan-Walker made a motion to add $33,600 to the City Auditor’s budget to enable the office to hire consulting firms. Willits seconded the motion.

Eastman said that decisions about the level of service desired from a City office should be part of the budgeting process, so he would vote against the motion. 

Book said the request was “reasonable and incremental,” and “I support it, but I just don’t support it today, and that is because we need to see what our total financial picture is.”

Willits said he had similar concerns, but auditing is a core function of the City and is in the Charter: “I know it’s an amount of money that doesn’t seem like it’s the toughest decision in the world, but I fully understand the weight of the decision.”

The motion passed 4-3, with Book, Chestnut, and Eastman in dissent.

Red light cameras

The final agenda item in the morning session was the approval of a contract with Red Speed Florida LLC for two red light cameras; Ward reminded everyone that this contract is for red light cameras, not school zone cameras.

The red light cameras will be installed at two intersections:

• NE Waldo Road and NE 39th Avenue
• NW 6th Street and NW 23rd Avenue

First motion

Book said he remained “fully in support” of the cameras, which are “all about public safety; it’s definitely not about revenue. If anything, it appears that our analysis shows it will be revenue-negative.” He made a motion to approve the contract, and Chestnut seconded the motion.

Ingle said he’s been “torn” on the issue, “especially with lower-income folks that don’t necessarily get mail at the same place,… missing something like this, and it turns into a fine they didn’t know they had, into a suspended license and a bench warrant, and all the things that go along with that.” He said a judge in south Florida recently dismissed a citation and wrote an opinion about why the law was unconstitutional, explaining that it placed the burden on the registered owner of the vehicle to prove they were not driving, instead of placing the burden on the state to prove the owner was driving. Ingle said he would be more comfortable waiting until there is an appellate court ruling on the case.

Mayor Ward: “If we are committed to Vision Zero, we’ve got to do something to lower the number of people running red lights.”

Ward said he would continue to vote yes on red light cameras, although “I understand the concerns. The thing that we have not talked about is the tremendous danger… of people running red lights… Public safety is a thing we are 100%… responsible for, no question about that. If we are committed to Vision Zero, we’ve got to do something to lower the number of people running red lights.”

The motion passed 6-1, with Ingle in dissent.

Second motion

Duncan-Walker made a motion to direct Gainesville Police Department to provide data and analysis on the use of the red light cameras to the Police Advisory Council on a quarterly basis. Book seconded the motion.

Persons said the information can also be included in the quarterly GPD presentations to the City Commission. 

The motion passed unanimously.