Gainesville City Manager resigns
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gainesville City Manager Cynthia Curry has resigned, effective November 21.
In her resignation letter, she noted that her resignation date will mark four years of service to the City of Gainesville and she believes “this is the appropriate time to transition leadership and allow for new vision to guide the organization forward.”
She promised to work with staff to ensure a “smooth and thoughtful transition.”
In a statement to the media, Curry said, “It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve as Gainesville City Manager. Over the past four years, we have achieved positive change and brought significant improvements to the City and its operations. I believe I am leaving Gainesville in a better position than when I arrived.”
In an email sent to City staff, Mayor Harvey Ward wrote, “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with City Manager Cynthia W. Curry. Her professionalism, work ethic and experience have set a new standard here at Gainesville’s City Hall.
“Our commission will work methodically and intentionally to name an interim manager before her last day in office this coming November, and my hope is that she and an interim will be able to work side by side prior to then to ensure the smoothest possible transition.
“Having worked with City Manager Curry as a city commissioner and as mayor, I can unequivocally say that I have learned from her every day of her tenure. On a personal note, I am honored to call her my friend. We will miss her presence in our city government. The work of our city moves on, and we are better as a community for having had her in this position for four years.”
Click here to read her resignation letter.
DOGE⚽🤾🏾?
🤔
She does realize that the State of Florida can still prosecute people if they are found to have tried to hide things from auditors even if she quits right??? LoL
FACT!
LOLOLOL – bye, Felicia. The timing is the chef’s kiss.
It’s sad we have to wait three months to see the last of her.
But! We are $300,000 richer!! Find another City Manager for less that half that price. She made more than the Governor. Doge is looking at all government salaries.
“The current salary for the Ocala City Manager, Pete Lee, is $258,558 per year…”
Elected officials and their appointees’ salaries are typically lower than market for professionals for various reasons, primarily political posturing.
So much for those claims of disparate salaries.
Am bit surprised by the list of achievements…most of those things are not better and Gainesville is not in a better place (more of her opinion than anything). So did the pressure of audit and or the looming budget cuts get to her? Is she being made the scapegoat by the CC to make themselves look better? Not to mention the upcoming Referendum to take control of the GRU piggy bank again…God only knows who will be hired by this clown show to be the CM and be in charge of the coffers. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but am not too optimistic with this CC.
Couldn’t agree more. The list is a joke… no hard numbers, just grand unsubstantiated claims, some of which are simply part of the job description. This woman had no experience leading a city much less a department before. The audacity to submit a multi-page letter for a record of renaming staff. Gainesville is a joke. The DOGE report will be very revealing.
Gee. This timing isn’t sketchy at all.
YIPPEEEEEE!!!!
DOGE is working already! City finances must be even worse than we thought if she is willing to leave a $300k+ per year job.
Don’t wait until November–she should be let go immediately now that she has put in her resignation as we know zero meaningful work will be done. Save the taxpayers $75k.
I did not hear all of the news about severance pay. If she quits/resigns does she get the pay? It seems that would be wrong. However, this is Gainesville.
Her salary is about $105,000 per year BUT point is still well taken.
This is incorrect. She made about $285k in 2023 and has received raises since then: https://govsalaries.com/curry-cynthia-183706407
She’s not jumping off that gravy train.
Only the SBAC would make her leave now.
Someone check on Commissioner Willits. First the rainbow sidewalks, now this! 😱
Maybe he can walk the rainbow crosswalk and feel like he is getting a warm hug again! He probably needs it right now.
Now All we can Hope, is that the ENTIRE CITY COMMISSION RESIGNS
NEXT!🤞
Let’s see if the spendthrifts in City Hall bring in an interim manager and give a 20% pay increase a la SBAC.
Another one bites the dust.
YAY ! when will the rest resign?
Some of y’all in these comments are just horrible people ……
Why? The truth hurts you? Show us where the bad commentators hurt you?
The city commission majority picks the city manager. The history of each applicant is available and published in advance supported by independent evidence
Past decisions and probably future ones suggest that the commission majority has a problem understanding evidence.
Harvey says: “… I am honored to call her my friend. We will miss her presence in our city government. The work of our city moves on, and we are better as a community for having had her in this position for four years.”…” Really?! You’re “honored”? As my child used to say long ago – “Gag me with a spoon!”
He forgets that he’s supposed to be her boss, not her friend.
One down, now 374 to go Then we can balance the budget
And she came from Broward! No wonder….🤡
AND, with no city managerial experience.
she has questionable experience… just ask the folks in Dade County
This read more like a fictional Netflix adaptation of a CV. If she could do all these things alone, what are we paying anyone else on staff for? She’s a superhero! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Back to Burger King.
Wow!!! $300k per year
Can I apply I have a GED and can balance a check book.
Four years is the average for Gainesville. They either get fired or get enough of the commissioners @#%& and resign.
Leadership at its finest.
Wonder what the state team found?
Thank you Ms. Curry. Per usual a strong woman sets off the ugly misogynists “a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women” always present here. Not to mention, dare I say, racists too.
We appreciate your hard work when the State bullies are trying to do away with home rule.
We don’t want “home rule.” We want local public servants who work in the best interest of actual residents, carrying out their wishes as elected representatives. We aren’t trying to run an expensive mega-farm for dangerous vagrants from all over the country and sketchy illegal aliens. We don’t see Gainesville as a sanctuary for weak-nerved, marginally-sane LGBT people who require constant visual reminders of that everywhere. We’re not wanting to be an incubator for silly progressive ideas about defunding the police and their helicopters, dogs, and other equipment. We want a safe, business-friendly city and downtown for everyone with mostly free parking, open/normal roads, and no other ridiculous policies such as those dealing with straws or food waste. We’ve had enough weirdness and insanity here from our “rulers” to last a lifetime.
Curry has gone along with the insanity because everyone has always known she was mostly unqualified (and grossly overpaid) and the gig could have been up at any time if she didn’t do what she was told.
Click your heels together three times repeatedly and say “There’s no place like home!” over and over. That will help you, Willits. By the way, a woman-run online newspaper probably isn’t going to be the place where all the misogynists hang out.
By their cheering those bullies Invitado, most on this board show they’ll trade democracy for getting their way without a thought to precedent and the likelihood they won’t always agree with Tally dictators or the sacrifices so many have made in our past to win democratic rights for us all.