GRU Authority votes down motion to fire CEO/GM, reduces GRU budget, keeps utility rates flat, and cuts the GFT by $6.8 million

The GRU Authority met on June 10

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their June 10 Special Meeting, the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority voted down a motion to fire the CEO/GM, decided to keep utility rates flat next year, and voted to set the General Fund Transfer at $8.5 million, a $6.8 million reduction from this year’s $15.3 million transfer.

Staff budget presentation

GRU CEO/GM Tony Cunningham gave a presentation on updates to the FY25 budget he had proposed on May 29, saying he was looking for input on the General Fund Transfer (GFT) from GRU to the City’s General Fund and other budget items like utility rates.

Cunningham reviewed the direction provided by the board at their May 29 meeting, including a desire to keep utility rates flat, reduce or eliminate the GFT, reduce the operating and capital expenditure budgets, and reduce reserves. He said he could reduce capital expenses by about $15 million for FY25, but that would only delay the expenses because “all of our items in our capital budget are things we require to continue to operate and maintain our facilities.” Cunningham and his staff emphasized throughout the meeting that the budget was “built to maintain the level of service that we provide and the reliability we provide.”

Slide showing no electric rate increases for 10 years if GFT were reduced to zero

In response to a slide showing that reducing the GFT to zero could result in no electric rate increases through 2034, Chair Ed Bielarski said, “This slide goes contrary to the narrative that’s out there that the General Fund Transfer doesn’t do a lot for rates and rate reductions. I mean, this elimination of the General Fund Transfer over that next decade would ostensibly hold no increases for 10 years to the electric system. That’s a consequential number.”

Director of Accounting & Finance Mark Benton pointed out that this was a result of putting all the benefit of GFT reduction toward rate relief instead of splitting it between rate relief and debt service.

Carter: City would raise property taxes

Director Craig Carter said he continued to be concerned that if the Authority cut the GFT, the City Commission would raise property taxes to compensate for their loss in revenue. He said, “I’m in agreement with trying to recoup the $68 million. I’m not in favor of [100% reduction for 10 years] because, quite frankly, then you’re just putting the shoe on the other foot.” He said the Authority is required to look at “consequences of our actions… I definitely want to recoup the $68 million, you can look at all my previous statements. I said that when I was Chair.”

Bielarski: “Any other consideration is a violation of what we’ve been instructed to do”

Bielarski responded that under the bill that created the Authority, the board is required to consider “only pecuniary factors and utility best practices standards” in their decisions. He added, “I think any other consideration is a violation of what we’ve been instructed to do and why we were appointed.”

Skinner: “We need to be reasonable”

Director Chip Skinner said, “I go back to – [the City has] been addicted to this money. What do you do with an addict? You don’t cut them off. That has detrimental aspects. So we need to be reasonable… I concur with Director Carter and trying to recoup, even though it was in the past, that $60+ million.”

Bielarski agreed, “I was the guy that said that having a General Fund Transfer for a municipal utility is ordinary, reasonable, and necessary. So I’ve never been for taking it to zero. But what I have been for is the recoupment.”

Cunningham said he wanted to discuss his concerns around reducing the operating and capital budgets further, but Bielarski said he had a presentation of his own. Carter objected that the presentation wasn’t in the backup for the meeting.

Bielarski’s presentation

Bielarski began by reviewing his requests from the last meeting: He said the budget proposed on June 10 was responsive to the requests to keep utility rates flat, provide options for the GFT, and reduce reserves, but it didn’t reduce capital expenses as much as he had requested, and operating expenses weren’t reduced at all from the May 29 budget. 

Bielarski’s presentation can be viewed here.

Bielarski also objected to some of the assumptions behind the budget, and GRU and City staff argued against his objections at various points during the meeting.

Bielarski said he had learned that GRU had issued a Request for Statement of Qualifications (RFSQ) on May 15 for 30-50 MW of fast-start natural gas-fired capacity in 2028 and 50 MW of battery storage capacity in 2029 despite telling the Authority on May 29 that the IRP (plan for future capacity) was still under review. He argued that the board had not approved any of these plans and had not approved the funds for the services listed in the RFSQ. Bielarski added that new regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will make new gas plants “highly unlikely and uneconomical to construct.”

Bielarski concluded that his research had identified about $12 million in possible cuts, spread over the FY24 and FY25 budgets (page 12 of his presentation). He made five recommendations:

  • Reduce capital expenses by $20 million, starting with the $15 million in the June 10 budget and spreading the remaining $5 million across the departments;
  • Reduce operating expenses by $12 million;
  • Keep utility rates flat for FY25;
  • Maintain the current GFT formula but recover the $68 million against the annual $15 million until it is all recouped;
  • Reduce projected reserves from $88 million to $50 million in 10 years.

Bielarski also listed “follow-up recommendations,” mainly asking GRU staff for a GFT formula and for better communication on the IRP, upcoming capital projects, and the status of agreements between GRU and the City. He then asked for a motion on his recommendations.

Cunningham protested that because the board was appointed so close to the deadline for presenting a budget to the City Commission, he hadn’t had a chance to walk through it in detail with the board. Bielarski objected that that was obfuscation: “You gave us numbers and said you couldn’t change those numbers… I’m showing you, you can.”

Motion to terminate Cunningham

After some back-and-forth between Bielarski and Cunningham about Bielarski’s assertion that GRU staff was proposing a budget that was deliberately higher than needed, Bielarski said, “Listen, we’re stopping discussion at this point. I will entertain a motion at this point for the termination of the General Manager and removal from his position.”

Carter quipped, “I was off by two weeks – I guessed the first week.”

Director David Haslam made the motion to terminate Cunningham as CEO/GM. After waiting to see if someone would second the motion, Bielarski passed the gavel to Haslam and seconded it himself. 

During public comment on the motion, Jim Konish said that Director Eric Lawson had “pulled the plug” on a search for a new CEO/GM that had been approved by the previous board. 

Carter responded, “I’m the one that stopped the CEO search. I talked to [the board’s attorney] first, and I said under the current set of circumstances, I don’t believe it’s wise to move forward.”

Debbie Martinez said, “As a retired registered nurse, addicts have to work through recovery; otherwise you become enablers… We’ve been watching the financial bleeding for four months while we’ve been giving proclamations to GRU employees. So yes, I support this motion.”

Chuck Ross said to Bielarski, “I think your bullying behavior of the Manager today is appalling… I don’t think this is an appropriate way to conduct business, and no, I do not think you should terminate the Manager now, but I think the damage is done already.”

Board discussion of motion to terminate Cunningham

When the discussion moved back to the board, Carter said the selection of Bielarski as Chair was “well-orchestrated” at the new board’s first meeting and added that that was “illegal, as the attorney will let you know.”

Carter said the board’s job is to hire a CEO/GM, so they need to do a search, but he felt that Bielarski was being disrespectful to Cunningham. Bielarski responded that staff members were showing “a disrespect to the board” by “saying, ‘Well, we can make any budget that we want.'”

Carter: “If it continues, the Governor can take this and cram it because I didn’t want to be here, anyhow.”

Carter complained that Bielarski had come in with a presentation without giving it to staff and the board in advance and putting it in backup, and “now staff can’t respond to it except for in the spotlight and the gotcha moment… I don’t think the employees deserve to be treated like that. And if it continues, the Governor can take this and cram it because I didn’t want to be here, anyhow.”

Haslam expressed frustration that the board was being asked to vote on a “heavy-handed” budget with little opportunity to talk to each other about the details. He said he felt like staff wanted to “get this thick, heavy budget” in front of the board “so [we’re] confused and hopefully somebody just pushes it through. That’s what I feel is happening.”

Cunningham: “I do not think it would be the best thing… to make a rapid change”

Cunningham said he recognized “the need for a search, and I’m okay with that approach of doing the search, but I do not think it would be the best thing for our employees or our customers in this time to make a rapid change without any chance for us to walk through where we are as a utility.” He said the RFSQ is “to look at people – we have not decided anything… We’re not moving forward, we’re not trying to do something unknown to the board.”

Director Chip Skinner said he didn’t think the timing was right to fire Cunningham, “and who are we going to get to replace the current General Manager if we go down that road today?” He said he was concerned about the board being back in a “two-to-two deadlock” if Bielarski agreed to take the position of Interim CEO/GM. 

Lawson: “I don’t subscribe to surprises.”

Director Eric Lawson said his philosophy was to go over his questions and requests during his private meetings with GRU leadership: “I don’t subscribe to surprises… I feel like this has been a surprise. I appreciate your questions, but I would rather you spend the time with [staff], show them your analysis and your questions, and then allow them to bring it back. Now, if they bring it back and they don’t properly address your questions, then that’s when you lean in.” He said he didn’t think staff had been “dealt a fair hand” because they had so little time to get the board up to speed on the budget before the deadline.

Lawson also said that the search firm had said they were “really going to have trouble” finding a CEO/GM right now because candidates prefer to go to investor-owned utilities, which are less political. He said his view was that the board should take a year to “really dig in, educate ourselves, push on different things that we’re interested in” before making changes to the leadership team and the CEO/GM, “so I don’t support terminating the CEO… We do have a deadline, we have to vote on a budget. But we’ve all agreed we can go and modify the budget.”

Bielarski responded that he had asked Cunningham to bring back $5 million in cuts to operating expenses, and he “wholeheartedly came back with nothing.”

Cunningham responded that he hadn’t been “taking it lightly,” but the utility’s budget had already been cut in recent years, and inflation was increasing their costs, “so that’s a reality to continue to provide the level of service that we have recommended as part of our mission.”

The vote

As Bielarski and Cunningham continued to discuss whether Cunningham had responded appropriately to Bielarski’s requests, Carter asked that the board go ahead and vote on the motion. Carter said, “Tony, I almost feel like firing you, just for compassion, buddy.”

The motion failed 2-3, with Bielarski and Haslam in favor of terminating Cunningham.

Motion to reinstate the CEO search

Carter made a motion to “immediately reinstate the CEO search,” with Bielarski leading the search instead of Lawson. Bielarski said he didn’t think it was an appropriate time to do an executive search: “What you need is a qualified interim that will direct your utility… You’re not going to hire a permanent replacement right now because there’s too much turmoil.” The motion did not receive a second.

Motion to develop a list of possible interim CEO/GMs

Skinner made a motion to develop a list of possible interim CEO/GMs in case Cunningham resigns, but Carter and Bielarski said it was a moot point. The motion did not receive a second.

Cunningham said he was “fully, utterly, completely committed to doing what is best and right for this utility and the customers we serve.” He recommended adopting the budget staff had presented, with the understanding that the board could change it in the future. 

Haslam: “Can we meet in the middle?”

Haslam said he wanted to “work with the board… I’ve said publicly more than one time that I want the GFT gone, right?… Can we meet in the middle? Actually, let’s cut it in half. But the problem is, if we cut it in half, I want that $7 million to come from somewhere else. I don’t want it to come from the people.”

Bielarski said that was basically what he had proposed in his presentation and asked if anyone wanted to make that motion.

Carter said he wanted to recoup the $68 million over 10 years, not up front as Bielarski had proposed, but he was fine with reducing capital expenses by $20 million “if it’s achievable without killing the utility.”

Motion on Bielarski’s recommendations

Carter made a motion to reduce capital expenses by $20 million as proposed by Bielarski, reduce operating expenses by $12 million, keep utility rates flat (he said “reduce utility rates to zero” but obviously did not intend that), set the GFT at $15.3 million minus $6.8 million for 10 years, and reduce reserves to $50 million at the end of 10 years. Bielarski seconded the motion.

Cunningham asked whether he could cut $12 million at his discretion or would need to do it exactly as specified in Bielarski’s presentation, and Bielarski said it would have to be as shown in the presentation. 

Lawson said he was concerned that staff hadn’t had a chance to analyze the information presented by Bielarski and give feedback on any risks associated with the cuts, “and so I’m uncomfortable voting for something that really just comes from one person.”

Carter said he was “going to go with this” and trust that staff would come back if they find “unintended consequences.” He said he was going to lean on Bielarski, “so if you’re wrong, it’s your fault.”

The motion passed 4-1, with Lawson in dissent.

Motion on Bielarski’s follow-up recommendations

Bielarski then brought up what he called his “follow-up recommendations”:

  • Direct staff to do an analysis to determine an appropriate GFT formula and present it to the board;
  • Direct the CEO/GM to provide immediate communication to the board on anything related to the IRP;
  • Direct the CEO/GM to provide immediate communication to the board on anything related to the Main Street water reclamation facility;
  • Direct the CEO/GM to provide immediate communication to the board on the status of agreements between GRU and the City for the FY25 budget.

Carter made a motion to approve the follow-up recommendations, and Haslam seconded the motion.

After public comment, the motion passed unanimously.

Member comment

During member comment, Skinner proposed scheduling a retreat, and Cunningham agreed to work with Bielarski to set that up. 

  • If anyone has ever wondered who might compare to Benedict Arnold, you can stop. Craig Carter is right up there.

    He said he doesn’t want to be there, kick that can somewhere off the road and be done with him. I find it hard to believe with his comments and actions he’s not working for Harvey on the side.

    • Carter and Lawson were the only two who continually supported the status quo while serving on the initial board. They were both re-appointed. Nothing will change with those two.

  • Carter: “If it continues, the Governor can take this and cram it because I didn’t want to be here, anyhow.”

    Then grow a set you little whiny RINO eunuch and RESIGN.

    • Susan, thanks for calling a spade a spade and making it clear that the “Authority” is a hostile GOP take over of something they could never win at the polls.

      Does anyone on this forum believe in democracy, or is autocratic rule from Tallahassee and the voters of our surrounding red counties – that’s how Clemons and Perry stayed in office – just how you like it?

      • Speaking of autocratic rule, how about this bad faith power grab by Big Daddy Go-go Boots. This is from an article about a book removal by the Indian County School Board on a 3-2 vote, that majority gained by the governor appointing the 3rd vote. Read the circumstances and then tell me he respects democracy and the will of the people.

        “….Board members Jacqueline Rosario and Gene Posca, who voted in the majority, were backed by Moms for Liberty during their campaigns, according to Treasure Coast Newspapers. The third “yes” vote came from Kevin McDonald, who was recently appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

        Moms for Liberty leaders have vocally supported DeSantis — and vice versa. Still, the appointment came with more drama than usual.

        It all started when School Board member Brian Barefoot resigned, saying he was moving out of the district he was elected to represent. He tried to rescind that resignation the next day, after being told by a Treasure Coast Newspapers reporter that his new home was actually in the same district.

        He didn’t succeed. After McDonald’s appointment, Barefoot told TCPalm that he never received a courtesy call letting him know about it or received official acknowledgement of his resignation.

        Barefoot had been on a list of school board members DeSantis wanted to target in the 2024 election, saying those members don’t protect parental rights or shield students from “woke” ideologies, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. McDonald had been running for Barefoot’s seat.

        “We are elected — I was appointed, vote of one — we are here to represent the parent’s decisions, and the school board is the final authority for our citizens,” McDonald said at last month’s meeting, explaining some of his disagreement with the book….”

        • 1) What book(s) did they ‘ban’? and for what ages? 2) Go over the Gulf Coast, find yourself a commercial fisherman’s watering hole and tell the first man you see in white boots that they are go-go boots…..Use your big-boy voice.

          • A book about a school board banning books – for real.

            Hey, concrete finishers I work with wear white rubber boots but they are usually pretty muscular guys or beer belly foremen, not chubby yuppies like Tallahassee Daddy. They could take that joke and so could the fishermen, or at least my now dead best friend long liner who fished Oregon and St Augustine.

          • Stop LARPing. You definitely have not been a home builder for decades…No one who has ever worked in construction says “concrete finishers”… your false persona has been obvious for a long time buddy. Just admit that you’re a full time political activist…it’s ok

          • Partnership in 1978, Residential license in 1980, General license in 1985, S chapter corporation in 1987 and ever since. Same guys who are finishers almost always do footings too and then are “concrete guys” or “subs”. I’ve finished small slabs myself but I’m not a “concrete finisher”.

            You don’t know what you’re talking about. What is LARPing?

      • It seems a lot more likely that this is a legitimate attempt to stop a public utility from collapsing under its own mismanagement, possibly taking an entire city with it, than some silly political game.

    • Wait, you mean the guy who got us out of the Trump crash with the best response to world wide inflation among developed countries, passed legislation investing in our future, like the fiber optics going into red counties all over the country (and he’s not even trying to take over their local governments) shows up with handouts every time our Tallahassee overlord in go-go boots has a collapsing condo or hurricane (and the hand out isn’t paper towels), has been trying to get more money from Congress for immigration enforcement (hey, maybe the Mexicans will pay for it, like Trump’s wall), has rallied a previously demoralized NATO to help Ukraine against Trump’s buddy, the murderer Putin, and immediately passed and delivered billions to help Israel after Oct 7, and has us pumping the most oil EVER? That guy?

      • That would be an impressive rebuttal if any of those things were true.

      • Jazzman let me get this right you back the dumb old fart that wants to sit in non-existent chairs, is extremely confused and oh yeah has us near world war three, while Trump has had peaceful talks with many leaders of countries that are now ready to blow us up. get your head out of your rear for once. or stay WOKE and find yourself in a hell of a war!

        • Maybe you missed the last State of the Union That Girl, which like the one in 2023 had Biden working and owning the Republicans in attendance in real time on national. TV, or his effective leadership in passing more legislation on his 1st term since LBJ, and rallying a NATO demoralized after Trump tried to destroy it for his overlord in Moscow. As to Trump’s diplomacy, you mean his “date” (his word) with Lil Kim, and his sucking up personally to his dictator idols Xi Ping, Putin, and Organ while democratic leaders in the world laughed at him behind his back at G20 meetings? Yeah. he’s a real leader, if you like fat toads that the rest of the world hates or mocks in equal measures.

          By the way, slow is better than ignorant and deranged which what you get with Trump. Or do you follow his tirades against sharks, windmills, teleprompter guys he says he won’t pay or his lies about everything and anything. Mostly he doesn’t know what’s true and more importantly doesn’t care to learn. Whatever is to his personal benefit is what says, so why does he have to know anything?

      • More jazzy Eastman gaslighting. Thank I need to be reminded every once and while that you are the reason I am a sane conservative.

  • I expect members of the Gainesville City Commission will continue to threaten the GRU Authority with “fear tactics” like (raising property taxes and business permits etc.) in hopes to continue having GRU customers fund their massive staff, lavish salaries, and projects for things commissioners WANT but do Not NEED.

    It’s not the AUTHORITY’s job to protect DEVELOPERS or any other special interest groups and COWER to Mayor Ward and City Commissioner’s threats. Their job is to Protect GRU customers.

    For some serving on the Authority, GRU customers may not be as SEXY as “big shot” special interest groups and City Executives – but GRU Customers are the ones the Authority is charged to protect.

    Mr. Cunningham, who now is benefiting FINANCIALLY, after receiving a HUGE pay raise and promotion (perks etc.), by the City Commission, is now sitting fat and sassy, like all the other Charter Officers and other “fat cats” at City Hall. Cunningham is doing just fine and appears to be promoting the Hanrahan/Poe/Ward doctrine.

    It is clear for those who have been paying close attention – who on this Authority is really putting GRU customers first.

    • Crier, you’re spot on. Over the past 10 years I’ve become disgusted by the selfish and greedy people who are running our city. Many have extensively feathered their nests.
      However many local voters are clueless. Greed will catch up with them.

  • Carter is a Gainesville Homey. He said he does not want to be there on the board, does not want his taxes raised and the Governor can cram it? Looks like we need a replacement from the county . For anyone to suggest the $68 million Gainesville owes us it should not come out of GTF reductions. What kind of mind set would think that is fair to GRU. Cut the transfer to zero and demand a debt payment plan from the city without consideration of it coming from the GTF . They can go to a bail bond company and borrow it. How could what the city has done ,not be a crime. It seems illegal , even for a Democrat .

  • Carter and Lawson had over 6 months to get a handle on the budget and the GFT and did very little about it. Now they’re all upset because someone else is actually showing some leadership and trying to do what’s best for GRU. How dare he!

  • Mr. Carter, if the city chooses to raise taxes then the citizens can decide on that decision they made at election time. I appreciate you serving on this voluntary board but fwiw, don’t worry about how the city will react to the boards decisions. We are all aware that hand wringing and fear mongering is their gameplan, regardless if the board nibbled at the budget or takes big bites.

  • If you read Cunningham’s basic refusal to follow the Board’s directions as, “I personally don’t know how to achieve that”, then he should be replaced.

    Otherwise he should present his objections to the Board, and understand that the responsibility is on them, not himself.

  • The GRU Authority is NOT a partisan issue – NOTHING to do with Biden or DeSantis – it’s about a City Commission that threw our utility over the financial cliff and an AUTHORITY working to try to fix it.

    Democrats went to Tallahassee for help as well – you can NOT vote these biomass/tree burner bandits out of office.

    If anyone serving on the Authority has a conflict of interest or too SCARED to do the right thing – they should RESIGN.

    • I fully agree that if someone or two or three or more can not do the right thing for the customers, they should
      resign.

    • Democrats did not go “to to Tallahassee for help”. They did go to talk on the issue before passage and were cut off because Clemons had missed the usual deadline and rushed a half baked hostile takeover legislation through with a pliant GOP majority. Those who made the trip to Tally for this hearing were limited to 1 minute and then less, so there was effectively zero public and expert comment, which is required.

      Remember, even if one thinks the state should have intervened, a takeover by the GOP was not the only or smartest option, just the most partisan from a GOP that by this measure grabs power over the city they can’t win elections in. If that’s not partisan BS nothing is. Expert oversight including enumerated goals and regular reports would have been more intelligent than the 1st 5 guys who donated to the state GOP set up as an “authority”.

  • It comes down to ….. the utility has pretty much been run without any oversight for many years (and no, the city commission did not provide appropriate oversight).

    Now, a person with intelligence who is an expert in utility finance/operation is pointing things out… and the management of said utility don’t like it.

    It’s essentially the inmates are running the asylum. Not anymore. Keep it up Mr. Director. Keep pointing out anything that stands out to you. Call them out!

    • I’d further like to say… the employees should be given a seminar on how to speak to a Board of Directors.

      You don’t challenge them like they are a nuisance. You roll your eyes. You say yes sir/no sir. Whatever you need sir.

      They may not like it. But that’s how corporate America works.

  • The ambush meeting is straight out of Ed’s playbook. He’s used it before when he was GM at GRU. He’s a smart guy and is right about some things but he’s rude, unprofessional, and vengeful.
    This doesn’t mean “The Gainesville City Commission is GREAT!” The commission over several years and many different elected officials was and is terrible. This new board being even worse is both disappointing and totally predictable.

  • The GRU Authority Board and GRU staff should be working together as one professional entity. Not bickering like a ma

  • The GRU AUTHORITY board and GRU management should be working together to resolve budgetary issues, future operations, customer rates, and the future of the company. Not bickering like a poorly mannered married couple in front of the children and extended family at the dinner table. Ambush tactics, ego, and poor communication should be non-existent at these meetings. Instead they should be presenting a unified front. They have common enemies. Years of mismanagement at the hands of elected city officials, private corporations feeding conflict in hopes of gaining a prize for a penny, and years of eroded public trust because of elected greed and ego.
    Until they try to work together, educate each other, communicate, and solve the utility’s problems, this will be a circus act at best. Hopefully the ringleader/chairman will keep this in mind before the circus goes bankrupt under his direction.

    • The public meetings in the Sunshine are the only time in which we can talk about issues. Presenting a unified front is anathema to the free and open expression of independent board members. The meeting resulted in pausing utility base rate increases in FY 2025, $20 million in capital expenditures in FY 2025, another $12 million in expense reductions in FY 2024 and 2025, and recovery of $68 million in GFT overpayments from the City. Far from driving the utility to bankruptcy

      • Thank you. The city doesn’t *have* to raise taxes. There’s I believe 2M that can be taken out of their budget today. DEI office, climate change position, and close ironwood

      • Presenting complex information on important issues and trying to force votes on 1st reading cannot not be defended as “free and open expression”.

        • Meh, I personally enjoy watching the mock execution of government employees, keep’em on their toes.

      • When another in state utility refers to this meeting as a soap opera s@!tshow, and is enjoying it, then maybe certain people were not as professional as they think.

  • GRU was asked to do certain things, and Cunningham showed up like a kid who didn’t do his class project, with a bunch of excuses.

    What Bielarski did was hold Cunningham accountable. It’s not an “ambush” to be prepared to counter the predictable response that there is nowhere to cut the budget, by showing specific, detailed areas where cuts could be made.

    It’s not an “ambush” to call out GRU for starting with the existing flawed budget instead of doing the work to create a new budget from zero.

    The Gainesville City Commission culture is a culture of zero accountability, and that culture has contaminated GRU. To fix the problem, GRU must get back to a culture of accountability and that starts at the top with Cunningham.

    The CEO’s job is not to drag his feet and argue with the board about whether cuts are possible, it is his job to find how those cuts can be made and spell out the plans for doing so. Figure it out.

    It’s reasonable to lay out the risks and consequences of those actions so that the board can make informed decisions, but right now the GRU ship is 50 miles from an iceberg and the captain and crew are suggesting that we just keep heading straight for it because they have forgotten how to steer.

  • Carter must not know how Boards actually work in the real world outside of ClownLand. Telling the Governor who is technically your boss to stuff it should qualify you to be removed from the Board that HE appointed you to serve. Doofus. You are not there to pander to the City. You have made it clear that you don’t want be there and did it very publicly. DeSantis should now publicly accept your voluntary resignation that you already provided. Ed also made expectations extremely clear to Tony Cunningham who essentially came back with nothing and a half assed excuse. Ed already knows how to get there which is a substantial advantage. Tony has made it clear that he is aligning with the City. That is a bad choice. I bet he is eating Zantac and drinking Pepto straight out of the bottle these days. I can just see the pep talks from the creepy CM who meanwhile back at the ranch is salivating at the possibility of GRU reporting to her. Dream on creative billing lady. Tony, You gotta choose one master or the other. You are sort of screwed either way. Your best option is to switch course and start sucking up big time to Ed and get your s h!t straight. If not, let the you know what cutting begin. The rest of the board worrying more about the city leadership than doing what the governor wants should warrant in their removal as well. Ed understands what is expected and he is making it happen. Kudos to Bierlarski.

  • Question 1: (For: Carter) Who was the attorney that advised you that Bielarski’s appointment as chair was illegal?
    Question 2: Why does Carter not resign immediately?

    Question 3: Why not open the GRU CEO/GM Position to past and present GRU employees? Such people have previously applied for City Charter GRU GM.

    Question 4: Why does Skinner, Bielarski, or anyone else think Bielarski could segway from Authority member to CEO/GM?
    7.09(1): “A sitting member of the Authority may not be selected as the CEO/GM.”

    Observation 1: After Bielarski failed to terminate Cunningham immediately, he agrees now is not the time to do anything.

    Observation 2: $6.8 million annually over ten years with NO INTEREST is far less than no GFT for 4.5 years. GRU borrowed to pay the unjust GFT AFTER the 2018 Perry Bill Referendum.

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