BREAKING: GRU Authority hires Bielarski as permanent CEO

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the opening minutes of the June 26 meeting of the GRU Authority, the board voted unanimously to make Ed Bielarski the permanent CEO of the utility.

During Chair Comment, new Chair Eric Lawson thanked former CEO/GM Tony Cunningham for his years of service to the board and to GRU, and he thanked the senior leadership team and staff of the utility for their service. He thanked Bielarski, who was appointed as Interim CEO at the June 12 meeting , for “accepting this new role on very short notice, and I’m excited about the things that you’re going to accomplish.”

Lawson said he wanted the board to “have a discussion about making [Bielarski] the permanent CEO.” He said Bielarski is a “seasoned industry leader” who has “proven himself here before. He’s proven that he can lead GRU through difficult times, and I’m confident that Mr. Bielarski can continue to serve in this role. I believe that GRU needs stable leadership during this time, and I also believe that when the time is right, that Mr. Bielarski will help assist us with succession planning for the CEO’s role.”

Director Craig Carter said he would not have made the motion to hire Bielarski as Interim CEO on June 12 if he didn’t have confidence in him, and he agreed that stability is important, adding, “I would personally have no objection to him being named, as long as he’s willing.”

Lawson said he had already discussed this with Bielarski, who had indicated he would be willing to serve in the role, “not into perpetuity, right? But he is willing to serve in this role.”

Motion

Carter made a motion to remove “Interim” from Bielarski’s title and make him the permanent CEO/General Manager of the utility. Director David Haslam seconded the motion.

During public comment, Jim Konish said he would be curious to know how much Bielarski is being paid, “but you know, it’s not a minimum wage job.”

Chuck Ross said it was “becoming a habit to put surprise items on the agenda… I think this is a bad practice, and maybe you want to consider deferring this item.”

Bobby Mermer, Coordinator of the Alachua County Labor Coalition, said the role should be subject to a national search, as the Authority planned to do when Cunningham was CEO/GM.

Jeffrey Shapiro opposed the motion because the Authority “totally disregards public input.”

Debbie Martinez and Ernesto Martinez simply said that they supported the motion.

Haslam: “We’re not going to find anybody better than Ed right now”

When the agenda item moved back to the board, Haslam said that hiring Bielarski was “the only reasonable solution… We’re not going to find anybody better than Ed right now… Look, Ed’s not going to live forever… so when Ed finds the right person, Ed’s gonna mentor that person, in my opinion, and put him in place. And meanwhile, we need someone who’s gonna fix this mess and not act like it’s a piggy bank or whatever.”

Director Chip Skinner said he had worked with Bielarski when he worked for the City of Gainesville, and “I think [he] is more than qualified.” He agreed that having a succession plan “is huge… I am in full support of that, with the understanding that Mr. Bielarski will not be in the role permanently, you know, that he will leave eventually, that we won’t force him to retire, and that there would be a succession plan in place.”

Lawson said he had been working on cleaning up the employment contract for the CEO because the prior agreement placed the role under the City Commission. He said he was working through the salary and compensation and would circulate the contract to the board after the attorneys review it.

The motion passed 4-0, with one vacant seat.

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