WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
In a letter addressed to the mayor and city commissioners on Monday morning, City Manager Lee Feldman announced his resignation.
“While I believe that I maintain the solid support of a majority of the City Commission the issue of my retention as your City Manager continues to be a topic of discussion,” Feldman said. “This in turn has a detrimental effect on our organization and impairs our ability to address the priorities that have been collectively identified by the City Commission.”
According to city spokesperson Shelby Taylor, the commission will address the resignation Monday night and set a future date to discuss Feldman’s severance pay.
His resignation is effective Nov. 12. Feldman wrote, “I have always put our neighbors and our organization first and continue to do that today.”
The full letter is available here: https://t.co/7bX5xdrLbT pic.twitter.com/SJ4hFzKvvH
— WUFT News (@WUFTNews) September 13, 2021
Feldman, hired in late 2019, is the latest in a slew of early departures for the City of Gainesville.
In August, City Commissioner Gail Johnson stepped down following Former Equity Director Teneeshia Marshall’s resignation in May. Both women cited Feldman as a reason for leaving. On September 8, City Clerk Omichele Gainey and City Attorney Nicolle Shalley also resigned from the City Commission.
Lauren Poe, mayor of Gainesville, has also requested the manager of Gainesville Regional Utilities Ed Bielarski to step down. If the commission were to remove Bielarski, City Auditor Virginia Bigbie would be the last non-interim charter officer remaining.
