Kirby B. Green III, Executive Director of the St. Johns River Water Management District for the last decade, announced to Historic City News last week that he is moving up his retirement date — he will leave the agency October 3, 2011.
Green previously announced a departure for early 2012 — which he claimed would give him time to lead the agency through “employee reductions, a major reorganization and the search for a replacement”.
Southwest Florida Water Management District also has a new Executive Director. Dave Moore has resigned and is being replaced by Blake Guillory; a professional civil engineer who most recently was the Vice President and Florida Area Manager at Brown and Caldwell, an environmental consulting firm.
With several recent removals and replacements within the state’s water management districts, some industry observers are critical. In their view, Green bailed early from St. Johns Water Management District because he was forced out by a couple of developer-friendly board members — according to an article that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel.
Hundreds of staffers have been shown the door.
“There has to be some rational reason for all this planned mayhem,” one reporter wrote. “Or else, it’s the biggest, dumbest, potentially the most calamitous management maneuver this state has ever seen.”
In his open resignation letter, Green wrote; “We have had to make many extremely difficult decisions during the past several months as we right-size the agency and ensure that we are properly aligned with the direction and focus of the Governor and Legislature.”
According to Green, the St. Johns Water Management District has accomplished much in restoring the region’s water resources, establishing dependable water supply projects and strategies, and managing the thousands of acres of land that have been entrusted to their care.
There is still much work to be done, and I leave confident and comfortable that, with the experience and expertise of the District’s staff,
Some in economic development circles are calling Green’s retirement “overdue”. Green wrote that he expects, “our work will be carried forward and the agency will continue to provide the water resource protections that are so critical to our environment”. Under the current administration in Tallahassee, that may not be so certain. Green’s critics report that the agency was an impediment to economic growth under his leadership — not part of the team Governor Scott says is essential to Florida’s recovery.
Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News archive photograph
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