In a year in which he retired at the end of October and took the final two months of his employment off using accrued sick leave, former General Manager Charles Canida was compensated more than $213,000 by the Russellville Electric Board, and Canida, along with two other REB employees, were paid more than half a million dollars in 2024.
Canida's retirement took effect November 1, 2024, after he announced his retirement in August and remained on the payroll in September and October using sick days.
According to records obtained by the Franklin Free Press, Canida's 2024 W-2 shows gross wages of $213,191.40 for 10 months of employment.
When Canida's 2024 income is combined with the income of REB employees Craig Grissom ($156,256.54) and Jerry Sutton ($134,318.86), the top-heavy result shows the three highest paid employees earned $503,766.80 last year, a massive expense during a time where, according to Canida's own words, the REB was experiencing 'declining revenue.'
Grissom is employed as a Superintendent for REB and Sutton's position is Foreman.
The Russellville Electric Board gave Canida an employment contract that included a five percent raise annually, as well as two bonuses each year, described by Canida as 'performance incentives.'
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when other local power companies established no-cutoff policies for residents financially impacted by the pandemic. Canida and the REB did not change their policy to account for the pandemic even though the Tennessee Valley Authority provided the Russellville Electric Board a monthly 2.5% wholesale power cost credit.
Local power providers had discretion to decide how to use the credit, which could have included lowering customer rates and/or limiting utility disconnects for those impacted by the pandemic.
Not only did Canida not recommend limiting disconnects, he requested a 3.1% electricity rate increase in January 2022 in the middle of the pandemic. The board approved that rate increase unanimously even though it was receiving a 2.5% discount on electricity purchased from TVA.
Two years ago, the FFP reported on a secret account at Alabama Central Credit Union with $25,000 of REB funds made as the initial deposit. Over the life of that account, no further deposits were made. And multiple withdrawals by Canida's former assistant, Sherry Smith, were made, exceeding $9,000 in either cash or purchase of gift cards.
The withdrawals came in the days prior to conferences Canida attended, and others were made days before the lavish Christmas party Canida paid for with REB ratepayer funds held at the Shoals Marriott every December.
When the FFP made a request through the Alabama Open Records Act for all records of bank accounts in the name of REB, Canida withheld any information related to the existence of the ACCU account, which he then closed before later turning over those records and calling his failure to produce them months earlier an 'oversight.'
