When three members of the Russellville Electric Board voted to extend Manager Charles Canida's contract on August 17, 2020, meeting, it was a very different time for Canida and the board.
REB Chairman Nick Willis, one of the three board members to approve Canida's five-year contract extension, recently told the FFP he still stands behind his vote, even with a lengthy list of revelations over the past 15 months including cash withdrawals from a bank account Canida hid from the public.
Since November 2021, the public has learned about Canida attending eight-hour conferences where ratepayers paid for his four or five night vacations in a spacious beach condo, Canida's purchases (without board approval) of thousands of dollars in gourmet chocolates, high-end knives, tickets to Dollywood, unexplained online purchases from a boutique and numerous other examples of questionable spending.
Canida also sent a bizarre selfie photo to Russellville City Councilman Darren Woodruff while the council was conducting a work session last year with Canida sitting in the audience. Canida drove his luxury Denali to that council meeting.
Last year, Canida recommended the board increase electricity rates for a community already suffering economic hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic, based on his claim of 'declining revenue.' Just five months earlier, ratepayers footed the bill for Canida's new $84,000 luxury SUV Denali.
The FFP reported last fall about an account Canida opened in October 2017 at Alabama Central Credit Union with a $25,000 initial deposit in the name of the Russellville Electric Board.
From October 2017 through the summer of 2021, more than $8,700 was withdrawn from the account in cash or in gift cards, all of which took place without the knowledge or approval of the board, Willis said.
Canida's Executive Assistant Sherry Smith and former REB employee Harlan L. Winston II were listed as joint owners on the ACCU account when it was opened. Winston told the FFP he never made any withdrawal from the account.
Smith did not respond to a request from the FFP for comment. Canida did not respond to an interview request either.
Cash, including a $3,500 withdrawal in December 2019, was never accounted for and never explained to the board or the public. Canida had the account closed, again without board approval, on March 1, 2022. Only $16,546.18 remained in the ACCU of the original $25,000 deposit.
When the FFP made an Open Records Act request for all REB bank records in December 2021, Canida withheld the existence of the ACCU account, something the board later learned about.
Even with these revelations, Willis said he has no regrets about extending Canida's contract.
“I have no concern as a board member,” Willis told the FFP in a January 18, 2023, interview. “Most of what is out there is partial truths, partial accusations. Things are misconstrued from what really was going on.”
As for the hidden ACCU account, Willis said he was unaware of cash withdrawals being made but he was aware the account existed and Canida listed the balance of the account each month in board members' packets.
“Everybody on board was aware of the Alabama Central account and the CB&S Bank account,” Willis said. “Why you (the FFP) were not given the ACCU records I can't answer that. The account was opened before my time on the board.
“I did not know any cash was pulled out of the account. I never heard (Canida) say he had done that or was going to do that. The account was there and we saw a balance each month,” Willis added.
Willis was specifically asked whether he knew about ratepayer funds being used to purchase gift cards or make cash withdrawals.
“I had no idea that was being done. We did not see monthly statements of the account. One month it might have $25,000 and one month $20,000. We only saw the end results,” Willis said. “The fact that gift cards were bought out of it, it is what it is. If I knew cash withdrawals were coming out of there, that shouldn't be happening.
“There's no reason for anyone to handle cash. That's a legitimate concern,” he added.
Willis also said he did not receive any cash or gift cards purchased from the ACCU account.
Last year, REB board members paid back more than $28,800 in illegal bonuses which violated the maximum compensation they could receive under Alabama law. These bonuses, labeled 'performance and safety incentives' by Canida, were paid to board members at Canida's direction, with assurances he had personally checked the legality of the bonus payments.
As for Canida's current employment status, there remain unanswered questions about that as well. Canida has provided three different contracts in response to a request for his current employment contract. And none of them match the five-year extension Willis and the board approved in August 2020. Minutes from that meeting also state the board would discuss Canida's compensation under the five-year extension when his contract at the time expired in December 2022, something Willis said was never done.
“The compensation to be honest was never brought back up or discussed. So it's remaining the same rate as his former contract,” Willis said. “The five percent (annual raises for Canida) are still in place. It's just an extension of his original contract with the same terms and conditions. However, he has not been given a pay increase. It's in there for five percent, but has not been accepted. His pay is frozen right now.”
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