At a special called meeting held August 30th, the Russellville Electric Board unanimously accepted the retirement of general manager Charles Canida effective November 1, 2024.
Additionally, the board approved a job description for the GM position and authorized REB attorney Jeff Bowling to advertise the position through September 30, 2024.
The board also unanimously approved declaring Canada’s $85,000 GMC Yukon Denali as surplus property and authorized advertising taking sealed bids for the vehicle through September 30, 2024.
As of August 30th, Canida remains in possession of the Denali, though according to one board member, that is ‘expected to change’ in the near future.
Canida did not attend Friday’s REB meeting.
Qualifications for the new GM include a degree in Engineering, Business, Accounting, Finance or other equivalent college degree along with at least 5-10 years’ experience in public utility management with increasing responsibility.
This is a significant deviation from the process that saw Canida get hired as GM in December 2012, when he went from Chairman of the Russellville Electric Board to making more than $100,000 as GM at the same meeting.
Canida’s hiring, according to some, violated Alabama’s ‘Revolving Door’ provisions of the state’s ethics laws. Those provisions prohibit certain activities by public officials and public employees for a period of two years after leaving their public employment.
After he resigned as board chairman, Canida was hired as GM minutes later at the same meeting.
Former REB member Darren Woodruff, who was appointed by the Russellville City Council to fill Canida’s vacated spot on the board in 2013, turned Canida and the board into the Alabama Ethics Commission several years later after he learned the action may have been a violation of the Revolving Door Act.
The response from the Ethics Commission was that too much time had elapsed from the 2012 meeting where Canida was hired and any prosecution was barred by the statute of limitations, Woodruff said.
Canida’s 2012 hiring was done without the board ever advertising the position or conducting interviews.
Canida’s compensation package, including retirement, vehicle, expenses, travel, sick leave, annual leave, bonuses, conferences, telephone and other benefits soars beyond $200,000 each year.
When Canida used ratepayer funds to purchase a luxury SUV Yukon Denali for $85,000, it was only months after the board bought Canida a new SUV, one Canida claimed had warranty issues that could not be repaired.
In a mailer sent out to all REB customers in 2023, signed by the Russellville Electric Board, it was alleged the luxury Denali cost ratepayers only $14,000. That assertion was met with sharp criticism from some ratepayers, who believed the upgrade was an unnecessary expense to begin with.
According to a source familiar with the REB, board members considered moving up Canida’s retirement date from November 1, 2024, but chose not to do so due to the length of time required for him to file paperwork and complete the retirement process with Retirement Systems of Alabama.
“Was it considered? Yes. But feasible? No. There are documents from RSA that must go back and forth and it’s a drawn out process that’s longer than we realized,” the source said. “If that 65-day period could be accelerated, it would only be by very little. We as a board feel 60 days is adequate.”
The board did not name an interim manager, although Canida is expected to use his accrued sick leave days prior to November 1st because REB employees do not get paid for sick days once they are no longer working.
Canida will be compensated for all remaining annual leave days as of his retirement date, the source confirmed.
The next meeting of the Russellville Electric Board will be Tuesday, September 17th at 6 p.m., at the Electric Board Warehouse. No special meeting is scheduled, but that could change if the board decides one is necessary.
The FFP previously reported Canida told board members he was retirement based on medical issues and due to Canida and his wife raising a young grandchild.
