Deputy Director of Utilities Resigns

BRADENTON – Another long-time employee of the Manatee County Government has submitted their resignation. Jeff Goodwin, Deputy Director of the Department of Utilities, has informed the county his last day will be October 28.

Goodwin has worked in county utilities for nearly 25 years. His decades-long career began in the Utilities Laboratory Division in 1998, where he served as manager. Later, he served as a manager in the Utilities Wastewater Division beginning in 2012. In 2018, Goodwin advanced his career within Manatee County Utilities, becoming the Deputy Director of Wastewater.

News of Goodwin’s resignation follows the county’s appointment of a new director to the utilities department. Longtime utilities employee and previous department director, Mike Gore, separated from the county in July. Like Goodwin, Gore had a lengthy career in Manatee County Utilities, having served for nearly 38 years–many of them alongside Goodwin.

The county framed Gore’s leaving as a "retirement" in an August press release, but sources with knowledge of the situation told TBT at the time that Gore was forced out, or fired, by county administration. Earlier this month, TBT obtained a copy of a separation agreement between the county and Gore, and the language contained in the document appeared to substantiate the version of events described to TBT by sources.

"WHEREAS, Mr. Gore serves at the will and pleasure of the County Administrator and may be terminated at any time without regard to cause, pursuant to Section XI(C)(6) of the Manatee County Personnel Policy, Rules and Procedures Manual," language in the separation agreement stated. "And, WHEREAS, the County has decided to exercise its right to separate from Mr. Gore, who shall be relieved of all duties and obligations effective as of July 29, 2022."

Goodwin assumed the role of interim Director of Utilities in Gore’s absence until earlier this month when the BOCC confirmed Evan Pilachowski as incoming director. Pilachowski comes with an impressive resume, most recently having worked with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. However, during the October commission meeting where Pilachowski was approved for the position, it was also made public that Goodwin had applied for the role of permanent director.

In his resignation email, Goodwin made no reference to the reason for his decision, writing only that he was grateful for the opportunity to have served the residents of Manatee County and to be a part of a "dedicated team" during his tenure. TBT was unable to reach Mr. Goodwin by phone for a comment about his resignation. It is unknown whether the department’s director position played any role in Goodwin’s decision to separate from the county.

In an email to commissioners, Deputy County Administrator Courtney De Pol informed of Goodwin’s resignation. De Pol included in the email, "Our new Utilities Director, Evan Pilachowski, starts on October 24th, so Jeff plans to work with him the week of the 24th to ensure the transition is successful."

Over the course of many months, TBT has worked on numerous stories related to county employees, county administration, and the reorganization of the agency and its departments, and has spoken with many first-hand sources. Sources who may be willing to provide information and details are not often willing to do so publicly for fear of reprisals. TBT has taken accounts from several current and former employees who have each alleged separately that it was their belief that the current administration and County Administrator Scott Hopes seem to favor degrees and college education over experience or institutional knowledge. Some sources have made claims that some department employees had been requested to produce their resumes to county administration despite having worked for the county for years–or even decades.

Text message records obtained by the Florida Center for Government Accountability in recent months show some corroboration of county administration having discussed and reviewed the credentials of certain employees. The texts do not reveal, however, the reason or purpose any resumes were requested or reviewed.

Goodwin is one such employee who appears among the hundreds of text records shared with TBT. In mid-February, Deputy County Administrator Robert Reinshuttle requested Goodwin to produce a resume or bio of his experience and degrees.

"I have a brief write-up that we have used for annual reports that shares my education and experience," Goodwin sent in a text to Reinshuttle. "Would that work? Do you need it before Monday?"

Reinshuttle responded, "Yes, that will work. Thanks."

In a separate series of texts a day later, Reinshuttle wrote to Administrator Hopes to tell him he had requested the information of Goodwin.

"...He said he would send the information on Monday," Reinshuttle wrote to Hopes. "In the meantime, I have looked him up on Linkedin and he has a BS degree from Guilford College in North Carolina in Biology."

Hopes responded by thanking Reinshuttle for the information.

Later in May, text message records reveal a brief exchange between Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge and Reinshuttle related to the Director of Utilities, Gore. The exchange seemed to show Van Ostenbridge’s position that Gore–despite his 38 years of experience in the department–may not be the most qualified individual for the role.

The texts began when Van Ostenbridge sent a group text to Reinshuttle and Hopes about what he suspected was a waterline break near Electa Lee Middle School. Reinshuttle forwarded a photograph Van Ostenbridge provided in the group text to Gore.

Upon receiving the image, Gore texted Reinshuttle a response, writing, "Staff has done been there, Bob. It was a half-inch irrigation line on the consumer’s side, reclaim." Gore concluded his text, "Staff turned it off at the meter. Will follow up on Monday."

Roughly 15 minutes later, Reinshuttle copied and pasted Gore's response and sent it in a text to Van Ostenbridge. After receiving the copy of Gore’s message, Van Ostenbridge replied to Reinshuttle with quotations around the first sentence of Gore’s message, "Done been there." Van Ostenbridge then added, "He has over 370 million dollars and hundreds of employees."

Reinshuttle replied to Van Ostenbridge’s assessment of Gore, texting back, "About 500 employees."

Organizational position listing records show that the department of utilities had 415 filled employee positions in April of this year, and that number remained unchanged when the same internal data was retrieved this month.

The Manatee County Utilities Department oversees the service of clean drinking water to more than 400k county residents, as well as wastewater treatment and disposal and trash and recycling services in the unincorporated areas of the county. Along with the Department of Development Services, the Department of Utilities reports to Deputy County Administrator Courtney De Pol. De Pol relocated to Manatee County from Texas and was hired by the county in January 2022. De Pol was initially hired as Director of Development Services but was promoted to the additional role of deputy administrator five months later.

Dawn Kitterman is a staff reporter for The Bradenton Times. She covers local government and entertainment news. She can be reached at dawn.kitterman@thebradentontimes.com.