The Gainesville/Alachua County Regional Airport Authority board of directors voted Thursday to fire airport director Gene Clerkin, a move that stunned Clerkin's supporters and surprised even some of his critics.

Clerkin

"It had to be quick," said newly appointed board member Jon Morris, who voted for Clerkin's dismissal. "Maybe there wasn't much notice, but it's better to take care of these things quickly."

The board voted 5-3 to dismiss Clerkin, who has served as the director of Gainesville Regional Airport since 1983. Board member James Gallagher, one of Clerkin's most outspoken critics, made the motion to fire Clerkin during a discussion of a proposed amendment to Clerkin's contract. That amendment would have set Clerkin's annual salary at $79,672, making official a 5 percent pay raise the board approved in April.

Gallagher said Clerkin was to blame for cost overruns on construction projects at the airport -- including the airport's recently completed general aviation building, which was originally budgeted for $500,000 but cost almost $900,000 -- and for several lawsuits filed against the authority in recent years by contractors hired to work on the projects. He said Clerkin failed to keep the board properly informed of outstanding debts to the authority, including the airport restaurant's failure to pay more than a year's rent.

"I believe there's a lack of direction, a lack of leadership and a lack of vision in the executive director," Gallagher said.

Board Chairwoman Marilyn Tubb defended Clerkin, saying that the real problem lies with the board itself.

"He's being held responsible for problems that are beyond his control," Tubb said. "He has been aggressively trying to recruit new carriers, and he has reacted with restraint to vicious attacks from people who want to blame him for all the airport's problems."

Clerkin's management style has long been a topic of debate among members of the divided board. Passenger volume at the airport has fallen steadily during the past 10 years, with a particularly sharp drop after Delta canceled service to Atlanta in 1997, and Clerkin's critics say he hasn't done enough to attract new carriers to the airport.

But until recently, Clerkin's critics were in the minority on the board. In a review of the airport director's performance last year, Gallagher and board member W.E. "Mac" McEachern gave Clerkin low ratings, but six other board members ranked him above average or excellent.

But the board underwent a power shift late last month, when the Gainesville City Commission nominated two new board members, Jon Morris and Jan Honeyman, both of whom voted to fire Clerkin.

"This was part of my mandate," Honeyman said. "Not to fire someone, but to make a change. A majority of the commissioners indicated to me that they want to see a change in the way the airport is run."

But even Clerkin's critics didn't expect Gallagher to make a motion to fire the airport director at this month's meeting.

"I didn't know a thing about it until the meeting," McEachern said.

The decision to fire Clerkin threw the Thursday meeting into chaos. Saying that the decision "has me near tears," Tubb called for a recess immediately after the vote. After the recess, the board abandoned the meeting's agenda and instead engaged in a brief, tense discussion of the search for Clerkin's replacement.

Clerkin left during the recess. He declined comment after the vote and didn't return phone calls later in the day.

Gary Anglin, a local contractor who quarreled with Clerkin while working on a renovation project at the airport, said Gallagher was right to blame Clerkin for cost overruns on airport projects. He said Clerkin refused to make decisions on minor matters that arose during contracting projects, delaying the contractor's progress on each project.

"He just wouldn't make a decision about anything," Anglin said. "Everything had to go before the board before he'd approve it. That means every decision takes him a month."

Tubb said Clerkin's critics on the board were to blame for those delays.

"If he seemed to lack vision, it's because there are people on the board who criticize him for any action he takes without their approval," Tubb said.

Board members named Assistant Airport Director Tate Fisher as interim director, but he warned that the board had to find a new director soon.

"I'm already wearing more than one hat," Fisher said. Slim staffing at the airport, he said, has many airport workers doing more than one job.

Board members agreed to meet Aug. 17 to discuss the search for a new director.

Tim Lockette can be reached at 374-5088 or tim.lockette@gainesvillesun.com.

See August 10, 2001, issue of Gainesville Sun for original article.