Firing the college president wasn’t on the agenda for Monday night’s hastily-called meeting, but the board that oversees College of the Florida Keys still voted unanimously to oust president Jonathan “Dr. G” Gueverra, and may have violated state statutes in the process.
The unanimous vote for termination also prompted at least two philanthropic supporters to reconsider their relationship with the college.
Last-minute meeting
It was after 5 p.m. on Friday evening, July 17, when board chair Alexandria Suarez announced a special meeting would take place 72 hours later on Monday evening in the Upper Keys.
The agenda for that meeting listed two items: “1. President’s Contracts; 2. Big Pine Key Property.” The word termination was not mentioned nor was the board’s intent to take action against the school’s longtime president, which is required by state statute.
The ambiguous agenda language and failure to include the president in the agenda setting formed the basis of Gueverra’s attorney’s objections to the July 20 meeting and all actions taken there.
Attorney Wayne Larue Smith detailed the objections when the board allowed public comment, at the end of the meeting, after it voted to terminate Gueverra — despite a statutory requirement that state boards “provide the public a reasonable opportunity to be heard” before the board votes on an issue.
“We reserve all of the president’s constitutional due process rights, statutory rights … and his right to seek a formal administrative hearing … to challenge any unlawful agency action, suspension or attempt at termination,” Smith said. He indicated that they will be requesting an administrative hearing before a state board that reviews and resolves disputes over the actions of a government agency, including terminations.
Fast action
The board wasted no time in terminating Gueverra, who has led the college since 2012. Almost immediately after the pledge of allegiance opened the meeting, board member Peter E. Batty made a motion to terminate Gueverra “effective immediately.” Batty’s motion also authorized chairwoman Suarez to engage the services of a law firm to draft and serve Gueverra with written notice of termination. Once notified, Gueverra will have 15 days to request a hearing with the Division of Administrative Hearings, which attorney Smith indicated they would do.
The board of trustees did not have legal representation at the special meeting, where Suarez suggested they state on the record their reasons for the termination. She and board member Michael Downer listed alleged offenses by Gueverra, who was not at the meeting.
“I think that clearly Dr. G. has lost the confidence of this board,” Downer said. “One of the factors has been insubordination, among other things.”
The insubordination charge stemmed from a discussion a few months ago about the prior board’s decision to renew Gueverra’s contract.
“This board asked Dr. G about the very premature renewal of his contract, but we did not get an effective response. He effectively refused to address the concerns of this board,” Suarez said. “I think there’s a misunderstanding here. He thinks he’s in charge of the board.”
Suarez added, “The lack of confidence goes to various things reflected in the evaluations that were submitted by this board of Dr. G.”
No evaluations were attached to the July 20 agenda as backup material for the meeting, nor are any evaluations of the president posted with the online minutes of the board’s three most recent meetings.
“There’s a myriad of things,” Downer said, as Suarez added, “Not being able to secure appropriations from the state.”
The Keys Weekly has requested copies of the past five years of Gueverra’s evaluations.
Now what?
After the vote to terminate, Downer pointed out, “I think what was missing from the motion to terminate was how do we address the vacuum. I think we need to think about an interim leader and dealing with the aftermath of his departure. We need to avoid a vacuum and chaos.”
Not knowing whether the college had a succession plan for the president, the board sought advice from college Vice President Brittany Snyder, who has been at CFK for 23 years.
They quickly, if awkwardly, appointed Snyder to take the place of her longtime boss.
Public response
Public reaction to Gueverra’s firing in the Key West community and in local social media circles overwhelmingly supported the outgoing president and criticized the governor-appointed board members.
Support for Gueverra’s termination came in the form of an unsigned letter from union employees with the United Faculty of Florida-College of the Florida Keys.
“The volume of public comment does not necessarily reflect the views of employees, who depend on CFK for their livelihoods,” states the letter sent to all board members. “UFF-CFK leadership knows that we send this letter at tremendous risk and we do not do so lightly. CFK employees work in an environment characterized by high turnover, instability, fear of retaliation, inconsistent management, favoritism and a glaring lack of accountability for those in senior positions.
“CFK employees fall into either the ‘in crowd’ or the ‘out crowd’; this cliquishness is pervasive; employees talk openly about it. Those perceived as favored by senior administration receive protection, promotions, authority and latitude that others do not. “When mistakes occur, accountability often falls on someone in the ‘out crowd’ who has the least institutional power rather than the person(s) responsible for the decisions.”
It was unclear how many employees the union represents and how many were involved in drafting the letter.
Donors denounce board’s decision
The decision to fire Gueverra led Robert Stoky, a prominent fundraiser, to resign from the board of the college’s nonprofit foundation.
“A board that discards 13 years of delivered results, over the objection of the community that funds this college, has forfeited the confidence on which my service depended,” Stoky writes in his resignation letter that lists Gieverra’s accomplishments. “The work of a foundation is to ask people to give, and I cannot ask this community to give in support of a governing board I do not trust.”
The Hemingway Look-Alike Society, a philanthropic group of Ernest Hemingway enthusiasts, had similar misgivings. The group funds “the largest scholarship endowment at CFK at over $1 million,” and had pledged an additional $1 million contribution to support the proposed Workforce Training Center and trade school on Big Pine Key, based on their relationship and shared vision with Gueverra.
“It is because of that commitment that we are deeply concerned by reports that the board may be considering terminating Dr. Guevara’s contract. … We urge you to carefully consider your decision, and its potential ramifications – and choose a course that does not risk our $1 million dollar upcoming contribution and our continued collaboration,” society president Tim Stockwell told the board at the meeting, where he and others were not permitted to offer public input until after the board voted to terminate Gueverra.
After the meeting, the society issued a statement criticizing the board’s decision and the way it conducted business. “Lack of public comment prior to motions and voting on both agenda items was egregious. The society … felt completely disrespected by this board in not being able to speak prior to the vote.”
