The board of the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority voted 4 to 1 on Friday to terminate the contract of Executive Director Tom Walker, effective immediately, said Kerry Shelby, who was the deputy director until Friday, when he was tapped to assume Walker’s responsibilities.
Board member David Ritz voted against the termination of Walker’s contract.
“A performance evaluation for Mr. Walker was added to today’s meeting agenda, and there were four votes that indicated he did not meet expectations,” Shelby told the Keys Weekly Friday afternoon. “There was a motion and a second that we part ways, effective immediately. The separation is without cause, so he will be entitled to some severance. The board directed that I assume his responsibilities.”
Shelby said Walker had been in his current position for “a little over a year, but he had worked as deputy executive director from 2006 until about 2015, when he left the Keys for awhile.”
The five-member FKAA board is appointed by the governor and includes Chairman Bob Dean, Antoinette Appell, Cara Higgins, David Ritz and Richard Toppino.
