Gainesville City Manager to Leave Position in November
Gainesville City Manager Cynthia Curry submitted the following letter of resignation today:
Honorable Mayor and Commissioners,
Please accept this letter as my formal notice of resignation from the position of City Manager for the City of Gainesville, effective November 21, 2025, marking four years of service with the City of Gainesville.
After thoughtful reflection, I believe this is the appropriate time to transition leadership and allow for new vision to guide the organization forward. It has been the honor of my career to serve the people of Gainesville and to work at the direction of the City Commission in pursuit of excellence, accountability and innovation in local government.
I am deeply grateful to the dedicated community builders across every department of our organization. It has been my privilege to lead this exceptional team of public servants who bring skill, commitment and care to the delivery of services and the strengthening of neighborhoods. Together, we have faced financial challenges, legislative shifts and organizational restructuring - and through it all, we've centered the needs of Gainesville's neighbors and communities. During my tenure, we've made meaningful progress on multiple fronts. I am proud to leave behind a record of accomplishment that reflects both the City Commission's policy direction and the collective effort of City staff, partners and community stakeholders.
Fiscal Stewardship and Transparency
Improved Financial Standing: The City's credit rating was upgraded by Fitch Ratings to AA in 2024, affirming investor confidence in Gainesville's financial trajectory.
Clean Audits: For Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024, the City of Gainesville received clean financial audits from external auditor Purvis, Gray & Company. For the first time in many years, the City's Department of Financial Services completed the Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) on schedule with no findings. These results are confirmation the City is managing its finances with a high level of accuracy, transparency and accountability.
Fiscal Reforms: Gainesville continues taking action to strengthen its financial position, reduce expenditures and increase transparency.
Balanced Budgets: Over the past four years, the Government Services Contribution (GSC) from Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) has dropped from $38 million in Fiscal Year 2021 to an expected $7.1 million in Fiscal Year 2026. Each fiscal year, my office has presented a balanced budget proposal while continuing to grow a healthy and substantial fund balance.
Gun Violence Prevention
Gun Violence Prevention Summit: Organized a regional convening of stakeholders and experts to promote data sharing, strategic partnerships and next-step commitments.
Launched IMPACT GNV: Introduced a unified, public-health based initiative to reduce gun violence, coordinated across departments, and grounded in community partnerships with schools, nonprofits, and justice-involved individuals.
Coordinated the Community Gun Violence Prevention Alliance: Led the organization and establishment of the effort's leading partnership between the City of Gainesville, Alachua County and Santa Fe College.
One Nation One Project: In response to City Commission direction led the two-year arts and health collaboration that reached 3.600 youth, culminated in a public celebration, and produced measurable gains in youth wellbeing and engagement.
Public Safety
Gainesville Fire Rescue Accreditation: GFR earned Accredited Agency Status from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International for the third time, demonstrating excellence in training, service delivery and firefighter health.
Fire Rescue Staffing Reform: Shifted to a 24/72 schedule--the first in North Florida--to improve firefighter recruitment, performance and well-being.
Improved Police Recruitment: Strengthened recruiting efforts for the Gainesville Police Department, leading to increased applicant pools and progress toward full staffing.
Gainesville Police Department Co-Responder Collaboration: Strengthened integration between GPD and paramedicine staff to address mental health calls and reduce repeat incidents.
Community Paramedicine Expansion: The CRP program saw record enrollment, added dedicated staff, expanded mental health and homelessness outreach, and launched performance tracking in partnership with the Office of Equity & Inclusion.
Emergency Preparedness: Led emergency communication and response coordination during multiple hurricane events, ensuring timely multilingual updates to the public.
Traffic Safety and Vision Zero
$8M Complete Streets Grant for University Avenue: Implementation of a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant of $8 million to redesign about 4 miles of University Avenue into a complete street--featuring protected bike lanes, raised crosswalks, transit improvements and traffic-calming enhancements.
SW 62nd Boulevard Complete Streets Project: Completed a $18.8 million multimodal connector with state grant support, adding buffered bike lanes, a 10-foot multiuse path, and Gainesville's first simple-span bridge to improve neighborhood safety, accessibility and mobility.
North Main Street Restriping for Safety: Funded through the half-cent infrastructure surtax, this project reconfigured travel lanes to include 4-foot bike lanes, improved ADA curb ramps and upgraded visibility, reinforcing the City's Streets, Stations and Strong Foundations initiative.
$800K Lighting and Safety Assessment Grant: Implementation of a SS4A grant of $800.000 to evaluate street lighting and high-risk locations citywide, targeting bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements at key intersections and corridors
East Gainesville Economic Development
East Gainesville Health and Economic Development Initiative (EHEDI): Advanced infrastructure at the Eastside Health and Economic Development Initiative, where UF Health opened an urgent care clinic serving as the site's anchor institution. The City also partnered with RTS to establish a new transit hub, improving eastside connectivity and access to services.
GTEC Revitalization: Rebranded the Gainesville Technology and Entrepreneurship Center, now home to 16 active businesses --94% minority-owned, 50% women-owned.
8th and Waldo: Advanced City Commission directive to plan and design for the transformation of the 36-acre site at NE 8th Avenue and Waldo Road--home to Citizens Field-into a vibrant mixed- use destination with cultural, recreational and economic development opportunities.
Strategic Downtown Development
Downtown Strategic Plan: Prioritized Downtown Gainesville as one of five GCRA transformational projects and redirected $12 million toward its revitalization.
Downtown Ambassador Program: Launched the Downtown Ambassadors to enhance safety, cleanliness and hospitality in downtown public spaces.
Business Improvement Grants and Downtown Event Grants: Launched targeted downtown grant programs to support both business revitalization and cultural activation.
Downtown Advisory Board: Established a new advisory board to ensure sustained community engagement and oversight of downtown redevelopment efforts.
ACE Districts: Executed City Commission policy to create two Arts, Culture and Entertainment (ACE) Districts to support public safety and serve as hubs for cultural activity, economic development and public events.
Community Investment
Economic Development Framework: Worked with City leadership to create an economic development framework to help guide the City Commission's strategic priorities moving forward.
American Rescue Plan Implementation: Approximately $32 million in ARP funding was allocated to over 40 community partners, supporting initiatives in housing, homelessness, youth development, public health and nonprofit capacity building.
Housing & Development: Advanced the Heartwood neighborhood, introduced the Community Land Trust model, and increased availability of affordable housing by carrying out the policies of the Gainesville City Commission in the areas of inclusionary zoning and lot-size reform.
Equity and Inclusion Improvements: Expanded bilingual communication, supported departmental transitions, and launched the City's first bilingual signage program for public parks and spaces.
Civic Engagement and Communications
Community F.I.R.S.T: Established Gainesville's Community F.I.R.S.T. Initiative - which stands for Facilitative, Innovative, Restorative, Supportive and Timely. It is a citywide approach to fostering trust and collaboration between neighbors and local government. Through dialogue, education and reform, the initiative promotes equitable public safety and stronger community relationships.
Website Launch: The redesigned City website earned first place and People's Choice honors from Granicus; streaming services were added via Roku and Amazon Fire.
GNV on the Move and Broadcast Outreach: Created a new government talk show, increased video coverage, and strengthened multi-platform accessibility for City Commission meetings and initiatives.
Increased Civic Visibility: Organized and supported dozens of public ceremonies, dedications, cultural events and neighborhood forums throughout the City.
Climate Resiliency Leadership: Created an Office of Resiliency which has completed Gainesville's first Climate Resilience Plan and helped secure more than $28 million in federal and state funding for clean energy and climate infrastructure.
A Very GNV Holiday Parade
Revived Holiday Tradition: In response to City Commission direction, reintroduced the City's holiday parade for the first time in over 30 years, drawing more than 5.000 attendees and 35 community sponsors.
High Community Engagement: The parade has consistently ranked among the top three most visited on the City website over the holiday season; celebrity grand marshals have brought a wave of local and national news coverage.
Cross-Departmental Coordination: The parade showcased interdepartmental collaboration and volunteerism, and helped strengthen ties between the City and its neighbors.
Organizational Health
Workplace Stewardship Committee: Established an interdepartmental team to address morale, compensation, communication and benefits, resulting in staff-led subcommittees focused on actionable improvements.
Employee Recognition: Launched new awards programs and gatherings to recognize outstanding service and build morale among Community Builders.
Training and Programs: Supported and provided leadership training opportunities and eLearning platforms for staff development and advancement.
Pipeline Placement Program: Successfully redeployed the majority of staff displaced by budgetary challenges connected to the separation from GRU, preserving institutional knowledge and supporting our workforce.
In closing, I offer my sincere thanks to each of you for your trust, collaboration and commitment. I remain proud of what we've achieved together, and I am proud of the team of professionals I have had the privilege of leading these past four years.
In the weeks ahead, I will work closely with each of you and designated staff to ensure a smooth and thoughtful transition.
In the spirit of excellence,
Cynthia W. Curry
City Manager
