The Gainesville City Commission on Thursday approved an employment agreement with Edward Bielarski Jr. for the Gainesville Regional Utilities general manager job, and on Friday Bielarski told The Sun he is looking forward to moving from Pennsylvania to hot-and-sunny Florida.
His first day on the job at GRU will be June 22, and he said this will be a journey for him within the organization as well as a journey physically to a new city.
He and his wife will probably get down to Gainesville about a week before he starts work and will try to get settled and get into the flow and vibe of the local community, he said.
As for how he’ll handle his new responsibilities as general manager, Bielarski said he has his own thoughts and ideas but hearing from the people who already work for GRU will be important as well.
“It’s tantamount because I’ve been in these similar situations but similar doesn’t mean it’s the same, and it doesn’t mean that one solution works for every situation,” he said. “I value the knowledge base that’s within the organization.”
During Thursday’s City Commission meeting, the commissioners discussed an issue that had arisen regarding Bielarski’s use of social media. Based on the discussion they had that evening, it seems Bielarski might’ve posted at least one comment on Facebook that was controversial.
The city’s human resources director told The Sun Bielarski shut down his Facebook page after this issue came to the city’s attention.
“I’m not sure what I may have posted that offended anyone,” Bielarski told The Sun Friday.
As for his decision to take down his Facebook page, he said, “It’s a no-winning situation, so I think from my perspective I’m best staying out of that arena.”
He also said he thinks “GRU deserves less distractions versus more” and that he’ll already have his hands full dealing with the issues of the day with the utility.