Dallas Peavey Jr.
COMMONWEALTH Utilities Corp. board chair pro tem Janice A. Tenorio on Monday informed Gov. Arnold I. Palacios that she has terminated CUC’s acting executive director, Dallas M. Peavey Jr. “for cause.”
Peavey was seen by some CUC employees being escorted out of his office by CUC legal counsel Hunter Hunt, Variety learned.
Tenorio designated Deputy Executive Director Chretien Voerg as acting executive director effectively immediately.
In her letter to the governor and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, Tenorio said she and the CUC human resources staff “became aware that Peavey had exhibited dishonesty and lack of candor in his application to serve as deputy director of electric power systems.”
She did not elaborate, but added, “This dishonesty severely called into question his ability to serve as acting executive director, a position which he expressed the desire to fill in a permanent capacity.”
Tenorio said the positions of executive director and deputy director “carry with them the highest expectations of integrity, accountability and responsibility.”
“When it became apparent that Mr. Peavey had failed to live up to these expectations, I took action, with the backing of the Office of the Attorney General, to terminate Mr. Peavey, and to protect the organization,” Tenorio said in her letter.
“It is deeply regrettable that this revelation comes at such an inopportune time for CUC and the Commonwealth in general. As you know, CUC is under federal oversight by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to two Stipulated Orders. Mr. Peavey’s conduct would not have been acceptable to the EPA, nor is it acceptable to us,” she added.
“The newly empaneled CUC board of directors and I are wholly dedicated to serving the best interests of the CUC and the people of the Commonwealth. We recognize that we have a fiduciary duty to ensure that CUC is managed by qualified individuals. Today, we acted in adherence [to] that duty,” Tenorio said.
Peavey was appointed acting CUC executive director in February 2023 after the resignation of Gary Camacho.
Recently, Peavey issued disconnection notices to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the Department of Public Works and other delinquent CUC customers.
He also criticized DPW for issuing statements to the media “prior to engaging in constructive dialogue.” This, he added, “is outright unprofessional and can only be assumed to be the means of advancing personal agenda or compensating for inadequacies at DPW.”
On Aug. 4, 2022, Pensacola News Journal in Florida reported that the Holley-Navarre Water System board of directors terminated the utility’s CEO, Dallas Peavey.
According to Pensacola News Journal, “The water utility previously announced it was investigating Peavey after residents in the Navarre community spent weeks raising alarms about Peavey’s background, culminating in the Navarre citizens group, Preserve Navarre, publicly disseminated documents listing purported criminal charges against Peavey.”
