“Any means necessary to get this handled”: Gainesville City Commission airs grievances against GRU Authority during discussion about a new ballot referendum
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Although the topic was not on the agenda for the May 15 Gainesville City Commission meeting, the Commission voted to schedule a special election in November 2025 to ask city residents whether control of GRU should return to the City Commission.
Recent history of GRU governance
During the General Public Comment period in the afternoon session of the meeting, Janice Garry, President of the League of Women Voters of Alachua County, began by presenting a recent history of the governance of GRU: In 2018, a ballot referendum to create an independent GRU governing board was defeated by “some 60% of voters.” In 2023, a local bill creating the GRU Authority was passed by the legislature, amending Article VII of the City’s Charter to give control of GRU to the new board. In early March 2024, the entire board resigned in response to a lawsuit arguing that they did not meet the residency requirements in the bill, and the Governor appointed a new board, with some of the same members.
On March 21, 2024, 18 people spoke during General Public Comment at a City Commission meeting and asked the Commission to place a Charter amendment on the November 2024 ballot that would return control of the utility to the City Commission. At that meeting, Commissioner Casey Willits said, “A lot of the voters wish this could have been a vote to begin with, and now some of them are asking us more directly to give them that opportunity… It is a big idea, but it’s one our community has been clamoring for.”
In November 2024, about 73% of Gainesville voters approved the referendum, and, Garry said, “lawsuits erupted.” Judge George Wright ruled that the City had the right to change its Charter with a ballot referendum, but he also said the ballot language was misleading and invalidated the previous vote.
Garry continued, “Right now, the GRU Authority is making decisions that are contrary to the Climate Action Plan and other long-term planning for safe, reliable energy and water services… Voters are tired of being ignored and dismissed… We will not succumb. We will not give up our local public utilities, that belong to us, to power brokers.” She asked Commissioners to hold a special election to again ask the voters to change the City’s charter and return control of GRU to the City Commission.
Gwen Wagner: “The Authority… doesn’t seem to be willing to listen to the many citizens of Gainesville who… talk about things like environmental issues, which are important to all of us who live in this area.”
Gwen Wagner said she was there “for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to demonstrate how easy it is for a non-citizen of Gainesville to speak before this body… I haven’t attended the GRU Authority meetings, but what I’ve observed by watching some recorded meetings is that the Authority seems to have its own agenda and doesn’t seem to be willing to listen to the many citizens of Gainesville who… talk about things like environmental issues, which are important to all of us who live in this area.”
The Vice Chair of the local Sierra Club said her group supports a new ballot referendum, and Susan Bottcher said every precinct in Gainesville voted in favor of the Charter amendment. Bottcher added that she was concerned that “if the Authority stays in power and they decide to do something terribly draconian,” City employees might not “be able to do their jobs to the quality of what we’re accustomed to because of impending budget cuts that you’ll be forced to implement.”
Chuck Ross: “I believe that the future of power generation by GRU may be in jeopardy under the stewardship of this board.”
Chuck Ross said he believed the current board “is not qualified to be governing the utility… They are not holding the GM’s feet to the fire, and I believe that the future of power generation by GRU may be in jeopardy under the stewardship of this board… The GRU Authority is not accountable to the customers or the City.”
David Hastings: Authority meetings are “a scary thing. It’s clearly not democratic. “
David Hastings said Authority meetings are “a scary thing. It’s clearly not democratic. These folks on the board don’t have any experience in energy… or power, and instead, the control of GRU should be transferred back to the City Commission, which is elected officials.”
Evelyn Foxx, speaking for the Alachua County Branch of the NAACP, said her organization supports returning control of GRU to the City Commission because “we elected you all to look over our everything… The referendum has to come before the citizens again, I’m not sure when, but we hope that you would do it as soon as possible.”
Helen Warren: “I ask for you to take the position of the woke side in this time of history.”
Helen Warren said, “It’s an incredible time that we’re living in these days, where we’re expected to be on one side of a political arena where they’re encouraging you to walk in your sleep, and then the other side of a political arena that supports being aware of our history and being woke. And I ask for you to take the position of the woke side in this time of history.” She said the City Commission has a “responsibility, with integrity on your side, to stand up to this action that’s been taken by the governor, taking away the ownership of the utility that has been with the City and the people since its creation… Sometimes you have to do difficult things more than once, but it’s the right thing.”
Jyoti Parmar: “Energy democracy requires clean, accessible, affordable, sensible energy, and most importantly, the energy available should be accountable to the people who are consuming it.”
Jyoti Parmar said, “My pronouns are she/they, and I speak for the Sierra Club of Florida as their clean energy organizer… Energy democracy requires clean, accessible, affordable, sensible energy, and most importantly, the energy available should be accountable to the people who are consuming it. It is our position that the GRU Authority has been ignoring the will of the people and has been, in fact, working against what is best for the people of Gainesville.”
Mayor moves Member Comment up in the agenda to continue the discussion
Mayor Harvey Ward said he would move Member Comment up to the next item on the agenda “so we can have a discussion here without it being out of order.”
Commissioner Ed Book noted that 13 people had spoken in favor of putting the referendum back on the ballot and said he favored “certainly finishing the discussion while we have the people here and taking that item after Member Comment.” Ward said he considered the discussion to be part of Member Comment “because it’s not actually an item.”
Eastman: Referendum feels “like the natural next step.”
Commissioner Bryan Eastman said another referendum felt “like the natural next step… We’re not going to give up on having a utility owned by the people it serves.” He asked City Attorney Dan Nee whether he was confident he could craft language that would withstand another lawsuit.
Nee said Judge George Wright’s order stated that “the City Commission knows how the write the word ‘appointed,’ as evidenced by the fact that they used the term twice in the same sentence to describe GRUA.” Nee said he believed that, based on the order, changing the ballot language from “plac[e] that responsibility with the elected City Commission and Charter Officer” to “plac[e] that responsibility with the elected City Commission and appointed Charter Officer” would satisfy the judge’s concern, “and there was no other concern mentioned.” He also said, however, that he was sure the language would be challenged again.
Eastman asked whether there is a budget for special elections, and City Clerk Kristen Bryant said, “We don’t have a budget for special elections. We have a program account for elections” that currently has about $200,000.
Nee said he didn’t know what the timeline would be, but in 2024, the Supervisor of Elections needed the ballot language by mid-June for the November election.
Ingle: “As far as I’m concerned, we have been and are being robbed.”
Commissioner James Ingle said, “As far as I’m concerned, we have been and are being robbed” because the GRU Authority “just randomly decided to take” money out of the General Fund Transfer. He continued, “They have ignored the will of the people. They have ignored professional advice, and basically instead of spending $6 million locally for the City, on the people whose money that is, we decided to send it off to Wall Street so they get paid off a little bit quicker,” referring to the Authority’s accelerated payments toward GRU’s debt. He encouraged a three-pronged approach: another referendum, enlisting the legislative delegation to help, and moving forward with a “robust appeal.”
Nee said an appeal would likely take nine months to a year; the Authority has already announced that it plans to appeal Judge Wright’s ruling, while the City Commission has not yet made that decision.
Ingle: “I’m very much in favor of pretty much any means necessary to get this handled.”
Ingle said, “I think this is hugely important for the good of our City, for the good of our utility. I’m very much in favor of pretty much any means necessary to get this handled.”
Commissioner Casey Willits said they already put it on a “large turnout election, a presidential year. We were more than willing to put it there because we wanted a bunch of people in the city to really weigh in on this. I will support a special election,… basically adding just one word, ‘appointed.'”
Ward: “It’s absurd, ridiculous, foolish that we’re in this position. Absolutely foolish.”
Ward said, “First of all, it’s absurd, ridiculous, foolish that we’re in this position. Absolutely foolish. The owners of the utility have spoken. The State has put us, put GRU, our utilities in a position unlike any set of utilities in America – perhaps in the world, but certainly in the United States of America, not just in Florida, in that they are not required to make any payment to the local municipality where they reside, where they provide services, not in the form of a transfer. They do, to some degree, but they’re not required to… It is absurd and robbery… It’s undemocratic… It’s wrong. Everybody knows it’s wrong.”
Ward said he favored putting this back on the ballot so voters can “say for a third time… where we want governance to be, which is with the Gainesville City Commission, not because you like us… It’s because you can hire and fire us if we’re doing a bad job and we’re not listening to you, we’re not managing the utility the way it should be managed… Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority is accountable only to the governor.”
Ward: Appeals court might not “like us trying to slide in under the bar.”
Ward said he would support whatever the other Commissioners wanted to do, but “I don’t like off-cycle elections… because having more people show up to vote is a good thing.” He preferred putting the referendum on the 2026 ballot and also speculated that the appeals court might not “like us trying to slide in under the bar, and I think we could set ourselves up to have yet a fourth election, which we’ll do if we have to.” He was also concerned about spending about $250,000 on a special election when the budget is already “constrained.”
Eastman: “I think the people want this to be done. We need to bring stability to this utility. We need to bring stability to the City.”
Eastman said that holding the election in November 2026 would lead to a longer period before the City regains control of the utility: “The people have already spoken on this point. If it weren’t for one pre-positive modifier within our ballot language, the people would have their utility back… I think the people want this to be done. We need to bring stability to this utility. We need to bring stability to the City.”
Motion
Eastman made a motion to direct the City Attorney to draft an amendment to the City Charter, asking voters whether to eliminate Article VII of the Charter, correcting the language as per the judicial ruling, at a special election to be held the first Tuesday in October 2025. The motion was later changed to “the first Tuesday in November 2025.” Willits seconded the motion.
Chestnut: “Now, just as an aside, we’re talking about the City having to pay for GRU suing us. I think it’s time we sue them. I mean, why should we pay for them to sue us?”
Book also said he would prefer putting it on the 2026 ballot but said that would lead to another year and a half of uncertainty. Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut favored putting it on the August 2026 ballot with the City Commission elections. She added, “Now, just as an aside, we’re talking about the City having to pay for GRU suing us. I think it’s time we sue them. I mean, why should we pay for them to sue us? Let’s not sit back and accept that. So that’s another discussion, another day, but that’s where I’m going.”
Ingle said, “In general, I would… prefer a general election to a special election… But I think this is a much different situation. I think the general electorate has already spoken pretty loudly.”
Ward: “So the Authority sued the City and then took the cost of that suit out of the transfer. That doesn’t get talked about much, but that happened.”
Ward said that although the GRU Authority provides an initial amount for the General Fund Transfer at the beginning of the budget year, they pay it quarterly, and “there’s been a practice of taking money out of that transfer that the Authority believes it is owed, unilaterally… It just comes out, including legal fees for suing us. So the Authority sued the City and then took the cost of that suit out of the transfer. That doesn’t get talked about much, but that happened… If that happened in the regular world, you would say that’s ridiculous; we’ll sue back. Well, we’re not allowed to do that [because a judge ruled that GRU and the City are the same entity], so it’s this unique circumstance where they know that they can’t be taken to court for it, so they just take the money.” He said the City can’t retaliate because the City does not send payments to GRU.
Vote
The motion passed 6-1, with Chestnut in dissent. Ward said, “Commissioner Chestnut, I appreciate your dissent.”
Two more votes will need to be held before June 15
Nee interjected that he had just learned that the Supervisor of Elections will need the ballot language by June 15 for the November election. Eastman pointed out that since there is no meeting on May 29, the Commission has one regular meeting and two special budget meetings before June 15 to vote on two readings of the ordinance.
Nee said he would get a definite timeline and “do whatever it takes to coordinate with the Clerk’s office and the [City] Manager to get [this] before you in a timely fashion.”
Capping the transfer?
Eastman said Article VII in the City’s Charter includes language that caps the General Fund Transfer, and that will be removed if the referendum succeeds. He said, “I think that is an eminently reasonable cap that was put into our Charter by the legislature, and I think it’s something that I would like for us to consider placing back into our Charter.” He suggested adding a “secondary question” to the ballot referendum and said he wasn’t asking for a vote on it right away, but he thought it should be considered for the future.
Ward said, “I’m very uncomfortable putting that on the ballot as well, for a lot of reasons that I don’t want to go into now, but I think it has the potential to throw a smokescreen on the whole thing.”
The city commission wants their walkin around, loosey goosey fun money back, and they don’t care how many prisoners of GRU they have to stomp over to get it. Oh, yeah, right, it’s all about saving the climate.
I see the City Commies, want to get their hands back on the People’s Piggy Bank! So they can have more derelicts come to Gainesville for More Free Hand outs! And Line their pockets as well! And Jack up Electric Rates! 😢😩
Warren, Garry & Botcher…3 woke Dopes.
If you wonder at times what’s wrong with the City – look no further. These political hack activists are the epitomy of hypocrisy and idiocy.
These people are all crazy.
Is Garry the him/she/it that has the hair that looks like it’s washed once a month?
Take a shower!! Use some shampoo. Have some self respect.
That only people who will do well as a result of this are lawyers.
Can the GRU Service area be reduced to the city limits of Gainesville?
Sure….The city will annex more real estate. Welcome to the People’s Republic of Gainesberg, Komrade.
If the city politicians wanted an honest election, it would be limited to the GRU account holders inside AND OUTSIDE the city limits, one vote per account. That result would tell them what the actual users (and whiners) actually want. The rest (like UF students) is just political fluff.
IMO, the citizens who live here full time do not want the highest prices in the state for “environment reasons”. If they did, they wouldn’t have allowed the political and environmental disaster, the wood burner.
Those of us outside the city DON’T OWN GRU. THOSE INSIDE DO OWN GRU. Wth don’t you understand about that simple fact?
Non owners (including customers of a monopoly outside city limits ) *should* vote on GRU fate too. BUT it should be during General election cycle in ‘28.
Local commie activists want elections in spring or off-years now. Never when most citizen vote, never true democracy. They do not want their oligarchy muddled up by more GRU voters.
ACLUSPLCDNC hates the informed people.
The ‘People’ do not ‘own’ GRU, despite the Democrat claims; The City of Gainesville does, and has stolen from the customers of GRU for the last 20 years, starting with ex-Mayor Hanrahan, made worse by Poe and Ward..
Hanrahan was the worst. She wrecked this city.
Clay, Hanrahan was single handedly responsible for Depot Park, a previous brown field and now wildly successful addition to Gainesville, and which has transformed the S Main Street area dramatically and with positive economic impact throughout that area.
That’s not accurate. The entire city commission was in favor of doing something in that area and there was A LOT of contaminated soil that something to be mitigated she was just another vote. Additionally, she WAS “single handedly responsible for firing the best general manager the utility ever had.
False. It was Hanrahan’s baby from the beginning and her background as an environmental engineer working with brown fields like the park site had her thinking early about it. The commission followed her lead.
Hanrahan ruined GRU trying to comply with Kyoto protocol which the US was not a signatory to…she ruined GRU going biomass and put us $1billion in debt…that why we have the utility authority now…
Rest. the City of Gainesville owns GRU and that means it’s citizens who built it starting over 100 years ago. They are represented by the CC. WTH don’t you get about property and ownership and what do you have against democracy? This is America.
DEmoCRacy!!, hUR DUr!!, lol. Sorry boomer, we don’t live in one, seethe harder..
Then actively seek to allow/sell/transfer or whatever the ability of the 40% of GRU customers that have no vote for city commission or voice in how GRU is governed. It’s not democracy when 40% have no say. The city commission will always be leftist democrats so saying to vote them out is not going to happen no matter how much they take of GRU profits or how high they raise the millage rates.
Cornbread, what say do you have now with GRU and what say would you have with FPL or Duke – zero! If those in the county want a say, start your own utility, get annexed into Gainesville, or lobby the county to buy GRU.
Face diaper idiot in audience.
Then the PSC should regulate GRU fully like they do with FPL so the 40 percent who have ZERO say aren’t being taken advantage of by a natural monopoly
Jazz, that is the problem. We who are outside of the city who use GRU are forced to use it.
We should have a voice as well. We are not less of a citizen anyone who lives within the city limits.
A city-wide election would exclude a large number of us from being heard.
If the city wants control of GRU they should do it in an ethical and legal way that gives everyone a chance to voice their opinion.
Maybe it’s time the city expanded and incorporated your areas. They need to expand the tax base. It should have happened 2 decades ago. I would guess they’re afraid of how the unincorporated areas will vote in a general election.
They don’t force annexation but offer it. Where I live – near NW – we were offered it about 25-30 years ago but it was voted down. I voted for it as I believe unified local government is best. Taxes, etc would have been about the same.
GRU trades properties with Duke, Clay, and FPL without customers having a say. That happened to me and I didn’t have a say in it. As a matter of fact, GRU has been much better than Clay with less outages, faster back on when it does go out, and even checking on us when there’s bad weather. A little more expensive, but worth it.
So the City wants the city folks to tax the county folks while the county folks have no say in anything the City does with that tax money and the higher rate they pay than the city folks. Talk about equity and inclusion!!!
That’s false.
That’s not a rebuttal.
Steev’s post is a vague and non-specific accusation. If he wants to put meat on those bones, so will I.
That is true. Those residing outside the city of Gainesville but served by GRU (either gas, electric, water, wastewater, or all of those) pay a ‘tax’ buy are NOT represented and thus have no say so on anything relatingto GRU under the former arrangement. At least now they have some representation via the Authority.
Liberal Pinheads! Take your cash cow back for those who live inside your putrid city limits! Hopefully, you will kill GNV within 10 years!
Really don’t care if you tax and raise rates for your City Limit constituents! Give the rest of AC the choice of Utility Providers they want. Clay Coop is so much more than GRU and anything related to GNV!
Typical post from the people who hate where they live and predominate on this board. Why don’t you leave?
Woke! Woke! Woke! Woke want’s your money no matter what!
Woke believes your money belongs to the Alachua County Communist Party represented by the Woke members appearing today! My pronouns are: Go to Xi and see what you get for your Woke beliefs!
You idiots keep avoiding the fact that the city residents own GRU, not those in the county – including me – not the Governor, not Chuck Clemons or Keith Perry. Nothing else if of consequence as a legal matter, a matter of simple ethics, or a matter of democracy. You don’t like it? Start your own utility.
Ward summed it up perfectly:
“Ward said he favored putting this back on the ballot so voters can “say for a third time… where we want governance to be, which is with the Gainesville City Commission, not because you like us… It’s because you can hire and fire us if we’re doing a bad job and we’re not listening to you, we’re not managing the utility the way it should be managed… Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority is accountable only to the governor.”
And when the people objected to raising the utility rates what did that get them?
Higher rates.
You don’t even live in the City and you still bow down to Ward and Co. Seems you’re the real idiot.
Something you don’t understand about this dummy? It’s the definition of the benefit of democracy.
“.. where we want governance to be, which is with the Gainesville City Commission, not because you like us… It’s because you can hire and fire us if we’re doing a bad job and we’re not listening to you, we’re not managing the utility the way it should be managed… Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority is accountable only to the governor.”
Every 4 years. We’re still dealing with the damage caused by that other idiot Hanrahan and her bio-fiasco. Maybe you have difficulty with comprehension.
You can stop with the fealty already – we get it. Hopefully Ward’s giving you enough in return.
I consistently have posted in defense of principles on this issue – ownership and the rights of citizens to determine by vote how that which they are responsible for operates – while you have none. I don’t know Ward or any of the C commissioners, disagree with them on at least several issues and have posted those positions here. You and most here are ruled by primitive partisan hatred, such that when the mayor issues proclamations celebrating the end of slavery – that’s kind of what mayors are supposed to do, dummy – you slam him, like he is promoting it.
Others have mentioned numerous times their inability to vote on who controls their utility provider. Why shouldn’t customers, all, be afforded that opportunity? There’s special elections, ballots more often than I can count. What’s the City afraid of? Anyone who has a financial connection to those controlling GRU profits should. Even Duke and FPL shareholders have voting rights.
For the record, I don’t recall slamming anyone for celebrating the end of slavery, I call them out on their hypocrisy.
The Gainesville city commission does not listen to county residents and they can never be hired or fired by county residents regardless of how badly they run GRU. Yet, 40% are still forced to use the utility with no voice whatsoever.
They only listen to the left wingnuts.
That’s why they continually provide them with “not on the agenda” platforms to spew their vitriol.
“It’s because you can hire and fire us if we’re doing a bad job and we’re not listening to you, we’re not managing the utility the way it should be managed…”
I think they only said that because they know it’s not true.
Dems do not want more customer voters on GRU fate.
If you are a Duke or FPL customer, you don’t get to vote on what they do. Same with Walmart, Publix, or Home Depot. You don’t own those either. The citizens of Gainesville OWN GRU!!! You don’t!!!
Then the “citizens of Gainesville” who own and want to regulate, govern and take the profits of GRU should agree for the transmission lines and customer base of the 40% to go to Duke or FPL or whatever entity will agree to provide power to them. As it is, the 40% are FORCED to use the city owned utility. Nobody is forced to use Walmart, Publix or Home Depot!
Dude, complain to the county and see what they can do, but none of the utilities – including GRU now under the authority – are going to do what you tell them. In fact the lines that serve me used to be Clay and they and GRU traded – they didn’t ask me. The easement was paid for at some point in time by some utility and the lines built not by tax dollars, but by whoever had the territory then. You didn’t pay for them in taxes.
Duke and FPL are fully regulated by the PSC, so their customers have some recourse. Regulate GRU the same way then
Fine, in fact if the state GOP was interested in constructive policy on GRU, the state could have set certain goals for GRU to attain instead of just stealing control – which by the way is not subject to whatever you want.
Hold on, I do own part of home depot, publix and Wal-Mart as a stock holder.
But gru is not a public stock.
My only voice here is my vote.
“you don’t get to vote on what they do. Same with Walmart, Publix, or Home Depot.” And that’s where your analogy breaks down. If I don’t like how a store does business, I shop elsewhere. We vote with our dollars.
With utilities we have no such choice. If Publix was the only store you were allowed to shop at, and they added a 5% “Re-Elect DeSantis” fee to every purchase, you’d be singing the same song as those you’re continually trolling.
Ah yes, if only we COULD snap our fingers and start our own utility Jazzy Eastman! Maybe make the vote county-wide and ask voters if they want the power to choose their utility. Or are you and the CC too scared to see how angry the county residents are since we are FORCED to buy from the disaster that is GRU?
Never met Eastman and don’t care to Mr Clemons.
The citizens of Gainesville didn’t snap their fingers to create GRU. They paid taxes and built it up beginning over 100 years ago.
“In 2018, a ballot referendum to create an independent GRU governing board was defeated by “some 60% of voters.””
That translates to less than 20% of the city residents, and not one affected person from outside the city limits. It’s two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
All those speaking out for this ballot ought to be asked how much they, personally, will contribute to the special election cost. Not one dime should come from taxpayer dollars.
Interesting point Anon, but irrelevant. Turn out has no impact on the finality of elections, especially when there is no indication that a higher turn out would have yielded a different result. Hey we have serious elections where the loser (Bush 2020, Trump 2016) wins by a technicality and where a pretty thin margin and less than a majority of voters is still sufficient to win (Trump 2024). We are all affected by those results and those outside the city limits should start their own utility, change to an existing one, or advocate that the county by GRU from the city, not try to steal control by our overlords in the state GOP, none of which won Alachua County voters.
True, but the speaker was trying to spin up the illusion of a city-wide groundswell of support for another failed attempt to reclaim GRU, and in context of reality, the numbers completely contradict that fable.
I think the STATE needs to enact legislation such that the FL PSC regulates GRU as fully as an investor-owned utility. The 40 percent of us need better protection against this natural monopoly if the city takes it back
Sure, but give GRU back to the city as part of it. Lobby the county and your state legislator.
City still owns it. They just don’t manage it.
then as a citizen owner, I should be able to set what I should pay for Utilities. 😉 and have a say in their decisions. but that is not the case.. the City Commission if anyone owns GRU.
The city commission only wants the ability to use GRU as a slush fund to keep pet projects going that nobody really wants. They drove GRU into insolvency and forced the state to do something. Can’t have a municipal energy company filing bankruptcy or going into receivership. Which for Gainesville will mean the city will have to file. Well, the state did and now our electric bills are stable and not rising every year while GRU is paying down the debt. The city commission is looking for language to convince the voters that they don’t just want the slush fund back. Next go round will be losing the 40% of GRU’s customers that do not live in Gainesville. I’m sure that Duke Energy will welcome them. How then will the commission continue running GRU with only 60% of potential income. Stupid does what stupid does.
They did not drive GRU into insolvency. That’s BS. It’s credit rating was A – same as FPL – when the dictators in the GOP, unelected by anybody in Gainesville took over.
It’s also irrelevant. If they did, the citizens of Gainesville would be on the hook for it. Also, business profits are not a slush fund or somebody better arrest me for what I choose to do legally with mine. Same goes for Walmart, Publix, FPL, and Duke. Handing off GRU to either of the last 2 is in the cards as Sen Perry took $100,000.00 in illegal and dark campaign money from FPL. That’s a fact, not conjecture.
No, the state of Florida will.
*When* GRU goes bankrupt, citizens from Miami to Pensacola will be funding the reorganization.
Soooo, the State has an interest in preventing an insolvency.
I’m not worried at all about GRU control going back to the City. Between the courts and the Governor it’s not going to happen.
Let’s see how the Court of Appeals likes the City doing a referendum before they rule… me sees an injunction coming preventing the vote from even happening.
Karl –
1. GRU is not going bankrupt, nor was it when taken over by the state
2. The Citizens of Gainesville are responsible for GRU’s debts, as they are the beneficiaries of it’s profits.
3. The courts and the Governor are Republican and Alachua County and Gainesville are not, which is why we are where we are on GRU. Same reason why the state has divided us up to have but one voice in the state legislature and none in the Congress and why of all the counties in Florida without single member districts – most of them – the state acted to make us so.
You probably needn’t worry about GRU control going back to the city but you should be worrying about the corrupt and partisan use of power by the state GOP and what it means for self determination and democracy.
Wrong, the City of Gainesville is legally a subsection of the State of Florida. The State of Florida is ultimately on the hook financially for GRU AND the City if they get their act together.
I have no problems doing whatever is necessary legally or legislatively to keep local Communists (they certainly aren’t the Democrats I grew up knowing or used to be) from getting control back…..
Toodles.
*don’t get
Doofus, there aren’t any commies left, including in China so wake up! Whoops, I meant woke up!
As I stated GRU is not going bankrupt and it’s debts and profits are the rightful obligation and property of the city of Gainesville.
By the way, communists did agree with you in that you don’t favor self determination, but instead the dictatorship of the DeSantis’s – I mean the proletariat – out in the county. I think you are very confused and need to think about this more.
1. They’ve been raising to customers to pay the debts from their fiscal stupidity.
2. They haven’t shared any profits with me or anyone else I know.
Unless you count the Commission of Clowns and the idiot Mayor – they’ve taken the profits.
3. The majority of voters you’ve pointed out in Alachua County and Gainesville aren’t the brightest.
1. Lobby for rate oversight of pubic utilities by the FPSC or purchase of GRU by the county. You have no recourse with the GRU authority either and no one locally does.
2. If there is evidence of personal enrichment by any local elected officials present it. With a GOP state’s attorney there won’t be a problem having him go after democrats. We know he ignored GOP Sen Perry’s illegal gift from FPL and his illegal use of it.
3. In a democracy the majority rules. Look it up. And hey, America just elected Trump – barely. Work harder next campaign.
Exactly.
When Deer Haven hits the end of its useful life – which is relatively soon – I’d like to know how GRU is going to get financing for $500 million to a billion to build a replacement plant. They are already highly leveraged due to the bio mass fiasco.
The end game is going to be to buy power from FP&L, Duke, JEA, et al. GRU WILL be out of the power generation business.
You can hate the thought…. But this is on the horizon. Just a matter of time.
This is what should be cause for concern to all GRU customers.
“Eastman said Article VII in the City’s Charter includes language that caps the General Fund Transfer, and that will be removed if the referendum succeeds.”
Ward said, “I’m very uncomfortable putting that on the ballot as well, for a lot of reasons that I don’t want to go into now, but I think it has the potential to throw a smokescreen on the whole thing.”
How many customers would agree to the City Commission not having a cap on your taxes and how much they increase utility rates? Only the activists who spoke and have pledged fealty to the Mayor and his commission of clowns, and the idiots who line up behind Jazzman and Botcher for the daily feeding.
You voted, if GRU customers don’t like the legal actions of GRU the proper exercise of that concern would be seeking power elsewhere or advocating for the county to buy GRU from the city, not stealing it. The idiots in this are those like you who are too simple to grasp who owns GRU – it isn’t you – or are happy to ignore that detail because “hey, they’re liberal democrats”.
Yet you keep saying we, (I), do own GRU.
Are you like other liberals, you can’t make up your mind?
It’s clear who the fickle idiot is. Maybe you’re just confused.
When do you acknowledge this backlash is your own doing? Clemons muscled this through the process and told anyone with any legitimate concern to go pound sand. He didn’t work to build any consensus, any allies, any support. This is on you.
So Mara, I guess your continued support for this group of financially incompetent idiots is on you?
We see who else has lined up at the trough.
Mara, Clemons and Perry led a partisan GOP attack on our blue city and county and never had any consensus in mind. You voted is all in on that unprincipled position, his bitter hatreds overcoming any principles he might have one time had. His empty response to you indicates that clearly, along with his inability to answer your charge.
🤔…🤣
So says the person whose politics don’t allow him to recognize any.
Commies really can’t let go of the past. Why not move to Cuba?
JK. I don’t think those opposing the owners of GRU determining it’s operations are commies – just idiots who like statist and fascist control as long as they agree with the dictator.
More like just no principles and enemies of democracy. Commies are also the latter but not all of that mind set are Marxists.
You can own a car, but if you can’t see well enough to drive, they’re eventually going to take your keys away– hopefully before you’ve had a devastating accident.
Say what? Are you talking about the utility company that had an A rating – just like FPL – when the keys were taken away by partisan hacks who have a pattern of screwing our county and major city. Or are you too blind to have a license?
These woke folks make statements like “I believe . . . ,”
“I think” etc. Where are the facts, the proof for the statements? We know there is none!
You can’t operate a business/ utility on feelings.
They just want their slush fund!
The transfer of profits from GRU to the city’s General Fund has always been a hidden tax. Period.
The same disgraced cult of personalities who mismanaged, looted and plundered our once proud regional utility now want to venture into Republican-packed Florida Appellate Courts to validate the refusal to comply with the crystal clear legislative intent that GRU be free from the direction and control of the Gainesville City Commission.
Yeah, pretty much.. It gives them other things to blame outside of themselves when our taxes and fees go up to cover the losss of funds – instead of perhaps some self-reflection and course correcting on some of the more egregious line items in the budget
The legislature’s willing ness to strip local governments of power – especially ones that are not Republican – is the historic fact by now, so take their “intent” and sit on it Jim. Because another candidate kicked your seat in an election does not make them part of a cult of personality, it makes you a loser wisely rejected by the owners of GRU.
Alachua County and Gainesville will remain a beacon for the Socialist/Communist Party in Florida! The local population is so happy they are constantly promised (but don’t realize delivery) that their sacrifice will be worthwhile! What sacrifices? Okay, highest property and sales taxes in the state, city run Utility increases (really tax increases to fund DEI/Political Projects) approved back in 2020/2021 for the next 5 – 7 years at the time for starters!
Citizens need to be appreciative that the County and City leaders spend more of their tax dollars on environmental friendly boondoggles (Bio Mess), at the same time they pass legislation to ensure citizens will have multifamily housing units built next to their single family (not to mention the new neighbors parking on their lawn)!
Citizens need to be appreciative that whoever was filling in for FJB the past 4 years, rewarded AC and Gainesville (in particular the Mayor who went to Washington for personal constituent theft training)!
At least on the Federal Level (and State), the AC/GNV Socialist Party can only affect the pocketbook of the honest workers! The activists and racists of the AC/GNV Socialist/Communist Party are feeding at the trough!
Glad to leave this dump behind and wipe the AC/GNV Shit off my boots! So sorry for the hardworking normal people left behind, and of course the soon to be dirt road infrastructure except for bike lanes no one uses!
A perfect post to show to my “Spot The Logical Fallacy” class. Thanks, Jazzman.
Disgusting lack of honesty from Janice Garry and the continuously disgraced League of Women Voters of Alachua County.
I don’t expect any better from the absolutely soulless, amoral sociopaths like Bryan “Baby Podesta” Eastman, but it is sad to see the likes of Janice drag LOW to new depths, even considering their current sad and irrelevant state.
40% of GRU rate-payers are not eligible to vote in these fake ballot measures, so when you add that number to the number who voted AGAINST Gainesville City Commission’s clearly illegal attempt to overthrow State government, it’s clear that the number of people voting for higher utility bills and USAID-style waste & corruption is in the clear minority.
Janice, do the right thing and resign in shame and disgrace.
How can there be a ‘League of Women Voters’ when they aren’t willing to acknowledge two genders?
Probably should have said ‘distinguish’ between 2 genders.
No wonder she and her ilk are so confused.
The LWV is named for voters, so their obvious and logical concern should be with the will of voters. That has been grossly violated by our overlords in the state GOP and the Leagues opposition to that is almost mandatory on principle and logic.
What voters? Exclusively women? So they discriminate against those they supposedly fight for? Or they choose to call themselves ‘women’ because even a broken clock is correct twice a day.
They should call themselves the ‘Whatever You Want To Be Today League of Hypocrites.’
Ingle is an idiot!! He is pissed they sent 6 million to go towards the debt instead of spending it locally. That’s what you do when in debt you pay it off and not spend it in bullsh**!!!
The people will vote in the next election to put control of the GRU back in the hands of Democrats and out of the bastard republicans.
You are correct. The DumbRats will vote to put control of GRU profits in the control of their masters. That’s what those in bondage do.
Sure is interesting how all these things mysteriously are not on the agenda but magicly people just show up to talk about this and claim it’s all “grass roots” That is horse hockey! These people are the same marxist that show up to every meeting because apparently they don’t need to have real jobs to show up to. The City STOLE money from the utility to the point that the bond rating went down TWICE! They just about bankrupted it with a billion dollar boondoggle wood burning stove power plant that had such a horrible contract that GRU had no exit clause. If that didn’t smell dirty enough, we were also told that we could use yard waste that had been collected after storms to burn in the new wood burning stove power plant. Nope … it’s not clean enough .. we need to have tractor trailers full of wood chips delivered continuously to this plant causing undue wear and tear on our already falling apart roads. We could have done a natural gas plant and had it piped in via a pipeline but noooo … we have to burn trees to be a green city. What a joke this all is … I can’t wait to retire and leave this place.
The fact they fight so vociferously in order to obtain control, lets me know that losing that power was the best thing for us. The fact, that environmentalism is a key factor in their desire to obtain control, not price of service, lets me know that should NEVER happen.
1995 Gainesville FL voted #1 place to live in America. 2024 Gainesville is 94th. That tells you ALL you need to know. The policies of the last 30 yrs have destroyed this once winning town. The power of NO will rain down on this town until the corrupt dirtbags are gone. Woke is done. The silent majority were awakened and they said “NO MORE”. I no longer spend my money in Gainesville. I no longer do business in Gainesville. Alachua County is a close second.
How many times has Warren been in and out of the nut house since she finished her term? Her ‘space cadet’ outfit is just darling. Don’t forget she spoke in front of the JLAC in Tallahassee and said the biomass plant was the greatest thing they ever did.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but GRU is still primarily powered by coal, yes? With a decent portion of power generation by natural gas? I just want to be clear on this, because I am unsure how that would change, or what the ultimate goal of this drive is. I mean, it seems to me, most of this is hyperbole. What even is the ultimate goal of re-establishing control intended to do, except give them the control of the budget again?