Bielarski: GRUA lawsuit is about the rule of law
Letter to the editor
With less than 65 days to go before City of Gainesville voters get a chance to vote on yet another GRU governance ballot question, let’s take some time to provide an update on the legal proceedings churning along behind the scenes.
First, the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority (GRUA) is in the process of appealing the decision delivered by Judge Wright of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, in which he could not find a state law that precluded the City of Gainesville (City) from changing its charter. What I find so disturbing is that rather than waiting for the appeal process to play out, the City is attempting to use the referendum to dissolve the GRUA before the appeal is even heard.
As a result, the City of Gainesville and GRU could be facing a veritable standoff the day after the November 4th Special Election, with the City declaring victory, declaring the GRUA non-existent, and throwing the judicial process in a tailspin, while GRU’s Bond Rating Agencies start deciding if a debt downgrade is in order.
To avoid such a possible calamity, the GRUA has filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunction Relief, once again, in Judge Wright’s Eighth Judicial Circuit Court, this time complete with seven (7) counts that contend that the City’s ordinance and proposed charter change violate:
- Article VIII, Section 2(b) of the Florida Constitution, which “establishes the constitutional superiority of the Legislature’s power over municipal power.”
GRUA’s point – House Bill 1645 reflects the will of the Legislature and trumps any municipal ordinance.
- Article VIII, Section 2(c) of the Florida Constitution, which establishes the “exercise of extra-territorial powers by municipalities shall be as provided by general or special law.”
GRUA’s point – When a Special Act (House Bill 1645) conflicts with General Law, the Special Act shall prevail.
- Section 166.021, Florida Statutes, limits a municipality’s ability to unilaterally alter its own extra-territorial powers through the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act.
GRUA’s point – Only the Florida Legislature can restore the extra-territorial powers to the City; the City can’t simply restore those powers to itself.
- Section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes, requires the use of “clear and unambiguous language on the ballot.”
GRUA’s point – Not once in the ballot language is GRU even mentioned. Instead, the euphemistic “Gainesville Local Public Utilities” is used to imply that under the Authority, GRU isn’t local. The language also inaccurately states that the Authority is Governor-appointed. The Authority was enacted by elected state legislators, and its board members are appointed by the Governor. Words matter.
- Gainesville’s City Charter, Articles 7.01 and 7.01(1), state that “the Authority shall operate as a unit of government and, except as otherwise provided in this article, shall be free from direction and control of the Gainesville City Commission.”
GRUA’s point – The Gainesville City Commission can’t forbid what the law has authorized, nor authorize what the law has forbidden.
- Article I, Section 2 of the Florida Constitution and the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the United States Constitution prohibit invidious discrimination in arbitrarily voiding the representational interest of a special class of the electorate with an existing franchise.
GRUA’s point – If passed, the referendum will strip away the non-city-resident customers’ franchise and representational rights.
- Section 166.0411, Florida Statutes, requires the City to suspend enforcement of the ordinance because it is being challenged on the grounds that the proposed charter amendment is expressly preempted by the Florida Constitution.
GRUA’s point – By Florida Law, the ordinance and proposed charter amendment shall be suspended pending the results of the declaratory action.
I hope this little bit of inside baseball helps members of the public who wish to understand more about what’s going on. This issue surrounding GRU and the City is much more than simply “letting the voters decide,” it’s about the rule of law.
GRU CEO Ed Bielarski, Gainesville
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Wait… didn’t Ed say the exact opposite of what he is babbling about now when he was the cheerleader for the City Commission? Paid talking spokesperson who lost all credibility years ago.
This sounds like a real ‘Botch’ job to me. No thanks,
In 2018, during the run up to the 1st referendum that would have set up a GRU, I was scared to death that the bill might pass giving the city commission sole authority to appoint the board. Of course I opposed it. Imagine GRU being governed by a cadre of green earth society charter member intent on eliminating natural gas as an energy source and only adding solar to our portfolio. No thank you.
Your partisan charged rhetoric is disgusting. There is nothing wrong with caring about the earth and the people on it and wanting to move into the future of energy production.
These “reductions” in GRU bills are a temporary facade to make you look like you actually did something and as soon as you are entrenched you will forget about lowering bills or caring about ratepayers. The city and its people DON’T WANT YOU regardless of the optics that the 4-5 far right MAGA cheerleaders of yours would make it seem on these comment boards.
How can you possibly represent the entire community with these viewpoints. Just leave already before you are embarrassingly thrown out by the people…again.
Please move on from the anti Ed stuff. It lame.
The intelligent people will vote with their wallets.
My bill has gone down since the GRU Authority was put in place.
After years of grossly mismanaged funds taken by the City Commission from GRU to fund their personal agendas, the 5 – 6% increases per year have ceased. All of you people, (myself included), who were, and are, complaining about tariffs should put that into perspective. You may not be able to do anything on a national level but you have the opportunity to do something on a local level and it likely impacts you much more. Don’t let those fiscally incompetent idiots regain control. If you think they should, you should go ahead and give them access to your bank accounts.
But university students who are not GRU customers will likely outvote us, which incredibly unfair of c
The local branch oligarchs think they are practicing democracy. But their power rests on decades of low representation and taxation without representation alike. Now they’re mad because they thought they represented the best interests of the City, but only defeated themselves (forcing the State to step in like grownups).
Keep fighting for us Ed, thank you!! 😊
Fiction writer Ed. Is as prolific as Steven King. I guess an ~$1000/day salary is great motivation to work that word processor. The Alachua Chronicle could make bank charging him by the word.
No. 6 is so full of allegedly constitutional gobbledygook that it shouts for another constitutional doctrine — the time-honored principle that a law is “void for vagueness” if no normal person can understand what it means. Appears that the intent of the city commission is to prevent GRU customers living outside city limits from having any voice in its decisions.