Gainesville City Commission approves City Hall Plaza refresh and removal of ‘equity’ language from HUD document

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During the afternoon session of the September 18 Gainesville City Commission meeting, Mayor Harvey Ward commented on a consent agenda item about removing “equity” language from a document submitted to HUD; the Commission appointed Russell Etling to the Canvassing Board for the Nov. 4 Special Election and approved a guaranteed maximum price contract for a City Hall Plaza “refresh.”

Removal of “equity” language from 2026-27 Annual Action Plan submitted to HUD

After an update from the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, Mayor Harvey Ward commented on an item on that day’s consent agenda. The description of the item stated that on July 17, the City Commission approved the 2026-27 Annual Action Plan that is sent every year to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Plan outlines the use of funds for the upcoming program year.

On September 14, the City received a response from HUD, “questioning the accuracy of the City of Gainesville’s Plan conformance with current applicable laws, including Executive Orders.”

Click here to read the letter from HUD.

According to the letter from the Office of Community Planning and Development Office of Field Operations, HUD questioned “the accuracy of the city of Gainesville’s certification that the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds… will be administered in conformity with applicable laws, including Executive Orders.” The letter requested a response by September 24.

HUD objected to specific language in the Plan, including a goal of “closing the racial gap in homeownership” that involves developing an “Equity Profile” that “identifies patterns of discrimination and presents strategies for furthering racial equity efforts.” (emphasis in original)

HUD also objected to a goal of “Increas[ing] Equity by Promoting Permanent Affordability” with a sub-goal of “Assign[ing] an Employee to implement a Policy Review Process for Housing and Equity.” (emphasis in original)

The letter instructed the City to remove all “equity” references and replace them with “activities and actions that do not violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1975” and add statements indicating that the City would comply “in all respects with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws” and “will not operate any programs that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”

Referring to the above item, Ward said, “We realized that there was language that we included that was different than what the current administration insists we use. So in an abundance of caution, we included that and passed it this morning under our consent agenda with the updated language. Congratulations and appreciation to Mr. [Corey] Harris and his Department for finding those items and turning them around very quickly so that we made sure we met that deadline. But I want everybody to realize that every community in America is now having to re-draw plans and change phraseology that we’ve been using for 60 years — I think very appropriately for 60 years — and we’re having to rethink all that.”

Ward continued, “That has an impact on how we, and every city in America, get our reports done and whether or not we get the money. There are some cities that just aren’t going to get the funding that they should get because they’ve been told, ‘We don’t use that language anymore.’ That’s editorial comment from me, but I think it’s appropriate to add at this point. But I did want to thank staff for catching what some communities are not going to catch and making it possible for us to get that two million-ish dollars.”

Appointment of Russell Etling to the City Board of Canvassers for the Nov. 4 Special Election

There were two applicants for a seat on the City Board of Canvassers for the November 4 Special Election: Russell Etling and Patrick Sell. Etling is retired but formerly managed the City of Gainesville’s Division of Cultural Affairs; Sell conducts fiscal audits at the University of Florida and was previously elected to the Alachua Soil and Water Conservation District. 

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut made a motion to appoint Sell, and Commissioner Bryan Eastman seconded the motion. 

Commissioner Casey Willits said he supported Etling “because he worked for the City for multiple years.” Eastman also said he really liked Etling — “He’s been a tremendous asset to the City” — but would support Sell because he “seems like a great person to have on there and to get some new folks into the system.”

The vote failed, 2-3, with only Chestnut and Eastman voting for Sell.

Willits made a motion to appoint Etling to the board, and Commissioner James Ingle seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0, with Commissioners Ed Book and Desmon Duncan-Walker absent. 

City Hall Plaza refresh

The next item was approval of a guaranteed maximum price agreement for $1,833,920.38 for a City Hall Plaza refresh, funded by Wild Spaces Public Places and an existing Capital Improvement Revenue Note.

Phil Mann, Special Projects Administrator for the City Manager, said the ponds will be removed and replaced with pavers. The middle stairwell will be replaced with “kind of a stage,” and Mann estimated that 1,600 to 2,400 people could be accommodated in the new plaza. The flag pole will be moved, and seating will be added around it. A Sister Cities Garden will also be added, along with the Dr. Martin Luther King Garden. Pedestrian-level lighting will be added, and the entire area will be ADA-accessible. Mann said construction could start as early as mid-October, with the goal of having the King Garden “at least substantially complete” by Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2026, with the rest of the plaza complete by late March or early April.

Click here to see the plan for the City Hall Plaza refresh.

Incorporating the rainbow bricks into the Plaza

Ingle asked whether the rainbow bricks that were removed from the crosswalks could be integrated into the design to “have a historical, ‘This is what these used to be,… [but] we had to comply with Florida to remove them’ — and having that whole story as part of this.”

Mann said that would require additional design time and a re-review of the guaranteed maximum price: “It’s not impossible, but we want to get started with construction as soon as possible to meet that January deadline.”

Willits said he liked the design as a “good public free speech area… I, too, would love to see an opportunity… [for] utilizing our rainbow bricks,… since we have a lot of walkways there.”

Ward said he liked it as a space that would be “available to people to gather; it is the people’s plaza, and the people need a place to gather. I don’t know this to be true, but it has always felt to me like it was originally designed to keep people from gathering in front of City Hall, and I always felt like that was wrong.” He said he has “tremendous nostalgia for the ponds,… [but] the ponds haven’t ever worked, right? And I think after nearly 60 years, we’re probably not going to be able to make them work, right? So let’s live with that and create a City Hall Plaza that is what City Hall Plazas are supposed to be, and I think this achieves that.”

Ward also said it would “be wonderful if we find a way to build in public art, using the crosswalk bricks as part of this — not to slow this down, but I’m sure that there is opportunity to work through that.”

During public comment, Rodney Long said there is currently no bus stop by the clock tower and asked the City to look into adding one.

Eastman asked for the design team’s thoughts on adding a bus stop, and Transportation Director Jesus Gomez said RTS could “easily install a bus shelter in there” if a concrete pad is added during the plaza construction. Eastman said it would be nice if the bus shelter design blended “seamlessly into the rest of what’s being designed here.”

Special Advisor for Infrastructure Brian Singleton said the bus shelter can be designed to the architectural elements surrounding it, but it would not be completed in the same time frame. He added that the rainbow bricks can be incorporated into the hardscape within the schedule.

Eastman made a motion to approve the guaranteed maximum price agreement with Scherer Construction in the amount of $1.833.920.30 for a City Hall Plaza Refresh, incorporating a bus stop that blends into the architectural design. Chestnut seconded the motion, and the motion passed 5-0, with Book and Duncan-Walker absent.