Gainesville City Commission discusses GPD fence and votes to oppose DEI bill and expand Cold Night Shelter program to community organizations

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During the afternoon session of the February 19 Gainesville City Commission meeting, Commissioners discussed a proposed fence between GPD and a trail and voted to expand the City’s Cold Night Shelter program to community organizations and oppose a DEI bill that is moving through the legislature.

Fence between Gainesville Police Department and a multi-use trail

During the afternoon General Public Comment session, three people, including former City Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos, spoke against a proposed fence between Gainesville Police Department (GPD) buildings and a multi-use trail that passes the facility. Commissioner Bryan Eastman said that, given the large number of people who use the trail, “I do think it’s worth having a larger discussion.”

Interim Chief Operating Officer Brian Singleton said a small section of fence is included in the contract for the new property and evidence building, and there is a separate allocation of capital projects dollars for additional fencing along the trail, the southern end of the GPD parking lot, and along NW 6th Street. He said there are discussions about reducing the height of the fence and leaving the gates to the driveway open during daytime hours, and he said the fencing would be of a similar style to an existing fence that controls access to the inner campus of GPD. 

Eastman said he would like to “roll back” the fencing project, but he was also interested in hearing from the community and compared the project to a recent street closure near Santa Fe College’s downtown campus; neighbors objected to that street closure and said they were not notified that it was being discussed. He also said he didn’t see a need for the fence.

Mayor Harvey Ward paused the discussion to ask where that item was on the agenda: “It’s not on the agenda, and we are not in Member Comment right now… So it sounds like there was a plan for something to happen, and we’re just saying, ‘Yeah, we passed an agenda, but we’re going to do this, anyway.’ We have a space for this.”

Eastman said, “We don’t have a space for this, Mr. Mayor.” He referred to the Commission’s previous discussion about the fence in December and said, “We said we were going to talk about this in January. Right now, we’re near the end of February, and people from the community have [come to] speak about this.”

Ward asked Eastman whether he or any other Commissioner had brought this up during the bi-weekly Agenda Review meetings, and Eastman said it is common for Commissioners to discuss topics brought up by the public during General Public Comment. Ward said that since the topic involves “spending or not spending substantial amounts of money,” it should be placed on an agenda. Eastman responded, “That is fine, but I think saying that we want to have a discussion with the community is a reasonable request,” and Ward said, “100%, which is why we should not just pop it in the middle, when there might be other folks in the community who might want to talk about it… But by all means, let’s have the discussion. I’m not prepared to vote on anything right now, I’ll tell you that.” 

Commissioner Casey Willits said he would wait until Commission Comment to make his comments, and Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said she hoped that both of them would refer it for a future agenda. Ward suggested putting it on the March 5 agenda, and the Commissioners agreed.

Cold Night Shelter program

Commissioners also discussed extending the City’s Cold Night Shelter program to community-based organizations; the agenda item was requested by Chestnut.

Chestnut pointed out that the City only has two shelters on cold nights: St. Francis House and GRACE Marketplace. She said, “So what I would like for the City to consider is expanding the sites… We could have the City Manager look at working with or reaching out to the faith-based community to see if they would like to participate and provide shelter,… perhaps providing a stipend to the faith-based institution.” She said her proposal was intended to give the City time to implement this next winter.

Interim City Manager Andrew Persons said the cold night shelters are funded primarily through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, and “there’s no restriction in terms of who can apply for cold night shelter assistance. We’ve gotten used to that money going to typical partners like GRACE and St. Francis House, but we can absolutely broaden that outreach.” He added that MLK can also be used as a temporary cold night shelter if needed. 

Chestnut made a motion to direct the City Manager to: 1) Expand the Cold Night Shelter program utilizing community-based organizations for the year 2027; and 2) Bring back an update to the City Commission with a report on the expansion’s progress and results. 

Senior Housing Strategist Corey Harris said the City typically earmarks about $25,000 for cold night shelter, so any additional resources could reduce the amount awarded for other programs funded by CDBG grants.

The motion passed 6-0, with Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker absent.

Senate Bill 1134 prohibits local governments from adopting DEI policies

During Commission Comment, Willits said he is concerned about Senate Bill 1134, and he had planned to wait a little longer before bringing it up, but he heard that the City of Miami Beach unanimously voted to send a letter to the Governor and the Legislature, asking them to oppose the bill. He said he crafted a resolution with “very, very, very generic language about the bill,… that, you know, we oppose preemptive bills. We want to be able to do our own local thing… And I would like to propose that we pass this resolution.”

Click here to read the proposed resolution.

According to the bill analysis, SB 1134 “prohibits counties and municipalities from funding, promoting, or taking official actions such as adopting ordinances, resolutions, rules, regulations, programs, or policies, related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). It also prohibits a county or municipality from expending any funds, regardless of the source, to establish, support, sustain, or staff a DEI office or officer. The bill provides that a member of a county or municipal governing body acting in his or her official capacity who violates the prohibitions commits misfeasance or malfeasance in office. It also prohibits counties and municipalities from allowing their funds to be used by employees, contractors, and others to promote DEI initiatives.”

Equality Florida has sent out alerts to its members with the following message: “This legislative session, the so-called ‘Anti-Diversity in Local Government’ bills are an atom bomb to visibility for minority communities in local government and so much local progress we’ve made. As written, they ban any municipal resources used to recognize the diversity in our community and are paired with sweeping penalties that allow far-right activists to sue governments for actions that’promote or fund’ diverse programs and even allow for removal from office.”

Chestnut said she would like time to review the resolution and asked whether they could discuss it in the evening session; Willits agreed.

Persons said he felt like he had enough direction from the Commission to discuss this with the City’s lobbyist and said he had already put together a list of potential issues with the bill. However, he also said he was comfortable with the resolution if the Commission wanted to make a “formal declaration.”

Mayor Ward: “I’ve read the bills… Obviously, they’re bad bills. I mean, they just are. There’s a lot that’s very, very sloppy about them… I think they are culture war stuff.”

Ward said, “My hope during this session has been to keep the word ‘Gainesville’ out of any legislation… I’ve read the bills… Obviously, they’re bad bills. I mean, they just are. There’s a lot that’s very, very sloppy about them… I think they are culture war stuff… If a bill passes, [I don’t know] if it changes much about what we do at the City of Gainesville. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. It depends on how you read it.”

Chestnut said, “I, too, have some concerns about raising the name, ‘Gainesville.’ It’s not a term of endearment to the legislature.”

Motion

At the end of the evening session, Willits made a motion to direct the City Manager to add the City’s opposition to several DEI bills to the City’s 2026 state legislative priorities and communicate that to the lobbyists. Eastman seconded the motion, and Ward said, “I love that motion.” Book said the motion was “very wise.”

Eastman said the core of the City’s philosophy on diversity is that “we all have to work together. We all come from different backgrounds… We come from different raaces, different disabilities, different genders, different parts of the country. We just need to find a way to work together and be a team together.” He said the State should not be telling a City “how to interact with our own employees and make sure… that everyone feels comfortable working here, and then, externally, that everyone feels comfortable living here.”

Mayor Ward: “We will continue to do what we do. We will continue to be — and Lord knows, I don’t want this incorrectly reported,… but — we will continue to be a welcoming city, by which I mean a city that welcomes people.”

Ward said, “We will continue to do what we do. We will continue to be — and Lord knows, I don’t want this incorrectly reported,… but — we will continue to be a welcoming city, by which I mean a city that welcomes people. I want everybody who wants to live here to enjoy living here. And if that is controversial, so be it.”

The motion passed 6-0, with Duncan-Walker absent.