Gainesville City Commission unanimously approves November special election for second referendum on GRU governance

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a June 12 Special Meeting, the Gainesville City Commission voted unanimously to schedule a special election for November 4, asking voters whether they want to return governance of GRU to the City Commission.

Second reading of the ordinance proposing a Charter Amendment

Although Mayor Harvey Ward usually prefers to wait until after public comment to accept a motion, Commissioner James Ingle made a motion to pass the ordinance on second reading as soon as the item was announced; there were multiple seconds. The ordinance proposes an amendment to the City’s Charter that would eliminate the GRU Authority and place a Charter Officer over the utility.

Here is the ballot language:

“SHALL THE CITY OF GAINESVILLE CHARTER BE AMENDED TO
DELETE ARTICLE VII, ELIMINATING THE GOVERNOR-APPOINTED
GAINESVILLE REGIONAL UTILITIES AUTHORITY AND ITS
AUTHORITY-APPOINTED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/GENERAL
MANAGER THAT MANAGE, OPERATE, AND CONTROL THE CITY OF
GAINESVILLE’S LOCAL PUBLIC UTILITIES, SO THAT THE ELECTED
CITY COMMISSION AND ITS CITY COMMISSION-APPOINTED CHARTER
OFFICER HAVE THAT RESPONSIBILITY; AND ELIMINATING
LIMITATIONS ON THE GOVERNMENT SERVICES CONTRIBUTION AND
UTILITY DIRECTIVES, AS PROPOSED BY ORDINANCE NO. 2025-416?”

Ward said he had seen the “pushback” from the GRU Authority that was “basically a threat: if you do this, we’re going to sue. They didn’t wait until we did it to move to sue… We’ve only now heard a motion to pass it on second reading, but already the lawsuit train is moving, man, and that train never had to get on the track.”

Ward said the Authority could have said, “We have heard you, community, and we may not like what you have said, but we have heard you. Instead, they presented it as if it were inevitable that an appeal to Judge Wright’s decision be moved forward. Appeals are not inevitable. They are a choice.”

The City Commission voted on June 5 to file a Notice of Appeal of the one count that they lost in the same lawsuit. 

Ward said there were many things to argue about, including the amount of the General Fund Transfer, but “something that should never be up for discussion in the United States of America is whether or not we ought to listen to the people… I understand it’s inconvenient. I understand they like their positions and they would like to keep having those positions. I get it. In their position, I probably would say the same thing, that I would like to keep my position, but I would like to think that I would not say, ‘No, we don’t want to hear the voice of the people.'”

During public comment, Janice Garry, President of the League of Women Voters of Alachua County, referred to the budget discussions that had just taken place and said GRU’s decision to keep the GFT at $8.5 million (minus various amounts that GRU believes should be paid by the City) “affects the disabled people of this community; it affects the police force that protects this community… We are Gainesville; our voters and our leadership work to preserve the quality of our essential services like fire protection, police assistance, and the future of our power and water sources. We are Gainesville; we will not succumb.”

The motion passed unanimously.

Proclamation calling the Special Election

The next item was a Resolution to issue a proclamation calling the November 4, 2025 special election. 

Commissioner Casey Willits made a motion to adopt the Resolution, and Commissioner Bryan Eastman seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0, with Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut absent; she had left right after the previous vote.

City Clerk Kristen Bryant said she would need to post a notice for applications for a Canvassing Board for the special election, and Ward said, “I will tell you all very plainly, as if I were not clear from my previous comments: I fully intend to be vocal about this election. So I am not fit to be on the Canvassing Board.”

Eastman made a motion to direct the Clerk to advertise the Canvassing Board, and the motion passed 6-0, with Chestnut absent.