GRU Authority hears and responds to criticisms and calls to resign from the public
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the December 10 meeting, the GRU Authority listened to and responded to criticisms and calls to resign from the public and approved resolutions to apply for funding to respond to changes in federal regulations.
General public comment
During general public comment, Jim Konish criticized GRU CEO Ed Bielarski for “usurping” more power than was granted under HB 1645. David Hastings said the board was “incompetent” and criticized them for not updating the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP); he also asked them to drop their lawsuits against the City of Gainesville and resign immediately. Chuck Ross asked the board to drop the lawsuits, asked for clarification about the unaudited financial statements, asked for a cost/benefit analysis for Bielarski’s plan for updating the power generation units, and asked them to resign. Roberta Gastmeyer asked the board to “please stop wasting our money on unwarranted lawsuits and respect the will of the voters and resign now.” Nancy Deren said she has “always been welcome to contribute to policy and governance issues regarding GRU,… but now my voice is shut out in silence.” She asked the board to drop “all current and future lawsuits” and “resign tonight.”
Susan Bottcher said that when she was a City Commissioner, “The decisions my colleagues and I made were based on weighing the facts and the needs of all the people we knew.” Referring to the recent ballot referendum in which 75% of voters in the city limits voted to return the governance of GRU to the City Commission, she said the board was denying the people the right to amend the City’s Charter. She played a clip from a previous meeting in which Director David Haslam said he didn’t care about the General Fund Transfer (GFT) and said that was “stunning and offensive.”
Janice Garry said, “It is my position that this Authority and the prior Authority have been incompetent, have failed to run our utilities professionally, and have neglected the duty to provide any meaningful insight to the General Manager, who seems to wear both the General Manager hat and speak as an Authority member.” She criticized Bielarski’s salary of $342,000 and criticized the Authority members as “a scooter business owner, a person retired from law enforcement, a person retired from healthcare administration, and a person whose term has expired, but he continues to sit at the dais and vote on decisions. Not a single one of you has any experience with running a utility or has a technical expertise required by law.” She asked them to drop the lawsuits and resign.
Jyoti Parmar, who said her “paid job is Organizing Representative for the Sierra Club of Florida,” criticized the board members for discussing issues privately with Bielarski, so “the public doesn’t get to hear your reasoning… There’s no transparency at all.” She asked them to drop the lawsuits and resign.
Jason Bellamy-Fults read a letter he sent the Authority in July 2024, criticizing the board’s contract with the Folds Walker law firm. A UF student said, “I care about the cleanliness of this energy, and I care about my climate.” She asked the board members to drop the lawsuits and resign.
Director Comments
During Director Comments, Haslam said his comments about the GFT were in the context of the utility’s overpayment of $68 million to the City before the Authority took over governance; the board reduced the GFT from about $15 million to about $8 million by subtracting $6.8 million a year, with the intent of maintaining that reduction for 10 years. Haslam said his positions as a board member are from “a business standpoint. I know my theology does not line up with the Democratic Party… It doesn’t line up with the MAGA party, either. It lines up with Jesus, so that’s where I base my faith.” He said he wasn’t going to respond to some of the comments because “I’m not going to repay evil with evil. I can’t reason with the unreasonable… I plan on doing this job until 2027, when my appointment is up, unless the proper authorities tell me to leave.”
Director Chip Skinner said he had asked both GRU’s attorney and the board’s outside counsel for an opinion on whether he could remain on the board after his term expired, “and I did tell the Governor’s office I was willing to stay on; I heard no word. So therefore, according to the attorneys, I stay until I’m either removed or another is appointed.” He said people come up to him in public and thank him for “the great things that we’re doing. So just because there is… a vocal minority that shows up to our meetings, typically that does not mean that there aren’t others that outnumber you.”
Chair Eric Lawson thanked the public for their comments: “Obviously, we have a difference of opinion, a difference in the view of how GRU should be run. Prior to… HB 1645, GRU had run up debts of $1.8 billion, four times higher than any other average utility our size. GRU had the second-highest rates in the state of Florida, and… the Joint Legislative Audit Committee had warned the City for multiple years that they needed to get their finances in order.”
Lawson said that the Authority “came under fire from the City [when the City placed the governance of the utility on the ballot in both 2024 and 2025]. As a result of that, we felt the obligation that we had to defend the legislation,… [and] we incurred expenses that were significant to defend this legislation.”
Lawson said, “In the last two years, since the Authority has been in place, we have accelerated our debt repayment over $100 million; we have stabilized our rates. In the last two years, our rates have not increased. We have signed long-term gas contracts that will save the citizens and the customers over $50 million.” He said that the high debt load had resulted in multiple bond downgrades, which increased the interest payments on the debt, “and our goal is to improve our bond ratings, which will also improve our costs to our customers.”
Regarding the IRP, Lawson said, “Previous decisions that drove up our debt handcuffed our ability to make some of the investments that we would like to make… As a result of that, we have to do what we can with the assets that we have.” He said he was confident that GRU’s leadership would continue to maintain the assets. He asked everyone to “tone down the rhetoric… We’re going to let the courts decide how this gets done. We obviously have different views on this, but I want to let you know everyone up here absolutely cares about this community, we care about our customers, and we care about GRU… We don’t get paid for this… We’re doing everything we can and what we believe is right.”
CEO Comments
During CEO Comments, Bielarski said the board is “constituted like a typical independent board for a municipal utility, [with] people of various degrees of expertise… You see that at co-ops, you see that at community utilities. I think you’re… very qualified. I appreciate the assistance and how we’ve been able to work together.”
Referring to the comments about Bielarski’s salary, Lawson said, “You should understand — we shouldn’t compare a CEO of a utility’s compensation to another City employee. It’s like comparing the head coach to a professor. His compensation is based on a market assessment of what an appropriate CEO would be paid… Our goal as an Authority is to properly pay all the employees of GRU, starting from the lowest to the highest. We want to pay the right amount.” He said Bielarski’s pay is “appropriate at this point in time and is a median market average for a CEO.”
Attorney Comments
During Attorney Comments, Kiersten Ballou said that in the case before the 1st District Court of Appeal (regarding the November 2024 referendum), the City filed their answer brief and their initial brief on the cross-appeal on November 25: “So keep in mind, not only have we filed an appeal, but the City has also filed an appeal with the 1st DCA.” GRU’s deadline for a cross answer and reply brief is December 15, and the City will have the opportunity to file a cross reply brief 20 days after that.
Ballou said that in the Authority’s lawsuit against the November 2025 referendum, the Authority has filed its response to the City’s affirmative defenses, and both parties have filed proposed orders regarding the October 29 injunction hearing.
Haslam asked GRU Attorney Derek Perry about the expiration of Skinner’s term, and Perry said, “It’s called a holdover. It’s well-established in Florida law. The City Commission even has the same process in the Charter.” Haslam said he had intended to bring up other issues mentioned earlier by the public, but the people who had made the comments had already left.
GRU Review
The only business discussion item was the GRU Review for November 2025 (click here to see the full presentation), and Bielarski highlighted a slightly reduced vacancy rate of 8.72% and six lineworker apprentices who earned journeyman status. He said, “Our training programs for line folks are kind of a jewel within Florida… Chad Parker, who’s in charge of energy delivery, is at the top of the game, and we do things that no other utilities are doing. We won the Reliability Award, along with two other utilities, among the municipal utilities in Florida, for having three years of the highest reliabilities. So things that are being said just simply aren’t true.”
Bielarski said he has a meeting scheduled with City Manager Andrew Persons and highlighted “a collegial attitude” between GRU and City staff, despite the lawsuits; he said that GRU and the City are also negotiating the continued billing of solid waste and stormwater fees on GRU bills.
Resolutions to execute loan/grant agreements
Water/Wastewater Officer Debbie Daughtery explained two resolutions that would allow GRU to execute loan/grant agreements with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to support PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) Treatment Evaluation and LCRR (Lead and Copper Rule Revisions) compliance activities, both in response to changes in federal regulations.
Daughtery said there are no PFAS in GRU’s water system, but they are in the wastewater system; she said funding is available to treat the wastewater, and the resolution allows GRU to sign the agreement for that funding. She said the second agreement will pay for 50% of the costs of complying with the LCRR rule.
The resolutions were approved 3-0, with Director Jack Jacobs absent.
Final Director Comments
During Final Director Comments, Skinner asked about Chuck Ross’s earlier statement that the GRU Review (page 10) showed that SO2 and NOx levels were higher in 2025 than 2024, and Bielarski said, “We will have that when we’re burning more of the biomass plant, but we’re not outside any limits.”
Skinner said he wanted the public to know that the members take notes and try to address the questions from the public: “Sometimes it takes longer for us to address them than the public would like; we do the best that we can. But, as Director Haslam said, we come in here with open hearts. We care about the community, we care about our neighbors, and during this holiday season, we wish nothing but the best for all of those, even those that are in disagreement with us.”
Haslam said he was “going to have to learn to keep 100% composure like you do, Chair Lawson… I hope I don’t offend anyone when I get a little amped up and a little boisterous about this… As a human, I do get offended by some of the things that just aren’t true, and I get offended by some of the things that are nasty.” He said he doesn’t mind disagreements, but “condescension, rude behavior — it gets rough.” Lawson said it probably helps that he doesn’t spend much time on social media. Haslam concluded, “We’re doing our best, and thank you.”
Mr Bielarski, PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TOTHE LIBERAL MORONS, they like the City Commies, want their hand back in the GRU Cookie Jar!
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!👍
He’s got 342,000 reasons for following your advice.
To think he gave up the position on the Authority Board, what a sacrifice. Now who’s the moron!
Ed Bielarski’s annual salary as CEO of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) is $342,000 following a 3% merit raise approved by the GRU Authority on October 8, 2025. This raise brings his salary up from $332,061, which was established under his record contract approved in August 2024…Bielarski’s current salary makes him the highest-paid employee in the city of Gainesville’s history.
Why would you compare the salary of the CEO of a regional utility with the salary of a city employee? Do you not understand the massive difference between the two or are you just being obtuse? The market value of a utility CEO is what it is…unlike the market value of Gainesville’s DEI Coordinator, Zeriah Folston, who insanely receives a $165,000 salary.
*market rate
As you correctly point out, it is Bielarski (and GRU’s outside Attorneys) that benefit from dragging this out as long as possible while he collects $28,500/mo.
We can thank Lawson for negotiating Bielarski’ s contract of $342K/yr. Plus he received 104 hours of PTO when he signed the contract. (“Upon commencement of employment as CEO, the CEO shall receive 104 hours of PTO”, Pg. 15 sec 3-D).
He was unemployed, and stated he would gladly take the job at the 6 12 24 meeting. It seems to me Lawson could have done a much better job negotiating this contract.
Gainesville has more than its fair share of professional activists and protestors. They coordinate with each other and show up in force to meetings like that while everyday people are at home tending to their families or are at work trying to pay their bills. This liberal rabble are the minority, but they have the loudest voices. Thank God the city is no longer in control of GRU- every decision they have implemented has made this community less safe and more unaffordable.
If they’re in the “minority” then how did all three referenda opposing the Authority pass with 60%, 73% and 75% support? At the very least that means more than the”liberal rabble” voted that way. Its pretty simple math.
Us county dwellers are tired of paying GRU a premium so the city dwellers can have their homeless criminal, drug crazed, and mentally ill virtue BS. Either let us have a vote too or give us the option to buy our juice from a different utility.
Honey those number are based on those who actually voted and the last vote was less than 20 percent of the voters. Which I would challenge that it was actually a win for your team, when we know how corrupt the system is! Oh and yes let’s not forget one of you elite pretty non-profits helped the students get pizza to bribe for votes. Wish I could post that picture here.
19% of the voting population participated in that election. There are
many explanations for that – the timing of the election and lack of public awareness played a big part in depressing voter turnout (radical partisans tend to succeed under those circumstances). The simple math is 75% of the 19% of people who participated voted in favor of the referendum. This kind of math and “political spin” is deceptive. I’m not buying it, and I hope others see through this deception too.
So, an easy fix would be to simply stop have special elections and hold these in November…. Of course that is why these items are always on the ballot during off years.
Not sure which political spin you are referring to, spoken like a true attorney. So to be clear, the 2025 vote was consistent with the close to 70% voter turnout in 2024, of those close to 70% voted to abolish HB-1645-2023. And before I got here the vote in 2018 as I have been told was approx. 60% to maintain local control. I’m the numbers guy as you may know.
Yes, more than the ‘liberal rabble’ voted. This is why we need legislation to keep the students who don’t actually live here form voting. They may go home to Mom and Dad’s to vote.
Susie, just curious, how much did you takedown from your nogruauthority.com fundraiser a few years back?
The governor stole Gru from the rightful owners. Regardless of what this “authority” has done, good or bad, Gainesville deserves its property back to run as it decides to.
All of the things these ‘activists’ are complaining about is exactly what Susan & the City Commission did to citizens then they controlled GRU. They refused to listen to anyone other then their small group of ‘friends’. They made decisions behind the scenes and had regular private meetings with the GM and lacked the business experience and expertise needed to run GRU. They are the ones who supported the GREC PPA, which citizens had to go to court to obtain the UNREDACTED copy of the contract and even then refused to stop or delay the project even though it was apparent that we had been sold a pack of lies that would bury GRU in debt and would do great harm to GRU. Funny, how they couldn’t wait until the courts could decide whether or not their first ballot initiative was legitimate before they spent even more money for a 2nd bite at the apple while they expect the GRUA to just cave into their demands to get their cash cow back.
Progressives lecturing the Bobbleheads who worship the golden calf CEO.
Total circus 🎪 and clown 🤡 show.
Give it back to the City and watch it implode.
Susan: the Utility authority isn’t going anywhere…
The city is subservient to the state.
That BS election was the dog & pony show by trying to do a workaround the Utility Authority that Tallahassee mandated…
Sorry you don’t like the law that came from Tallahassee…
In the business world, when bad actors try to circumnavigate laws, they get charged with racketeering.
Those complainers showing up at the utility authority are nothing but gadflys.
The state will own GRU if it has to pay off its debt. The Utility authority is doing a good job…
it was Hanrahan who ruined GRU by trying to stop climate change by trying to comply with Kyoto protocol which the US was not a
signatory to.
The directive came from the UN and the league of mayors and the local morons decided to go biomass plant to burn trees because it was supposed to be
Carbon neutral.
Trying to stop climate change to save the planet ruined GRU.
Birkarski: just run the utility using best management practices…
It’s ok to use clean coal as fuel to generate electricity too. You don’t have to comply with any of that United Nations agenda 2030 crap.
You don’t have to comply with that zero waste by 2050…that’s unattainable.
EXCELLENT comment! THANK YOU, Bullwinkle!
Hmmm lets see: debt payment accelerated. Cookie jar made much smaller. Rates not going through the roof. But wait! Authority is incompetent and should resign???
More precisely, a super majority of voters want the Authority to resign since they voted to amend the city charter to dissolve the Authority. Elections matter. THAT is what the lawsuits are all about.
Susan – you must be bad at math if you consider yourselves the “super majority”. Of eligible voters the ones that want the commission to control GRU are 14% of the voters. Last time I checked 14% is not the majority much less the super majority.
2025 had 19% turnout which is the highest in 15 years for an off-election year city election. Pretty remarkable. In 2024 turnout was more than 70%.
But more important than turnout was how the votes went: 75% and 73%. That’s a super majority.
And remember you all keep lying to the students that don’t even have GRU and they get to vote! Hmmm we have the picture of Eastman on campus handing out how to vote. While he was commissioner I might add. Seems a bit underhanded if you ask me.
SUPER MAJORITY!!!
Lol
Have you seen a psychiatrist lately for those delusional thoughts… a supermajority?! Hmmm less than 20% voted. Supermajority my xxx!
The important matter is they’re keeping GRU viable and afloat longterm. Even if contingency plans call for something different than its current independent status, such as merging with a private utility (instead of with local politicians again). The GRU board has us all in a win-win situation 🥳🥳🥳🥳
Its ironic that Haslam claims his “theology…lines up with Jesus” when the audio clip I played was him proudly proclaiming that he “couldn’t care less” about the negative impacts to the city and citizens drastic cuts to the GFT would have.
I’m pretty certain Jesus’ teachings included caring MORE for people’s plight, not less.
Anyone who attended the Dec 10th GRUA meeting or watched it online knows that each speaker delivered comments in a calm and respectful manner. Yet, Haslam called us all “rude” and “nasty”. (hmm, who else we heard that sort of stuff from lately…?)
Hearing the public disagree with or disapprove of a public servant’s policies or actions goes with the territory of serving on a board like GRUA. If your skin is so thin that you can’t take open and public criticism, its time to get out.
I really am praying for you Susan.
Dave, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you for your service.
Bitcher and friends are the types that put Jesus on the cross. The mask wearers 😷don’t believe in God.
Bitcher looks like the wicked witch 🧙 of the east and is a just a hater…
The utility Authority is going nowhere…they just wasted our taxpayer money with their BS.
Thank god, Tallahasee, and Gov. DeSantis for the Utility Authority
And for saving GRU from city commission idiocy!
God bless America and merry Christmas 🎄 and a happy new year 🎊 ❗️
Thank you Bullwinkle
Cowardly to use ad hominen attacks on me and not sign your real name.
Susan: You said bobble heads, and golden calf, and brought Jesus into it.
It ain’t an ad hominen attack if what I said is true!
The truth hurts , so put your face mask back on and go to your safeplace with your other weirdo commi wacko friends.
I got you looney birds all worked up 🤣
Well if it keeps that sludge in your failing arteries circulating, go ahead and work up us “looney birds.” Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays Bulltinkle, and after you’ve vented about the globalists, share a bit more hate, and turned off Conspiracy TV, be sure to put your hood out by the fireplace and maybe Santa will bring you some clean coal.
Toughen up Bottch Job.
So Bulltinkle and crew, read the Constitution of the State of Florida, particularly its sections on home rule and local control and get back to us. And so glad you are sharing you message of faith and brotherhood as packaging for attacking friends and neighbors–you might reflect on some of those Christian texts you like to thump, assuming you have read them (or can read them). So sick of the lot of mewling right wingers waving the American flag, invoking God, all in the interests of intolerance and division rather than addressing the heart of the matter. The GRU board should take careful stock of the public will and gracefully resign their seats.
Twisting six the way you want to I see. You have no idea how close that man is with God! And btw Jesus did overturn tables. Think before you speak.
Why do the anti-GRU authority people keep talking about the recent vote results, when it’s well known that anyone outside of city limits didn’t get to vote despite also being GRU customers? Rhetorical question at this point I guess. Also, when we will we see the same people complaining about Bielarski’s salary complain about ACPS superintendent Patton’s truly obscene salary?
I believe it’s that fine legal point that the city owns the utility, Pluribus. BTW I too am outside the city limits and was unable vote. But I recognize the city’s rights under our state constitution to exercise home rule over it’s utility and really am quite happy that Gainesville is the well-managed and welcoming city we all can enjoy in this county. This imposed and illegitimate GRU Board should resign and kindly go away ASAP.
The GRU “Authority” is comprised of an expired vacant seat (since 10/1/24), an expired seat that is not vacant (since 10/1/25), an unrepresentative group (as defined in HB 1645), and certain members who lack the requisite expertise. Bielarski is the defacto “Authority” and the dictates of HB 1645 are not being implemented. Bielarski routinely conceals or misstates critical facts. Gainesville GRU ratepayers are not buying it.
Do you really want to give GRU back to the City Commission to run? Or would you rather be beholden to FP&L. Nothing in this world is perfect but the GRUA is certainly better than the City Commission. What we really need is for DeSantis to get off his butt and appoint some new members.
Fred: All in good time… the utility authority is good. Bilarski got this!
We’re in good hands with the utility authority & bilarski!
I really think he is waiting until
The lawsuit (appeal) is settled. Just my personal thoughts. What would be the point of appointing if the courts kill the board. We are pretty sure that won’t happen but it seems smarter to wait. I think I heard the hearing may be in January but that is not set in stone. Just what was heard.
Jim, your vagaries and referee criticisms are straight-up no-see-um annoying.
Please don’t continue—or keep bringing up ‘SLA criminality’—until you can actually illuminate it properly in print.
We appreciate you helping business owners slim their energy bills. Now do the same for county residents.
Your website vibes like an over caffinated indepependant who appears to be more suited to column reporting than the end goal.
Get with the program and stop calling balls and strikes.
What Konish has stated is factually accurate.
You know why Ed doesn’t (and shouldn’t) care about using GRU funds to pay “fighting fees”?
Because the city commsion did the same thing when the bill was originated:
“In the run-up to the November 2017 election featuring Keith’s local GRU Bill and his re-election on the same ballot, the City of Gainesville hired a lobbyist with GRU ratepayer money to kill Keith’s bill.
The same lobbyist funded a PAC that was opposed to Perry’s direct citizen engagement on a Charter Amendment Referendum to reform GRU Governance.”