Judge denies GRU Authority’s expedited motion to enjoin City from holding Special Election on GRU governance in November
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a September 30 hearing, Judge George Wright denied an expedited motion from the GRU Authority to enjoin the City of Gainesville and the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections from holding a Special Election on November 4.
The GRU Authority filed the lawsuit in August, after the City Commission voted to hold a second voter referendum on the governance of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU); the first referendum passed with 72.5% voter approval, and Judge Wright ruled that the ballot language was misleading but said the City could try again with different language. The order in that case has been appealed by both sides.
The August lawsuit (click here for more information) argues that
- The Charter amendment that is the subject of the voter referendum is inconsistent with the Special Law that created the Authority;
- Because the legislature limited the City’s powers outside the city limits, those powers cannot be restored by amending the City’s charter;
- Home rule powers do not extend to changing the Charter in a way that affects individuals outside the city limits;
- The referendum language is misleading;
- The referendum contradicts the City’s charter;
- The referendum would void the representational interest of people outside the city limits; and
- Florida Statute 166.0411 requires the ordinance setting the election to be suspended because it was challenged within 90 days of enactment.
The relevant statute is shown below:
166.0411 Legal challenges to certain recently enacted ordinances.—
(1) A municipality must suspend enforcement of an ordinance that is the subject of an action challenging the ordinance’s validity on the grounds that it is expressly preempted by the State Constitution or by state law or is arbitrary or unreasonable if:
(a) The action was filed with the court no later than 90 days after the adoption of the ordinance;
(b) The plaintiff requests suspension in the initial complaint or petition, citing this section; and
(c) The municipality has been served with a copy of the complaint or petition.
On September 10, the Authority filed a motion that requested an expedited order to enforce the suspension of the ordinance setting the Special Election, arguing that all four provisions of the statute have been met, so “[a]s a matter of Florida law,” the City must suspend enforcement of the ordinance and delay the Special Election.
The City of Gainesville argued that the Authority’s request was an attempt to “distort [the statute] into an unprecedented election-cancelling tool” and that Judge Wright had already decided on the merits that the City has the authority to hold a ballot referendum on GRU governance.
The Authority replied that suspending the ordinance “is not a judicial veto over an election” but a response “to the City’s breakneck speed in subverting the [GRU Authority]’s due process.” The Authority argued that if the City had scheduled the election for 2026, there would have been time to adjudicate the Authority’s challenge to the ordinance.
The Authority’s September 10 motion requested a temporary injunction that would prohibit the City from holding the Special Election until a judge rules on the merits of the lawsuit.
On September 30, Judge Wright denied the motion, holding that it was premature because the ordinance could not be enforced (i.e., the Charter cannot be changed) until after the referendum; he also indicated that he had doubts about whether the ordinance was “expressly preempted by the State Constitution,” which could signal that he does not currently think that Statute 166.0411 applies to the City’s ordinance.
One way or another, GCC will make sure that all residents locally who have no choice concerning who provides their electric service, whether they live in the city or not, will be under the jackboot of the Gainesville CITY Utilities not Gainesville REGIONAL utilities.
Does the judge answer to the Commission of Clowns too?
Disappointed in Judge George Wright for lacking the courage to rule correctly and decisively, and instead just opting to kick the can down the road one step closer to the final, inevitable outcome of this farce: the City of Gainesville cannot overturn an act of State Legislature. Period. Full stop. End of story.
I imagine forcing this kind of ultimate showdown is a lot more entertaining than the boring family and juvenile law cases George normally has to sit through, but we the taxpayers and GRU ratepayers prefer things to be boring.
Instead, we have to pay for and endure this fake Nov 4 “referendum”. Spoiler alert for how that’s gonna go:
– 1/3 of GRU ratepayers won’t be allowed to vote as usual, since they live outside of Gainesville
– there will be a few predictable election irregularities, courtesy of our bumbling “Elections is hard” Elections Supervisor that somehow all favor the City of Gainesville, but ultimately those ‘errors’ won’t matter because of…
-third-world despot-style Democrat ballot stuffing, resulting in 60%…no 70%…hell, maybe 80% of “the electorate” voting that yes indeed, they love paying higher GRU rates so that the GCC can burn a big sacrificial pile of tax money to The Great Climate Spirit in order to “make the weather more gooder”.
And then the process drags on and on again until a judge with some balls finally ends this charade and points out that (you guessed it) the City cannot overturn an act of the State Legislature. What a waste of money.
1) It is prohibited by state statute for non-city residents (in any city) to vote in city elections (in any city elections).
Still, in 2023 when Rep. Clemons wrote HB1645 Rep. Hinson offered an amendment that would empower all GRU customers, inside and outside city limits to vote on it as a referendum. He refused to even consider it.
2) If you have evidence that the SoE has had “irregularities”, please produce that now. You won’t because you can’t. You’re making that up. Please stop doing that.
3) Ballot stuffing? See #2 above.
4) The judge ruled fairly, twice, on this issue. Just because you don’t like his ruling does not make him wrong/weak.
5) To clarify, the judge ruled that the city, by state statute, has the right to amend its charter.
You should be prohibited from displaying your fealty to every left wing-nut.
How many homeless have you taken in? Make it easier for your comprehension, how many electric bills have you paid for those impoverished as a result of their fiscal incompetence?
Even easier, do you actually support the City Commission’s continued increases in utility rates despite the negative effects it has on many East side residents?
Bottcher will never admit she made a bad decision, when the reality is she has! She firmly believes she is always in the right and will not listen to anyone that has an opposing view. She was that way when a commissioner and hasn’t changed. Say ‘old’ song and dance.
NO reponse from either You voted or Disc to Susan’s clearly enumerated and stated points.
She wins.
I didn’t know she asked for a response from me.
You’re the expert on no responses though. You’re also a hypocrite. Does that make you a liar as well?
You voted: “Look! A homeless squirrel!”
Susan Bottcher: “…in 2023 when Rep. Clemons wrote HB1645 Rep. Hinson offered an amendment that would empower all GRU customers, inside and outside city limits to vote on it as a referendum. He refused to even consider it.”
Jazzman: “Look! Trash, filth and crime downtown!”
It’s a little cleaner, but still there.
How many have you hired or even offered a job to?
Oh wait! I’ll have to rephrase the question so you don’t show your hypocrisy.
Just because your loyalty doesn’t let you see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, and supporting those you continue to bow to definitely isn’t going to make it go away.
Disingenuous.
Hinson tried 5 separate bill amendments that replaced neatly the entire bill (pages 91-302)
They all failed by vote.
5 times.
Did she think they were going to let Hinson re-write their bill?
That specific amendment was for “voting for 5 members of the authority” and not appointment by the Gov.
No specifics about who or how, just that it was to be handed over to the Supervisor of Elections.
It was 11 lines and was so grossly simplified that nobody could or would take it seriously.
Almost as if she felt obligated to pass in her last second scribbled homework assignment so her base could say she did it and use it later for distortion.
And as expected, you are.
Will this put and end to Ed’s War and Peace length fantasy musings of being the savant savior…we can only hope!
When will criminal charges be brought in regard to the 2 billion dollar wood burner fiasco
Perhaps you should read the 179 page Navigant Report issued in 2015 on this. In short it did not find any “criminal” actions/activity.
However, it did conclude this about governance:
“Navigant would suggest that it may be more practical to reconstitute the existing GEAC to serve as a utility advisory board, using many of the characteristics provided above. By taking this approach, the Commission might be able to more quickly establish a qualified and effective advisory board that can focus its time on the issues of greatest importance to the City Commission, be able to become better informed as to the complexity of GRU’s operations, and provide an avenue for citizen input into the decision process, while allowing the City Commission to retain its full rights as the governing body of GRU.”
So you found a friendly group to write a report and lay cover for the theft of billions by the “green brigade” to make sure power costs more for everyone. I guess that is fair that everyone has to pay more for power because some people seem to think that burning wood for power is “Green”
The Navigant Report was written before the GRU bought the GREC PPA for $750 Million plus interest.
Hmmm…one of the former commissioners that wanted us to be totally green in energy production by 2030 no matter the cost to ratepayers.
You should just stick to running your nonprofit BS machine that doesn’t represent ALL of Gainesville residents.
Time to call Pegeen to the carpet. The Florida Board of Professional Engineering ought to take a look at her competency as well.
Another reason to replace judges and lawyers with vetted citizen juries. This case is about taxation without representation, for starters. It’ll just feed more judges and lawyers with more appeals in the future.
Abolish the ACLUSPLCDNC 💩👺🤡👹👿and put citizens in charge of the courts!
Remember the decision by Judge Wright when ballots come back around and you cannot afford your utility bill.
Judge Walker and the first DCA will get a second bite at the apple. There also is the Florida Legislature.
Your hero.
The city is wasting so much money and time on this. Regardless of the outcome of the city referendum nothing will change in the long run. The city can hold a vote all they want to change their charter – whatever they think that means – but that will never override state legislation. They all know this but they are all very disingenuous.