Konish: Why I do not read the Gainesville Sun, Part 2

Letter to the editor

An esteemed concerned citizen recently asked me if I had seen the Sunday, November 5, 2023, Gainesville Sun front page. I bought one for $4.80; there were plenty of copies. As Keith Perry would say, there was little meat on the bone.

I commend the Sun for obtaining the list of nominees for the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority. The names appear to be spelled correctly, including my own. 

The 51 nominees are arranged in no apparent organizational scheme. I find 26 identifying Republicans, 12 Democrats, and 13 NPA. In approximately 15 column inches, the Sun demonstrates a complete ignorance of the subject at hand.

I am lumped in for special recognition as a “frequent City Hall Critic(s)” along with two other very different people. The Sun claims “only 26 known Republicans applied with even fewer having utility experience or knowledge of the industry.” (emphasis added). This claim is clearly false and absurd. The suggestion is that NPA stands for “R.” 

The Sun then misreads HB1645 (Chapter 2023-34B) but first correctly states: “Gov Ron DeSantis had a 60-day window to appoint people after the closing of the nomination period. On Sept. 26, the state announced three of the five appointees with the final two coming afterward and just hours before the board met for the first time” on October 4.

However, the sixty (60) day window does not begin to run until after the nomination period is closed. As a matter of fact, the nomination portal is still open, so the 60-day window has not yet begun. The Governor had until October 1, 2023 to open the nomination portal and merely had to keep it open for a minimum of 30 days. The portal opened on July 1.  

The Sun then advances the Hutchinsonian legal theory that four of the initial appointees must “live in the City” (sic the term “qualified elector” is used in the statute). Hutch and a plurality of the Alachua County Commission have flouted their own residency affidavits for decades, and so did Hayes-Santos – all Democrats. 

The Sun finally inaccurately reports that there is “a pending lawsuit” rather than a blizzard of private, partisan nuisance suits by the usual disgraced cult of personalities. More suits are being suggested. 

Those who live in the reality-based community understand:

  1. HB1645 is remedial legislation designed to protect the public interest thus is to be liberally construed. 
  2. HB1645 is presumptively constitutional.
  3. The Law of the Case is the Judge Dempsey ruling on September 29, 2023, rebuking the City of Gainesville and their attorneys for filing a legal challenge to HB1645 devoid of merit. 
  4. The qualifications of the appointees so far that really matter are beyond question.
  5. The letter or letters behind your name or where you vote are not dispositive in finding the five best people to govern and manage our troubled GRU utility. 

The specter of a costly and risky, elective Bond Validation Proceeding reflects the grave damage being done to GRU by the usual culprits. 

This news coverage undercuts the claim that the Governor’s failure to run a legal notice dooms his appointees due to lack of awareness regarding the nomination process.

Jim Konish, Gainesville

The opinions expressed by letter or opinion writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AlachuaChronicle.com. Letters may be submitted to info@alachuachronicle.com and are published at the discretion of the editor.

  • RED ALERT !!!!

    It’s my understanding, that one of the biggest Gainesville Sun cheerleaders for Hutch and the Biomass/Tree Burner defenders will soon be going to work in the Alachua County COMMUNICATION department under Mr. Mark Sexton.

    • That would not surprise me at all since hutch has never been able to hold a job. At one level or another it seems he has mostly been on the government payroll.

    • In reality, Andrew has written hard-hitting stories about the County and the City. He is an award-winning writer who will be a great benefit to the County.

  • “ Bond validation process

    Mike Wiener from Holland and Knight, GRU’s bond counsel, gave a presentation on the bond validation process, saying that his role was to provide an objective opinion on the validity of the bond, particularly the tax exemption given to local governments on bonds. Wiener said once the Authority approves the bond validation, GRU and the bond counsel will provide a timeline for the validation process; he said the progress of the various lawsuits would be taken into account and pointed out that Authority comments and actions are closely watched by the investing community.

    Wiener said GRU’s borrowing costs will increase if the validation fails; a credit downgrade can even affect the cost of existing debt.

    Carter asked about the cost of the validation process, and Wiener said it could be as high as $200,000 in circuit court; if it’s appealed, there will be additional costs. Lawson made a motion to move forward with the validation, and Karow seconded the motion. ”

  • Area man pens letter to editor in which he claims not to read the Gainesville Sun by discussing detailed information he read in the Gainesville Sun.

    • Reading is Fundamental. Re-read his very first line. “An esteemed concerned citizen recently asked me if I had seen the Sunday, November 5, 2023, Gainesville Sun front page. I bought one for $4.80; there were plenty of copies.” It was another person who brought the information to Mr. Konish’s attention that resulted in Mr. Konish buying a paper, that he was not subscribed to, in order to read what was written in the Gainesville Sun.

  • Well-written, informative, and factual as usual, Mr. Konish. Thank you for taking the time.

    It’s a shame that the “journalists” at the Gainesville Sun have just utterly abandoned the noble ideals of the true journalist–the pursuit and dissemination of objective truth–and instead degraded themselves into the position of partisan PR interns.

  • Why I don’t read Jim Konish letters to the editor and other self important rants:

    1 He ran for office and lost 4 votes to 1, yet somehow thinks anyone in Gainesville GAD what he thinks.

    2 This letter is an example

    3 He ran for office and lost 4 votes to 1, yet somehow thinks anyone in Gainesville GAD what he thinks.

    • Jazzman Translation:
      1) I am a Liberal and only regurgitate Liberal talking points
      2) I believe in feelings over facts
      3) See numbers 1 and 2

  • A lot of assumptions made here Konish that he claims are facts. He sounds salty because he wasn’t picked. Does anyone even listen to this crank anymore? Didn’t he try and help write the original failed bill? Didn’t he also lose in court when he challenged a commissioner’s residency? His love for the Gainesville Sun actually made me go research the site. He has a ton of letters and opinion pieces on there. Weird for a guy who doesn’t read it. Is he just mad that Gannett cut off opinions? I heard Caplan’s parting gift to the community was to bring it back in 2024. Time will tell.

  • Do we really need two parts on why one doesn’t do something?

    This is the most Karen thing ever.

  • Maybe he should give it a rest for a while, too. The canned hysteria gets old after a while. Save it for when it’s needed.

  • Is this the same guy who has all the rentals in Duckpond? Guys a real quack head, told my neighbor he’d evict her if she didn’t put her cat down

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