The future of the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority remains uncertain after an Alachua County judge on Aug. 7 denied the board’s attempt to keep a special election from happening in November that could ultimately dissolve the board.
Judge George M. Wright’s decision follows his ruling in April to nullify the results of a November 2024 referendum that passed overwhelmingly to delete the article of the city’s charter that created the authority due to “misleading language.”
In his April 2 ruling, however, Wright also found that the city is allowed to amend its charter, and that Florida statute gives the city “home rule of an admissible corporation.”
The GRU Authority (GRUA) has since appealed Wright’s ruling, arguing that the Florida Legislature’s passing of HB 1645, the bill that created the authority, supersedes any decisions made at the local level.
The city also is appealing the judge’s ruling on the ballot language.
GRU spokesperson David Warm told The Sun that the GRU Authority respects the judge’s latest decision and that it will continue with the appeals process while pursuing all available legal alternatives.
“We are confident the special legislative act that created the GRU Authority will ultimately be upheld by the courts and are committed to pursuing any legal means necessary to achieve this for GRU’s customers, thousands of whom receive no representation under a City Commission governance model,” Warm said.
Warm continued that since Judge Wright was involved in the decision on the results of last year’s referendum, he did not believe he had jurisdiction to make a ruling to hinder the new referendum.
The City Commission on June 12 voted unanimously to hold the special election on Nov. 4 at a cost of about $250,000.
The first referendum held on Nov., 5, 2024, passed with 72.5% of Gainesville voters voting to strip the GRU Authority of control of GRU and return it to the City Commission.
The authority was given control over the city-owned utility after the Florida Legislature’s passing of HB 1645, a bill filed by then-Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill establishing the governor-appointed GRU Authority board on June 28, 2023.
Before the city commission voted in favor of a special election this year, GRU attorney Derek Perry wrote a letter to city attorney Daniel Nee on June 4 to ask city officials to reconsider voting in favor of the referendum and let the appeals process with the first referendum play out.
Perry also wrote that a proposed ballot initiative by city officials on who should control the city-owned utility violates a section of the Florida Constitution and its limitations on municipal power.
In a June 11 GRU Authority meeting, attorney Kristen Ballou confirmed to the board that it was prepared to file an injunction in an attempt to stop the special election.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward told The Sun on Aug. 8 that since the creation of GRUA in 2023, it has sued the city multiple times.
“They are the plaintiff in all these suits, and the city of Gainesville is not, and we are defending these suits with the people’s money, and they are also using the people’s money to repeatedly sue the city,” Ward said.
Ward said it would be nice if the authority would respect the wishes of the citizens who own the utility and stop spending their money on lawsuits.
The GRUA board currently has four members following the resignation of Director Craig Carter on June 11. DeSantis has yet to appoint a fifth board member. GRUA’s next meeting is Aug. 13.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Special election on future of GRU Authority can move forward, Alachua County judge rules
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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