Future of GRU Authority will officially be in the hands of Gainesville voters this November
After a vote by the Gainesville City Commission Thursday, the future of the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority board will be left in the hands of Gainesville’s voters this November.
Commissioners voted unanimously to pass the second reading of an ordinance that will ask voters to decide whether or not to delete the article of the city’s charter that created the authority. The amendment to the city’s charter was made with the passing of HB-1645, a bill that stripped the all-Democrat commission’s control over the municipal utility and handed it to a Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed authority board.
Commissioners say the ballot measure gives voters the opportunity to decide who will be responsible for making all GRU decisions ranging from rate increases to fund transfers — elected officials or DeSantis’ picks.
“We're simply allowing the will of the community to determine how we're gonna govern,” Commissioner Ed Book said. “One of our greatest, if not our greatest responsibilities as elected officials, is to operate in accordance with and at the guidance and in partnership with the community.”
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The concept of a GRU Authority has been criticized by many since the inception of the bill by Florida Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry. Many critics of the bill have called it undemocratic since voters previously rejected the 2018 referendum that called for a board. A similar 2017 bill from Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, also was previously vetoed by then-Gov. Rick Scott.
The passage of the ordinance came just hours before an entirely new five-member Authority board was sworn into office.
Just a few months ago all four members of the board submitted resignation letters over a lawsuit that determined many were not eligible for the position as written in the bill, and the applications were not properly noticed by the governor. A fifth appointee resigned before she could be sworn into office after The Gainesville Sun reported she was not a GRU electric customer.
One appointee sworn in Thursday was Ed Bielarski, former general manager of GRU, who was fired in 2022 by the Gainesville City Commission before attempting a failed bid for mayor. Bielarski is arguably the most qualified to be appointed to the board given his robust background in utilities.
Other appointees include Craig Carter and Eric Lawson, who served on the first rendition of the board before they both resigned, David Haslam, the owner of a local scooter company, and Robert “Chip” Skinner, a local sports coach and former spokesperson for the city of Gainesville before he was forced to resign after viewing and printing inappropriate material at work.
The motion to pass the second reading of the ordinance was made by Commissioner Reina Saco. Requiring a four-fifths majority vote, it passed unanimously.
“That passes unanimously and barring a constitutional challenge the people will get a say in this,” Mayor Harvey Ward said.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Future of Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority in hands of voters
