Alachua County’s state representatives listened to local officials and residents’ concerns Monday during the local delegation meeting at Santa Fe College.  

The meeting is held annually ahead of the Florida legislative session and allows the representatives to hear about the main concerns and funding priorities of the county. 

The 2026 Legislative Session will begin in January, and the five representatives—state Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, state Rep. Chad Johnson, state Rep. Chuck Brannan, state Sen. Jennifer Bradley and state Sen. Stan McClain—heard a mix of priorities from previous years, state salary raise petitions and a number of water and wastewater projects in cities. 

Brannan and Hayes-Hinson will head into the session for the last time. Brannan has hit his term limit following reelection in 2024, and Hayes-Hinson announced that she will not campaign for a final term in 2026, instead endorsing Malik Moore.  

The representatives voted to make Johnson the delegation chair for the upcoming year, with Bradley serving as vice chair. 

For the Eighth Judicial Circuit, State Attorney Brian Kramer, Public Defender Stacy Scott and Regional Counsel Candice Brower each advocated for higher starting salaries for the lawyers in their offices.  

Kramer said the starting salary that the state provides his office’s attorneys is $50,000. He asked that the state increase it to $85,000 annually and his current budget would deal with any compression issues between employees.  

Scott explained that her office must pay $60,000 or $70,000 as a starting salary, but because the state allocates only $50,000 for the positions, she said she must reallocate money from her budget to pay the extra.  

“Basically, we’re in the hole for every position we fill because we’re filling that money with money from other parts of the budget,” Scott said.  

Statewide, public defenders’ offices are asking that their budgets be at least 55% of their partner state attorney offices. Scott said the cost to achieve that balance would be $17 million.  

Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott said his office needed support for jail renovations and a pilot program for 24/7 childcare for employees. The childcare request was also supported by the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners and the Children’s Trust of Alachua County.  

Chuck Chestnut, chair of the county commission, said a pilot program is not ready for 2026 funding, but he said the county supports legislation that would allow financing toward 24/7 childcare.  

The county also asked for support for the Newnans Lake restoration effort and expansion of Archer Road.  

The School Board of Alachua County asked for the ability to intervene earlier in cases of chronic absenteeism from school. Board Chair Sarah Rockwell said the district cannot intervene until a student has been absent for 10 days during a 90-day period. She asked that the legislators support a bill to remove that time limit, allowing the school to begin intervention if a student hits 10 absences at any point during a school year. 

The school district also asked to keep its sovereign immunity cap as it currently stands and to support school safety initiatives.  

Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward asked that the representatives support addressing traffic concerns on state roadways near the interstate, along with the replacement of a fire engine that services the I-75 crashes. 

Rodolfo Valladares, interim city manager for Alachua, said the city is asking for funds to replace its wastewater force main and financing for the Cleather Hathcock Sr. Community Center. 

Archer Mayor Fletcher Hope reported that the city has worked to stabilize finances and asked for support, like last year, for the regional wastewater project with the city of Newberry. 

Newberry City Manager Jordan Marlowe said the city is requesting $500,000 for renovations to Champions Park. He said the city would also like to begin phase 2 of its fire training center. He said the center would allow regional partners to train at a cheaper cost than the current options.  

Hawthorne City Manager Robert Thompson said the city would like a Santa Fe College satellite campus with state support, along with the expansion of water and wastewater lines.  

High Springs Mayor Tristan Grunder also hit on wastewater. He said the city encountered unforeseen problems with the wastewater system and needs infrastructure equipment to deal with it, including a wastewater holding truck and waste press. 

Micanopy also asked for support to expand its water lines and add public restrooms downtown. 

Waldo said it needed funds to help cover $3.5 million to redo wastewater lines while the Florida Department of Transportation remodels State Road 24 in the city. The city also requested funds for water meter replacement. 

Ed Bielarski, CEO of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU), highlighted key metrics he said the new authority has achieved in the past two years. He said the GRU Authority would continue to defend the state bill that created it against the city’s upcoming referendum.