The city of Gainesville’s special election will occur next week as residents vote on whether to keep the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority or return management to the City Commission.
The referendum happens on Nov. 4, and early voting will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Supervisor of Elections Office (515 North Main St.) and the Millhopper Branch Library (3145 NW 43rd St.).
But before early voting starts, attorneys for the GRU Authority and city of Gainesville will argue before the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court.
Judge George Wright gave the green light in September for the referendum to proceed. His decision came after the GRU Authority filed an expedited motion to enforce the statutory suspension of a municipal ordinance. This motion, if successful, would have prevented the city from holding its referendum because of constitutional challenges. But Wright denied the motion.
On Oct. 29, Wright will listen from both sides again. This time, the hearing will concern an emergency motion for a temporary injunction. Under this motion, the GRU Authority is again asking the court to suspend the referendum and/or any enforcement of the referendum until all the legal disputes are resolved.
Meaning, if Gainesville residents vote to remove the GRU Authority, the City Commission wouldn’t take over on Nov. 5. Instead, the authority would continue in its place until the courts settle the legal issues, allowing the lawful entity to begin management.
The main legal issues present for the upcoming referendum are already being litigated in the Florida First Court of Appeals after the November 2024 referendum.
The November 2024 referendum passed with 72% of the voters wanting to remove the GRU Authority. Though detractors continue to dispute the results by pointing out that not all GRU customers get to vote because they live outside the city limits.
The GRU Authority argued in court that the city lacks the power to amend a section of its charter expressly added by the Florida Legislature. The Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis created the GRU Authority in 2023.
But Gainesville rebutted that every city charter is created by a special act of the legislature. Nevertheless, cities are still allowed to amend them through processes outlined in Florida law.
Wright sided with the city in April, and the appeal court heard arguments this summer on the case. There’s no timeline for when the higher court might issue a ruling.
For the Oct. 29 hearing, the GRU Authority will present new arguments compared with those presented in April. In the filings, its lawyers argue that the referendum would illegally expand the city’s extraterritorial powers, impacting citizens outside its limits, by taking over the utility.
The city denied the extraterritorial powers claim and the conclusions drawn by the authority’s lawyers.
The GRU Authority is the worst. Anything that can be done to get them out of the Utility Management business is good for Gainesville. Their cuts have done nothing except enrich those at the top (ie C level raises and bonuses) while putting extreme strain on the employees and offering only position eliminations and lack of pay recognition while at the same time NOT seeing any improvement in my monthly costs what so ever (My rates are as higher or higher than they were last year). Speaking as a GRU employee AND resident of the city of Gainesville. The current state of things is not sustainable and I blame the authority for poor oversight and management for not doing the right thing for the employees they are taking advantage of.