The Florida First District Court of Appeal set a 5 p.m. deadline for the city of Gainesville to explain why the court should not stop the results of Tuesday’s referendum from being implemented.
The referendum passed with 75% of the vote, but a “stay” of the referendum issued by the appeals court would allow the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority to continue its management of the utility until the courts settle key issues from the 2024 referendum.
In 2024, the same process happened, but instead of the First District Court of Appeal (1st DCA), the Eighth Judicial Circuit issued the stay. However, last week, the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court denied the GRU Authority’s request for a stay on the referendum results, forcing the utility to ask the higher court this time.
The GRU Authority filed an emergency motion Tuesday night after the referendum results arrived, asking the 1st DCA for the stay.
GRU General Manager Ed Bielarski emailed utility employees on Wednesday morning and told them to keep focused on their tasks at hand.
“The GRU Authority believes yesterday’s vote has no legal consequence until the board receives a court order telling it otherwise or until the special legislative act that created the Authority in 2023 is repealed,” Bielarski said.
Meanwhile, proponents of the referendum have called for an orderly transition to happen.
If the 1st DCA denies the stay and allows the referendum results to immediately go into effect, the GRU Authority would be dissolved, making ongoing lawsuits moot. The City Commission would then take over GRU management as authorized by the referendum.
If the 1st DCA approves the stay and prevents the referendum results from immediately applying, the GRU Authority would continue to manage the utility until the courts settle the issues at hand.
The GRU Authority has argued that the City Commission has no power to hold a referendum that dissolves the authority, which was created by the state. The Eighth Judicial Circuit Court sided against the GRU Authority on the matter, but the case was appealed and is now before the 1st DCA.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a CEO who says, “Don’t worry, everything’s fine,” right before filing an emergency motion to keep his job.
Apparently, the lights aren’t the only thing flickering at GRU HQ. Job security seems to be on a dimmer switch too. And while the boss fights to preserve his “emergency motion to protect the management structure of strategic importance” (also known as his paycheck), nearly a thousand employees are at home trying to keep their own lights on. Literally.
It’s a strange world where the guy cashing a mid six-figure check from the power company might be the only one who never checks the power bill.
The email to staff said, “stay focused on your tasks.” Translation: “Please keep doing three people’s jobs while I’m busy drafting legal filings.”
You almost have to admire the energy. I just wish it came in kilowatt-hours.