Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward argued that a utility controlled by the City Commission, elected by the citizens, is the better governance structure moving forward, calling the current setup unique in the country.
Gainesville Regional Utilities’ (GRU) CEO Ed Bielarski highlighted improved financial metrics since the GRU Authority assumed control in 2023, calling attention to the unique debt surrounding the utility that prompted the authority’s creation.
Ward questioned whether the arguments would sway voters one way or the other.
“We voted on this a bunch of times,” Ward said in his opening statement. “This is number three, and I think most people in this room have probably already voted, or you know exactly how you’re going to vote.”
Ward and Bielarski participated in a town hall on Tuesday evening at the D.R. Williams Fellowship Hall. The two officials answered questions submitted by the audience concerning GRU, its governance structure, past votes and how millions of dollars flow between the utility and the general government of Gainesville.
The town hall precedes the Nov. 4 referendum that asks city voters if they’d like to eliminate the section of the city charter that created the GRU Authority.
Ward pointed to instability within the authority. Gov. Ron DeSantis has made 11 appointments for five seats in just over two years of operation, he said. A vacant seat currently exists, and under the City Commission, Ward said citizens would have a known process to fill any empty seat—a city election for a new commissioner.
He said this isn’t a blow against the people on the authority but on the system in place.
Ward also said that governors change. Citizens who like the notion of DeSantis selecting the GRU Authority members might not like a future governor or their appointments.
“No matter which side of the aisle you fall on, eventually it will swing, and it’s going to be a different kind of governor,” Ward said.
Bielarski pointed to $177 million in reduced debt since the GRU Authority took control, along with lower electric bills, attributed to both falling natural gas prices, prepayments for fuel and fiscal prudence.
He said GRU has a unique debt load that requires a unique structure. Other utilities in distress also fall under state oversight and sometimes control.
“We ought to keep the general fund transfer low,” Bielarski said. “We ought to continue paying down that debt and keep rates competitive, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Bielarski said capital expenditures ballooned while he was away from the utility. He said the authority had cut from that section and right-sized the organization, reducing to a productive, efficient staff of under 800 employees.
He said that the bond rating agencies like what the GRU Authority has done and want to see the general services contribution remain low.
Bielarski called the general services contribution a dividend to the city, but Ward countered and said it’s more like a payment in lieu of taxes that a private company would pay.
Ward said the city estimated that, on the lower side, GRU would pay around $ 18 million or $19 million. Instead, he highlighted that the authority is only paying $8 million, with additional fees pulled out.
In his opening statement, Bielarski pointed to excess general services contributions in the past. The transfer hit a high of $38 million, and he said the transfers pulled more money than the utility made over a stretch of years.
In 2024, the City Commission placed a similar referendum on the ballot, and Gainesville voters sided strongly with the commission, resulting in a 72% victory. But the results are tied up in the courts.
The City Commission issued the second referendum to correct ballot language and to perhaps switch control more quickly. A hearing scheduled for Wednesday will determine if the referendum takes immediate effect upon passage.
I think the unfortunate thing for the Authority is, they hitched their wagon to the wrong horse and that horse is Ed. Did GRU need to trim down yes. Did they need to rebalance their books, absolutely. But when Ed talks about how much he has cut to reduce expenses while at the same time lining his own pocket book while the staff at GRU have all absorbed the workload from eliminated staff with not a dime increase in pay, its not sustainable and the staff is sick of watching the fat cats at the top take home historic pay while those at the bottom are struggling to even pay their own power bills. As both a resident and employee I am speaking from experience. When I struggle to afford to purchase the very product I am responsible for producing while the elite at the top receive unheard of pay/bonuses/time off, something stinks and that stench is Ed. Ed wants to pretend that he wasnt in charge of the Utility for the past MANY MANY years yet he blames the city for how poorly it was run. Some of us dont have such short memories Mr Ed. Some of us remember that you ran this place into the ground then and your trying to do it again but this time your cashing out while you do it. You show your charts and graphs and want to convince people that their rates are going down but every citizen has their own charts and graphs and thats called a power bill sir, and mine hasnt gone down one cent. If the Authority wanted change, they shouldnt have gone back to the poisoned well that was the old regime. What the Authority wants is business as usual but a different set of hands in the GRU piggybank. All of this “Money being saved” and yet none of it is benefiting the customer. Its time to start being honest. Ed and his GRU Authority need to go away. It was an experiment and it failed. Time to cut our losses and try something new.
Ed did have the Commission as his bosses at the time. He was directed to take actions at their request, much like he has to now with GRUA. If you are an employee of GRU, then you should remember that the Commission approved a 7% increase on a system back in 2022 and their 10-year plan adopted by Mr. Cunningham (past GRU CEO) had 3-5% increases on every system for a decade! Don’t recall any monies being set aside to bring employee pay up with those increases. I also remember Mr. Cunningham’s salary being right up there where Mr. Bielarski’s is.
Not sure what you mean about a different set of hands in the piggy bank. GRUA members are not paid. Think you need to reach out to a GRUA member or 2 and voice your issues with them.
This comment by Disc is true
Anymous presents a narrative that isn’t factual
GRU was well run except for Cunningham term. It’s the City who deliberately tried to destroy GRU financially. Under the GRUA and with reinstating EB, GRU is doing much better and the ratepayers are benefiting, instead of Bottcher and Hanrahan’s friends.
Thank you stating the truth the city wants Gainesville to believe a false narrative
The current commission has no business being entrusted with GRU,
Mayor Ward keeps mentioning being run by the citizens. Apparently, GRU customers outside of the city don’t count.
How are we supposed to vote for a new mayor if we don’t like him taking money from GRU and giving it to the city while the utility takes on more debt.
It’s hard to know how to contribute to this discussion after the previous reader’s comments. But I’ll add that while the Authority is condoning wasteful spending and paying Mr. Bielarski a preposterous salary while not paying the people who actually do the work, the Authority is also wasting thousands of dollars on legal fees and lawsuits against the city. They lost in court last week, they lost again today. Details will be forthcoming. There are far better uses for that money, as noted by the previous writer. The hypocracy is astounding.
The Authority doesn’t want you to vote. They don’t want you to have a say in who controls your utility and your city. Make your voice heard. We need strong voter turnout for the GRU referendum. Early voting begins Friday, election day is Nov 4. Vote YES. Encourage your Gainesville contacts to vote YES. We can find a better way.
It’s hard to believe the narrative you push. Ed’s ‘preposterous’ salary? How about the recently departing City Manager who had a lot less experience and expertise? She was making almost as much. How about the CHW person who is embedded in City Hall for $375,000 because the City Manager can’t handle the job? Ed’s salary was originally set by the City Commission 10 years ago.
Wasteful spending? Ed is one of the most frugal people I’ve ever meet, despite his salary.
You’re so worried about wasting money? How much money have you and your friends spent on this campaign to take back control of GRU? Where is that money coming from? It’s certainly a lot more than Ed’s salary.
Thank you Frer for stating the truth. There is lots of delusional thinks in Gainesville that lives in a world devoid of the facts
Gainesville City Commission has no business being involved in running or overseeing a Utility. Their only focus is on siphoning the additional funding from GRU to cover shortfalls and pet projects. Utilities, like GRU, are by definition allowed to run slightly inefficient to build up sufficient capital reserves to cover heavy R&R and Capital Projects. That funding SHOULD BE invested back into the infrastructure to maintain the required operational integrity because of the very challenging 24/7/365 Operating Environment.
Another issue is taxation without representation generated by over 40% of GRU customers reside outside of the city limits. So a large faction of Alachua County residents who depend on GRU for electricity, water, sewer, and natural gas, have no say or recourse in what the (City Commission) decides on rates or how much funding they take out of necessary operating reserves. The Gainesville City Commission should not involve itself with regional matters. They should manage their city and stay out of County wide matters.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious. We don’t have city government that act professionally. The problem is that the chicanes of Gainesville don’t elect a competent city government