The Gainesville City Commission voted 6-1 Thursday to prepare a special election for November 2025 to present for a second time its ballot referendum to eliminate Section 7 of the city’s charter and return management of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) to the commission. 

The city utility is currently managed by the GRU Authority, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and put in place by the Florida Legislature in 2023. In June 2024, the City Commission decided to place a referendum on the November 2024 ballot. The ballot asked if voters wanted to reverse the state’s decision and return utility control to the commissioners. 

Before the vote, the GRU Authority filed a lawsuit, claiming the city had no authority to place the referendum against the wishes of the Florida Legislature and that the ballot language was unclear. The referendum passed with 73% of the vote, but the lawsuit has prevented any change.  

In April, an Alachua County judge ruled that the City Commission has the Home Rule power to place the referendum before voters. But he found the ballot language to be misleading for a reason other than that raised by the GRU Authority. The change that the judge proposed was one word different than the ballot language had. 

That ruling nullified the referendum results but gave the commissioners confidence to hold another election with amended ballot language. However, the GRU Authority signaled that it will appeal the judge’s order to the Florida First District Court of Appeals. The authority will hope for a different decision regarding the commission’s ability to hold a referendum to change a part of the charter created by the Florida Legislature.  

Around a dozen citizens spoke during Thursday’s regular commission meeting, including Janice Garry with the League of Women Voters of Alachua County, David Hastings with the Sierra Club Florida Chapter and Bobby Mermer with Alachua County Labor Coalition. They urged the commissioners to put a new referendum before voters.  

A special election would likely cost a minimum of $200,000, and commissioners said they would prefer a general election to save money and to have a higher voter turnout.  

Although Commissioner Casey Willits said he’s comfortable with a special election because of how soundly voters approved the last referendum. Commissioner James Ingle also noted the long wait to the next general election—November 2026 or August 2026 for the primaries. 

In the meantime, Ingle said the city would continue to deal with a budget that could fluctuate based on any vote of the GRU Authority and another Florida legislative session.  

Before the previous legislative session, newly appointed state Rep. Chad Johnson, R-Chiefland, announced a bill that would amend certain sections of House Bill 1645 from the 2023 session that created the GRU Authority. He quickly withdrew the bill from consideration, citing more time for input.  

City Attorney Dan Nee estimated that the appeal process would finish in nine months at the earliest and could last another year, ending in the spring or summer of 2026. While an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court would be unlikely, Nee said it is conceivable since the lawsuit deals with important Home Rule issues.  

He said holding a special election wouldn’t hurt the city, but it could invite another lawsuit and leave the city in the same position of waiting on the courts. But Nee said he’s unsure on what basis the court would delay the result of the election since the city would point back to the April ruling.  

Still, Nee said no ballot language is bulletproof and can be challenged despite all the times commissioners discussed the referendum and lawyers parsed the wording. 

Nee added that before the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court, he sensed a desire to prevent management of GRU from bouncing back and forth between the City Commission and GRU Authority. He said the courts might want to keep the status quo until a final decision is reached.  

Mayor Harvey Ward said he doesn’t like the idea of an off-cycle election but would support it if the commission wanted to move forward.  

“It is not without cost to just roll the dice on this and have a special election,” Ward said. “That’s going to cost us about a quarter of a million dollars in a time when we are more constrained. Even though it’s in the budget, it’s still money.” 

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut agreed, looking at the costs and turnout. She recommended placing the referendum on the August 2026 primary election, but the majority decided to hold the special election this November.  

In order to meet deadlines with the Supervisor of Elections Office, the City Commission may need to move quickly and approve the language on first and second reading during the first two meetings in June.  

For a history on the GRU Authority, you can read Mainstreet’s timeline of the first 18 months during which the authority was discussed, created and installed.  

Editor’s Note: This story was corrected to display the correct year for the special election, November 2025.