This week marks two years since the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority was seated and started managing the utility, and its struggle with the Gainesville City Commission continues after a Tuesday ruling that allows the city’s referendum to continue in November.  

It’s also the final week to register for that upcoming voter referendum aimed at dissolving the GRU Authority.  

The Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis created the GRU Authority, but the Gainesville City Commission believes that a voter referendum to change the city’s charter can undo the state officials’ actions.  

The City Commission tried with a referendum in November 2024 that citizens approved but courts have since stalled. Now, a new referendum hopes to finish the process. 

After Tuesday’s decision, Mayor Harvey Ward said he hopes the people’s choice will be followed.

“As I’ve said more times than I can count, Gainesville residents own these utilities, and we should respect their voice at the polls,” Ward said. “Gainesville voters get to speak again on November 4, and I hope they—we—will be heard this time.”

All registered voters within the Gainesville city limits can vote in the referendum, scheduled for Nov. 4. If you aren’t registered to vote, you can visit the Supervisor of Elections website and register by Oct. 6.  

The GRU Authority filed a complaint and expedited motion to prevent the referendum from happening, but Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge George Wright denied the expedited complaint in a hearing. His ruling keeps the referendum rolling.   

The city of Gainesville said Florida’s courts are only allowed to interfere in elections under the rarest circumstances. 

“[The GRU Authority] attempts to distort section 166.0411, Florida Statutes, into an unprecedented election-cancelling tool—one that would disenfranchise Gainesville voters and transform the judiciary into a gatekeeper of electoral participation, a role wholly foreign to Florida law,” the city’s attorneys wrote. 

Ed Bielarski, CEO of GRU, said the utility honors the judge’s ruling on the point.  

Bielarski highlighted that the ruling only applied to the expedited motion, but the larger complaint filed in August remains open. 

“Rest assured, the GRUA will continue to pursue all legal means necessary to fulfill the special act of the legislature that created the GRU Authority,” Bielarski said in a statement. “We still firmly believe that the city has no right to override state law and that an independent board whose mission is to represent all GRU customers is best for our community.” 

He said the authority hopes the complaint can be ruled on before the referendum. If not, the utility plans to request an injunction to prevent the results of the referendum from being enforced until all the legal matters are resolved.  

The relationship between the two boards has been rocky from the start. The two boards have argued over funding revenues, and the city has pointed to the GRU Authority as the primary source of recent budget troubles, while the authority blames the commission for its utility’s debt burden. 

Besides the litigation for the upcoming referendum, a couple of other open questions remain that will determine GRU’s future. 

Prior lawsuit appeal 

The second referendum is happening while the results of the first one are still being weighed on appeal. That appeal process could impact the upcoming referendum. 

The City Commission opposed the GRU Authority even before its creation, with the city suing to prevent the authority from being created. Commissioners said it infringed on home rule and took an asset of the citizens away from the citizens.     

The city held the 2024 referendum, but the GRU Authority challenged it on three counts. The utility received an injunction before that referendum to also allow the legal challenges to proceed.  

Wright ruled in April on the case, and he agreed on one of the three counts: calling the ballot language misleading.  

However, Wright also sided with Gainesville, saying that the city had the right to change its charter and even remove sections added by the Florida Legislature.  

That ruling gave the City Commission confidence to pay $250,000 for another referendum, leading to Tuesday’s hearing and the authority’s efforts to prevent it.  

But the GRU Authority has also appealed Wright’s April decision to the First District Court of Appeal. No timeline exists for when the case may be settled.  

If the appeal court overturns certain parts of the decision, the City Commission may not have a basis for the referendum and undoing a section of its charter placed by the Florida Legislature. Or, the appeal court could agree that Gainesville has the right to change its charter, allowing the upcoming November referendum to stand.  

Once a decision is reached, additional lawsuits or appeals could also come.  

Florida Legislature action 

In January 2025, state Rep. Chad Johnson, R-Chiefland, announced a bill to amend the section in Gainesville’s charter that created the authority, intended to clarify and fix issues. But the bill was quickly tabled for more community input.  

State Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, is sponsoring a local bill to eliminate the GRU Authority. The bill will be discussed at the Alachua County Legislative Delegation meeting on Oct. 20.  

Hinson was the lone dissent on the delegation in 2023 when the authority was created. She remains the only Democrat on the delegation. 

Both state Sen. Jenniffer Bradley, R-Green Cove Springs, and state Rep. Chuck Brannan, R-Macclenny, voted in favor of the authority in 2023. Johnson and state Sen. Stan McClain are new to the delegation since then.  

During the upcoming session, a new bill could appear that changes the landscape and potentially places the GRU Authority outside the reach of a voter referendum.