The Florida First District Court of Appeal issued an injunction Thursday morning for the city of Gainesville’s local public utilities referendum.
The injunction allows the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority to remain in management control while the courts settle the underlying legal issues surrounding the referendum and the authority.
The injunction comes after the referendum to dissolve the GRU Authority passed with 75% of the vote on Tuesday.
GRU officials celebrated the injunction as a protection of their legal rights and the legal system.
“From my perspective, this is simply about following the legal process and the rule of law,” Bielarski said in an email to GRU employees. “We believed it was unlawful for the city to hold a special election aimed at dissolving the Authority while we were awaiting the results of an appeal.”
Meanwhile, city of Gainesville leaders said the GRU Authority delayed legal motions and disenfranchised voters while fighting for custody of the utility.
“This is wrong,” Mayor Harvey Ward said. “I’m not going to argue with the courts. Certainly, they’re their own separate branch. This is wrong.”
City Attorney Dan Nee outlined the history of the legal arguments during the city’s Thursday meeting and reiterated the delays taken by the GRU Authority’s lawyers.
Nee said if the GRU Authority had acted as if the upcoming referendum were truly an emergency, they could have filed their injunction motions earlier. Instead, the authority waited 117 days, giving no time to hear the case on merits.
Plus, the city had requested that the appeal case from the first referendum, in November 2024, be expedited before the Florida First District Court of Appeal—an action opposed by the GRU Authority.
Nee said the appeal court is preserving its right to hear the underlying arguments from the first referendum since not granting the injunction would dissolve the GRU Authority and render all the lawsuits moot.
“Their aim here, I think it’s fair to say, is to preserve their jurisdiction,” Nee said of the appeal court. “Our aim is to prompt them to exercise their jurisdiction as expeditiously as possible because it is mindful on us that we have the will of the voters to be concerned about, which I’m sure they’re concerned about as well.”
However, this outcome is not unexpected. In fact, Nee predicted that the results of the second referendum could easily be paused while the original case and Home Rule issues were settled.
He told the City Commission in June, when it voted on the second referendum, that the case might not result in an immediate return to managerial control of the utility.
The appeal court has not yet set a hearing date for the second referendum. Nee estimated that the legal timeline would be a matter of months.
On the initial referendum, if the appeal court agrees with the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court, who said the city can amend its charter to remove the GRU Authority but called the 2024 ballot language confusing, then the city would have the second referendum to point to instead of issuing a third referendum.
For now, the status quo remains.
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I want to know what kind of shit Gainesville is pulling and not have all rate payer’s vote ?? just rate payers in Gainesville ?? The judge needs to throw this out. That goes to show you Gainesville tax and spend taxpayers dollars,, they run GRU to the ground and the rate payers are paying the highest rates because of poor management?? Now the authority board is getting this under control SHAMEFUL ON CITY OF GAINESVILLE GOVERNMENT AND YOUR GETTING PAID TO DO THIS?? The Governor needs to check into this shit with Gainesville? City leaders,, Gainesville been TAX AND SPEND
Voter spoke their mind and this is supposed to be a democracy. You don’t overturn the voters will just because you don’t like it.
Every client of GRU should have a say in this, not just Gainesville residents.
you mean that the ten percent of 76,000voters spoke their collectvie mind in favor of this commission controlled town where votes are gathered by incumbent city commissioners who are in the business of gathering votes?
Problem is is the Gainesville citizens kept electing city counsel members who wrecked the financial well being of GRU. Detrimental all who depend on GRU for electricity. The cool post hippie ideologues who control Gainesville need to act as adults or shut up. Thanks to the state for saving all the users of GRU from the irresponsible child like decisions of the local voters.
I think you may be wrong about rate payers paing the highest rates. In a 2022 report by the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA), Key West had the highest average residential electric bill among municipal utilities.
This is just another criminal getting away with something that voters are opposed to and no different than the higher government and what’s being done since January 2025.
What MSDN could report on next is the actual make up of the Authority board. HB1645 requires five members but as of now there are only three, one seat has been vacant since May. This adds dysfunction to an already unaccountable board.
And don’t forget that a main talking point for creating this governor appointed board was a promise that those appointees would be people better equipped to govern a public utility.
So, MSDN, while we await the Appellate court’s decision, please examine who those remaining Authority members are (their credentials), and compare them each city commissioner to discern where their “expertise” lies.
Let’s have a true debate with them all and see which group has more knowledge about the utility. Then maybe people’s eyes would be open to the half-truths and outright egregious miscomprehension of facts by the commissioners and yourself. The commission business sense is zero, much like yours, ms bottcher. I bet you never have even talked to one of the GRUA members to ask questions as that is not your style.
Had to laugh when our horrible mayor stated your nonsense about if people want to vote, then they should annex into the city. That is backward ass thinking! No one has voted to be annexed into the city for a while as leadership is a mess and they don’t get anything more.
Hope everyone knows that you run a political nonprofit that claims to be for all Gainesville residents and then you demean them unless they tow your ideology, which is a reflection of national politics. Much like you were when you were on the commission when you would disrespectfully deny hearing from your constituents. Cannot expect a zebra to change its stripes.
Thank you for the absolute truth the commissioner has already proven that it is unwilling to make proper decisions about GRU and acted to greatly impair its financial well being.
Citizens elect some competent leadership in Gainesville,
There are several facts in evidence:
1. The Utility has been grossly mismanaged under successive city commissions and is mired in debt
2. The utility has extremely high rates due to this mismanagement
3. At least 1/3 of the utility customers are not Gainesville voters and nearly 50% of the Utilty’s revenue comes from outside the city.
4. The only reason There is a GRU authority created by the legilature as opposed to placing this monopoly under the Public Service commission where it belongs is that this challenge to the monopoly power of municipal utilities is a political third rail.
Good. Not everyone effected by this vote were allowed to VOTE. How convenient for the pro re-control of this utility side of the issue.
The people who get to set policy (such as rates) for a firm, are the people who own the firm. The City of Gainesville owns GRU, so it was the citizens of that city who got to vote.
When gasoline prices are raised, do you get to vote on it just because you buy gasoline? No.
If your electricity supplier were Florida Power and Light, would you get to vote on rates just because you were “effected”? No, not unless you were a stockholder.
Just because Gainesville is a city and not a publicly held corporation, it does not give up its right to have final say on the utility it owns.
It most certainly did with GREC. Now it was taken back from private ownership if im correct at an unbelievably outrageous cost to the (community it Serves). And after that, the new H.Q. that i helped build that displaced over 65 acres of (Wetlands) off north main was a financial boondoggle. Complete with whole covered rooftop gardens and also million plus wall art. And that is two of many reasons for one of our states highest energy rate. The new board was created to help lower cost for (consumers). And everyone who is in that group should be allowed to vote on that issue.
We knew all along that this matter would require the courts to hash out the various issues. Having the voters on record just settles one portion. Keep in mind that The Authority did everything in their power to keep YOU from even voting at all. Keep in mind that The Authority is “celebrating” that YOUR vote has been sidelined for a while. Keep in mind that The Authority will now feel a lot less urgency or emergency about getting the courts to rule on their powers than they did about trying to take away YOURS..
“Despite Public Vote” is the key issue.
Interesting that none of the pro-city commentors even mention that the Authority put in an appeal back in April. Commission chose to move forward with another vote before appeal hearing was held. Commission wanted it expediated to get another vote in place as soon as possible with time running out to get a ballot printed. This is a FL Constitutional issue and the DCA is doing the right thing by having the arguments heard. It is the legal process whether or not the old cronies and current commission like it.
Anyone want to defend the commission giving $1.25 million in interest payments to get their hands on unrealized gains from the penny sales tax for infrastructure? They moved forward with a $25 million loan at 5% interest that will ‘hopefully’ be paid back by 2032. What happens when the sales tax revenue does not hit estimates? Don’t think this is what the majority of people voted for. Talk about fiscal irresponsibility….but hey…commissioners are best at kicking the can down the road and let someone else deal with consequences later.
Yep, Just as I predicted: “‘The Gainesville haters . . . will figure out a way to re-steal control of the utility that the city built and owns. They may use skullduggery in the court . . . ”
As with their big brothers at the national level, these people never give up attempting to overthrow democracy and common sense.
How is it possible for the city commission to claim their actions are supported by a majority when 80% of Gainesvlle’s 76,000+ voters did not vote for the city’s attempt to gain control of the utility. Most resident voters have given up hope to change our rigged system of city government. They have become aware over the years that the city commission is able to block change and public input by force, by firing whistle blowers, by selecting notoriously incompetent management, by spending large on favorites, by lying to state auditors and by making public records unavailable. The residents have been locked out of creating a legitimate referendum by by barriers installed to prevent an honest vote.
Thank you for reality
“Local control.” To do what? To add another billion in utility debt? To have the utility take on additional debt to support higher than financially sound general fund transfers? There were good reasons why others had to step in, and this 30+ year Gainesville resident is supportive. Outcomes matter the most — not whether control is local, mixed, or state — or red vs. blue — or Friends of Bottcher or not. That framing is flawed and very cynical and devisive. We have to unite ourselves and the first step is moving past these silly us/them dead-ends.
When 30% or more of GRU customers cannot vote, how is this a referendum?
More than 40 percent can not vote and only 18 percent of 76,000 registered city voters voted for City control … Hardly a plebisite
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What the City Commissioners aren’t telling you is how many times they filed and were granted delays in this case. Seems they think that they’re the only ones who have a right to file for delays but the other side doesn’t.
So, for the third time the voters reject Bielarski/DeSantis, but then Bielarski/DeSantis explain that leaving us in charge is really what’s best for everybody. I remember Republicans who once championed “local control.” I guess when you take a lot of money from Florida Power and Light and Duke Energy and other such private power companies, then you need to keep publicly-owned utilities on a short leash.
Loving the ratios in the comments. Wonder how much this vanity vote cost us taxpayers. This outcome couldn’t have happened to a more deserving bunch of city commission grifters.
There are many other issues facing Gainesville that the the ruling mob fails on everyday
For example, The local education system and public safety in inner Gainesville have suffered a dramatic decline over the last 15 years. Unless the voters select different elected leaders the lives of everyone will continue to be adversely affected by those who place their ideology and its implantation above the quality of life for all.