Seth Johnson
A group of Alachua County residents has raised $50,000 and hired a law firm to file one or more lawsuits over the Legislature’s Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) bill that is headed to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Robert Hutchinson, a former county commissioner, said the funds have come from more than 50 people solicited, with letters sent to another 250, and he anticipates a complaint will be ready to file next week.
Right now, the group lacks an official name, and Hutchinson said the core members will brand themselves and form a nonprofit with a website to follow. He said the work should be done this week.
However, even without that structure, the group hired attorney Terrell Arline with Ansbacher Law from Jacksonville with Hutchinson as the client.
Hutchinson said the group has other plaintiffs to add to the lawsuit, if needed, including former employees and unions. He also said the group has multiple charges it could bring—some that would run through state court and some that would be filed on the federal level.
Issues range from the process the bill took through the Legislature to groups who would argue they are adversely impacted.
“There’s just no way we can take something like this sitting down,” Hutchinson said. “I mean, somebody has to push back. The city of Gainesville, undoubtedly, will do something, but we as citizens may have different ways that we can gain standing to challenge this bill than the city has.”
The group, including former city commissioner Susan Bottcher, has not decided if it will package all of its arguments into one filing or spread the arguments out with multiple filings and plaintiffs. The Gainesville City Commission signaled in March that it would be prepared to oppose the bill, if it passed.
The approach of the GRU bill, SB 1645, is familiar to Hutchinson. He opposed similar legislation as a county commissioner in 2015 and remembers the 2018 referendum that also would have created a five-member independent authority to manage GRU.
Introduced by Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, SB 1645 allows DeSantis to appoint the members from Gainesville and Alachua County customers of GRU. Three of the members must have expertise in a related field such as law, finance or energy, one member must be a county customer, and one must be a commercial customer.
Clemons said the bill will allow GRU to operate within a silo, apart from interference by the city commission. He places the responsibility for high rates and utility debt—some $1.7 billion—on the commission and said the commissioners have a conflict of interest by running the utility and the city.
Meanwhile, city commissioners argue that the utility remains financially strong even if the debt level needs to come down. GRU operates under the city like any other department, Mayor Harvey Ward has said. He argues that creating a wall of separation comes with problems not addressed in the bill.
The bill passed the Florida House and Senate in the last week of the 2023 session. Gainesville Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson opposed the bill on the House floor, gaining support from fellow Democrats but falling short with an 81-33 vote.
Hutchinson said the proposed structure would be the first of its kind. He called the bill “ridiculous” and said it would seem absurd if a bill ordered the governor to create an independent authority to run a separate city department like parks and recreation or fire rescue.
“The notion that the state can just cherry pick which departments it’s going to just drop its people into and say you’re running it now—particularly for not a very good reason because by all measures GRU is not in any sort of danger of bankruptcy or anything like that—it’s just an incredible overreach,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said the group hopes to have arguments ready before DeSantis signs the bill. He said the group will send a copy to the governor’s office to persuade a veto. After that, the best option would be for a judge to side with the group, call the bill illegal, and throw it out.
But Hutchinson said the group is ready for a long process. He said the litigation could last years with a judge granting an injunction to prevent the new panel from taking control until the legal matters are settled.
Governor Ron DeSantis has overstepped. 100% certain of this.
Sad news . Gru has been here over a century ago if not longer. DeSantis is a navy lawyer ,now he’s a pain in places God would disagree with amen 🙏 thank you if read the message 🙏
Wow, I guess these Clowns in Denial (like they have been for decades ) can’t accept their own failure . At least is appears they are wasted their own time and money. How can anyone actually support GRU and the City Kickback in it’s present state and financial condition. Certainly not GRU ratepayers .
The City Attorney already told the Commission that the State is within legal limits. Instead of accepting the inevitable and planning for a smooth transition to the new board, the ones who got us into this mess would rather waste more time and money tying this up in the courts. Can’t wait for October when they have to report back to the JLAC Committee. I’m sure they’ll be impressed.
There is no mess here except the one that Clemons and DeSantis are making.
So why does GRU have $1.7 Billion in debt and the highest rates the state? Why can’t GRU even send out an accurate utility bill on a monthly basis? Why did the City Commission fire a competent GM without cause and replace him with someone with no background in finance or electric utilities? ….
Hopefully the courts will recognize ownership of the utility belongs to the City, not Clemons and Perry or the Governor and state GOP who is who they really serve. This is not the 1st time they have tried this, and of course Perry took $200k in illegal dark money from Fl Power to help him squeak by Enneking. More of Alachua County voters were gerrymandered out of these two’s district so they could get reelected last time, and he is now the state senator for Starke and Keystone, Clemons for Trenton, and neither represents voters of Alachua County or Gainesville
Maybe you should read the bill. Ownership doesn’t change, only the governing board. The primary benefit of the bill is that it removes a serious conflict of interest in having city commissioners setting policy that impacts more than just city residents. Its how we got the boondoggle of a biomass plant that won’t burn biomass and wasn’t needed in the first place along with its massive debt burden.
I truly cannot grasp why these people WANT the highest energy rates in the state. It’s almost like they’re just elitists who want control.
I’m sure that the who’s who list of donors toward this lawsuit are the same people who racked up $1.89B in debt for GRU in the name of “green” energy that burns the dirtiest current fuel source available. I’m sure they would love it if they could continue the GRU gravy train with County ratepayers continuing to subsidize Gainesville’s constant misadventures.
As always, a little too late and going in the wrong direction! These ill guided wannabes just can’t stand to let go of the tens of millions they’ve wasted every year on radical woke ideas we don’t need, one after the other. Biomass to save earth was the biggest. Then came the few million wasted on trying to create their own internet service provider to the whole region. Next the last minute, no-bid solar contract that isn’t actually needed and can’t replace any power we have due to reliability concerns. Saying things like: “It’s the right thing to do” doesn’t make it a good idea or affordable. Little people with big radical dreams to get on a big stage is all they are about. Keep dreaming folks, and then your life will have been wasted, all for naught.
Hopefully this News Source isn’t following the failed Gainesville Sun and burying the 2nd most read article in less the 24 hours. It should be front page every day to expose the Old Timers that ruined GRU and COG. And I mean Old Timers.
This is all about Former Mayor Hanrahan’s connection to the Rockefeller Brothers and the global plan to force expensive renewable energy and biomass onto GRU ratepayers even when Biomass incinerators produce more CO2 than coal and natural gas.
Gainesville City Commission ran GRU like their personal cash cow, allowing GRU to raise rates in order to throw off cash (profit) to the City for its pet projects.