Seth Johnson
Gainesville Residents United filed a response to a federal judge, continuing its lawsuit and attempting to find a defendant so that the merits of the case can be heard.
U.S. District Court Judge Allen Winsor declared on Dec. 21 that the group had no standing to sue Gov. Ron DeSantis over House Bill 1645, signed by the governor last year and responsible for the creation of the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority.
Gainesville Residents United, a nonprofit created to challenge the law, already dismissed two other defendants—Florida’s attorney general and secretary of state. Winsor dismissed Desantis from the lawsuit and asked for the nonprofit to give reasons within 14 days why the city of Gainesville, a nominal defendant in the case, shouldn’t also be dismissed.
The 14 days ended on Thursday, Jan. 4, and Robert Hutchinson said the group filed its response. A former Alachua County commissioner and president of the group, Hutchinson said if the city is also dismissed then someone else must be the property defendant.
“I mean, there’s nobody left,” Hutchinson said in a phone interview. “When there are laws that are unconstitutional, as we believe this one is, one of the basic tenets of law is that there needs to be somebody who is responsible.”
Hutchinson said the city of Gainesville was included as a nominal defendant because, according to their legal team, the new Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority is considered a department of the city and not available to be sued separately.
The city of Gainesville, authorized by the City Commission, also sued over HB 1645, and a Leon County judge dismissed the case, also citing a lack of standing for all defendants and rejecting its unconstitutional argument.
Hutchinson said several options could happen moving forward. If the judge accepts Gainesville as a defendant, a hearing could be scheduled. If the judge throws out the last defendant, he said the nonprofit could appeal the decision or refile the lawsuit in a different form and court.
Besides the current lawsuit, Hutchinson said Gainesville Residents United could sue over other points.
“We’ve got additional lawsuits already prepared that we haven’t filed because there’s just so much stuff that’s wrong with that law,” Hutchinson said.
The nonprofit has raised $100,000 for its legal efforts so far, and Hutchinson said around half has already been spent. But he’s confident the group will have enough resources to see the lawsuits through to the end.
Besides the federal lawsuit underway, Hutchinson and Jeffrey Shapiro have also filed a lawsuit in Leon County against DeSantis. This lawsuit challenges the residency of the board members appointed by Desantis along with the public notice process followed by the governor’s office.
A hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for February, and Hutchinson said a victory would mean a nullifying of the current authority.
Two other lawsuits filed by separate individuals also challenge the law and creation of the authority in different ways. Hutchinson said Gainesville Residents United has also considered challenging the bond validation process that Gainesville Regional Utilities plans to undergo.
Hutchinson said the group hasn’t been secretive about its challenges and the reasons why.
“We’re trying to be right out front—let people know why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Hutchinson said.
For this reason, the group sent its lawsuit to DeSantis nearly a month before he signed the bill, letting the governor’s office know they planned to file. Hutchinson said the group also sends updates to legislators and city officials so everyone is aware of the group’s actions.
Gainesville Residents United has rewritten HB 1645, filed by Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newbery. Hutchinson said the law fixes the problems he sees in the law and, if the Legislature passed the rewritten bill, all the group’s lawsuits would be moot.
He said the law removes DeSantis from the appointing positions, instead allowing the city commission, county commission and Legislature to appoint the members.
Clemons told Mainstreet in December that he doesn’t plan to file any modifications to HB 1645 in the current session.
This whole 9 yards is becoming an eye sore and boring to read about. The only thing that makes me go “hhmm” is wondering what Hutchinson and Jeffrey Shapiro lost in business over this new law. You don’t sue just to do it, you do it because you feel you were wronged. What’s their business connection in all of this?
It seems like everytime this loser ,looses, GRU ratepayers win.
Why do they not want GRU saved and work on the 30 percentage debt burden there Biomess created. They should have to change their misleading Title to Gainesville in Denial.
It’s interesting that they’re claiming HB 1645 is unconstitutional, yet they’re using that law as a basis for another lawsuit about appointments.
This reminds me of a computer term called “Programming Pasta Theory”. Spaghetti code, Lasagna code and Ravioli code, among others.
“Spaghetti theory uses a specific kind of pasta to show some aspects of a collection of programming protocols. The lasagna code is a multi-layer application. The application is easy to use and includes a hierarchy. Modifying the lasagna program may be difficult because of unexpected interdependencies in the code.” – Nilesh Parashar, “What is Programming Pasta Theory?” April 15, 2022 – Thanks Nilesh
Good for Hutch!