Gainesville City Commission unanimously approves November special election for second referendum on GRU governance
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a June 12 Special Meeting, the Gainesville City Commission voted unanimously to schedule a special election for November 4, asking voters whether they want to return governance of GRU to the City Commission.
Although Mayor Harvey Ward usually prefers to wait until after public comment to accept a motion, Commissioner James Ingle made a motion to pass the ordinance on second reading as soon as the item was announced; there were multiple seconds. The ordinance proposes an amendment to the City’s Charter that would eliminate the GRU Authority and place a Charter Officer over the utility.
Here is the ballot language:
“SHALL THE CITY OF GAINESVILLE CHARTER BE AMENDED TO DELETE ARTICLE VII, ELIMINATING THE GOVERNOR-APPOINTED GAINESVILLE REGIONAL UTILITIES AUTHORITY AND ITS AUTHORITY-APPOINTED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/GENERAL
MANAGER THAT MANAGE, OPERATE, AND CONTROL THE CITY OF GAINESVILLE’S LOCAL PUBLIC UTILITIES, SO THAT THE ELECTED
CITY COMMISSION AND ITS CITY COMMISSION-APPOINTED CHARTER OFFICER HAVE THAT RESPONSIBILITY; AND ELIMINATING LIMITATIONS ON THE GOVERNMENT SERVICES CONTRIBUTION AND UTILITY DIRECTIVES, AS PROPOSED BY ORDINANCE NO. 2025-416?”
Ward said he had seen the “pushback” from the GRU Authority that was “basically a threat: if you do this, we’re going to sue. They didn’t wait until we did it to move to sue… We’ve only now heard a motion to pass it on second reading, but already the lawsuit train is moving, man, and that train never had to get on the track.”
https://alachuachronicle.com/gainesville-city-commission-unanimously-approves-november-special-election-for-second-referendum-on-gru-governance/