by Susan Bottcher, Gainesville Residents United, Vice President
HOW WE GOT HERE
Those with long memories know the fight to protect the citizens’ rights to determine how GRU is governed started in 2013.
That year the Chamber of Commerce created an Energy Study Group that conducted its own (uninvited) review and analysis of GRU. Their 77-page Energy Competitiveness Report made four recommendations, three of which the City Commission immediately implemented. The fourth demanded an independent board to govern GRU. The Chamber asserted a board independent of the Commission is the only avenue to reducing electric rates.
That same year the Florida Municipal Electric Association was asked to give a presentation to the Chamber and the Commission on the issues of rates and governance. After comparing the various forms of utility ownership (i.e., municipal, investor owned, co-ops) and governance structures they concluded, “no form of governance guarantees low rates.”
Still unsatisfied, the Chamber asked then-State Representative Keith Perry to take legislative action. He created a GRU governance bill, but it failed in the 2014 session. Perry tried again in the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions but those too failed.
Amid this the Commission hired Navigant Consulting to conduct an independent investigative review of GRU’s history including the ongoing issue of governance. Their 179 page report concluded: “Navigant would suggest that it may be more practical to (create) a utility advisory board … (to) provide an avenue for citizen input into the decision process, while allowing the Commission to retain its full rights as the governing body of GRU.”
In 2015, after countless public meetings and discussions on governance and the Navigant Report, the city formed the Utility Advisory Board (UAB). This was done in the spirit of compromise with the Chamber. This was a Commission-appointed board made up of city and county residents. That same year they hired Ed Bielarski as General Manager of GRU.
Despite all that, Perry’s successor State Representative Chuck Clemons put forward a bill to turn GRU over to an independent Authority board. This bill forced a referendum on the 2018 city ballot. In November of that year the voters in Gainesville defeated that referendum 60%-40%.
Everyone thought this issue had been finally settled. We The People played the game by the rules and won. The Commission continued governing GRU, they hired a new GM, and the UAB was doing its work. Most importantly, citizens kept control over who governed their utility.
In time, serious disagreements with how GRU was being managed and working (or not) arose within the UAB. As a result, GM Bielarski was fired by the Commission in April 2022 and replaced with long time GRU executive, Tony Cunningham. In retaliation, Bielarski declared his candidacy for mayor. The citizens considered the two candidates and decisively chose Harvey Ward by 58%-42% later that year.
Early in the 2023 legislative session, Rep. Clemons circumvented established procedures for filing bills by creating a Special Act of the legislature, HB 1645. This would give Governor DeSantis control of GRU without a referendum vote of the people.
In response a local, grassroots non-profit organization, Gainesville Residents United, Inc., was formed to fight that bill. Working with our organization, attorneys and the city, state house representative Yvonne Hinson submitted an amendment to HB 1645. This amendment was intended to do two things: It would put a referendum on a ballot for citizens to vote on and would allow GRU customers who reside outside city limits to vote on it.
Since “county representation” was a stated concern of the Chamber, the legislature and citizens, GRUnited was pleased Rep. Hinson sought a way to give them a voice some felt they’d been denied. Not surprisingly Rep. Clemons rejected the entirety of that amendment without any consideration. All customers of GRU were denied their voice and any vote.
HB 1645 went into effect October of 2023, and the governor began appointing his Authority board. This structure is an aberration as no other utility company anywhere in America is controlled in this manner.
We fought back with another referendum that was on your 2024 ballot last November. DeSantis’ Authority filed multiple lawsuits to prevent the vote and to block the implementation of the referendum if it passed. The referendum election was held and passed with an historic 73 percent YES vote. However, the judge who ruled in favor of the city’s right to amend its charter, also took issue with the ballot language, so the vote was nullified.
This year, we are doing it again on Nov. 4.With your vote, this special election will be the final leg of this torturous journey. Early Voting is Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 at the Supervisor of Elections office and the Millhopper Library. Or vote on Election Day (Nov. 4) at your regular polling place.
For more information, visit KeepGNVLocal.com.