Pushing back: Community group sues state lawmakers over ‘GRU Takeover’ bill

A local nonprofit run by citizens, Gainesville Residents United Inc., has filed a federal lawsuit against state lawmakers over the recently passed bill that gives a governor-appointed board authority over Gainesville Regional Utilities.

The group’s president, Robert Hutchinson, said the bill violates constitutional rights and state statutes and doesn’t allow for due process.

“I worked for GRU through almost the entire 1980s and really, truly believe in locally controlled utility operations. I think they're important for health, safety, welfare, reliability, and accountability and transparency,” said Hutchinson, who served 12 years on the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners. “There's lots of pressure on local utilities, and this is just part of the battle.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial bill, HB 1645, dubbed the "GRU Takeover" bill, on June 28, beginning the process of establishing a governor-appointed GRU authority board and setting the stage to strip the Gainesville City Commission of its authority over the municipal-owned utility.

The lawsuit, “Gainesville Residents United, et al  v. Governor Ron DeSantis, et al.,” was filed in the United States District Court's Northern Division and requests that the law be blocked and declared unconstitutional, according to a press release.

More: Commission funds legal counsel, prepares to litigate impact of ‘GRU Takeover’ bill

The lawsuit alleges the bill violates the First Amendment, the constitutional restrictions on the duties of the governor, and state statutes by authorizing an unelected, nonlegislative authority to make legislative decisions for a municipality, among other complaints.

The defendants in the lawsuit include DeSantis, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd. Because the GRU authority board is a unit of the City of Gainesville, the city itself is listed as a nominal defendant in the case.

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The city itself may also take legal action against the bill.

In June the city commission authorized the spending of $250,000 from the GRU utility system reserves fund for the outside counsel of Ackerman, LLP, led by Cindy Laquidara, in hopes the counsel can provide legal advice in connection with analyzing and potentially litigating the impact of the bill on the city.

Since signing the bill, DeSantis is now responsible for issuing a public notice looking for citizen nominations within 120 days of the bill’s July 1 effective date.

The nomination period will last at least 30 days, and the governor will appoint the board members within 60 days of the nomination period ending.

The new board will have near-complete authority over managing the city’s utility beginning Oct. 4.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Local nonprofit files federal lawsuit over ‘GRU Takeover’ bill