On May 15th, the Gainesville City Commission voted 6-1 (Commissioner Chestnut was the lone dissent) to begin the process of putting a second referendum to Gainesville voters that would abolish the GRU Authority this November. This was in response to Judge George Wright’s ruling that the Commission has the right to let voters decide whether to return control of GRU to the Commission, but that the 2024 ballot language was invalid. City staff will soon return to the commission with an ordinance officially putting the question on the ballot with the revisions to last year’s ballot language recommended by Judge Wright.

While this is a major victory for home rule in Gainesville, the road ahead will have many obstacles-the Commission voted only to begin the process of putting the referendum on the ballot. At least six Commissioners must vote yes twice on an ordinance formally putting the referendum on a November, 2025 ballot. The first reading of the ordinance will be on Thursday, June 5th.

This means Gainesville residents must make their voices heard NOW, so the Commission knows they need to finish the job nearly 73 percent of voters asked them to do last November. We will continue to work with our partners on this issue and will keep residents informed of opportunities to show their support.

Please take a moment to send the Commissioners an email asking them to vote YES on putting a GRU referendum on the ballot this November!