Florida reenters GRU tug-of-war, Newberry elections
Hello from Gainesville, Florida. It's Monday, March 2, and you're listening to StreetSmart. I'm Seth Johnson. StreetSmart is a weekly podcast from Mainstreet Daily News, where we cover local news that informs, engages, and inspires listeners like you. A big thanks to our sponsor, Forest Meadows Funeral Home, where compassion meets experience.
Seth:Check out their beautiful gardens, funeral home, and tribute center for cremations, funerals, and memorials all in one trusted place. With exceptional care and personal attention, Forest Meadows is here to honor every life with care.
Seth:Here's the top headlines we're rounding up.
Seth:The Fort White Town Council decided not to dissolve the town last week. Members had discussed the possibility for a few months, citing insufficient funds to be able to bolster staffing. Without an attorney, the town couldn't draft an ordinance needed to dissolve and the idea didn't garner support from the public.
Seth:The state of Florida acquired almost 3,000 acres for a conservation easement near Hawthorne and Little Orange Creek. The $5,400,000 acquisition through the Florida Forever program permanently protects the land's natural resources. Resources.
Seth:427 students have enrolled in Newberry Community School ahead of the charter school's first year starting in August. The school is replacing Newberry Elementary School after a landmark vote in 2025.
Seth:Two Gainesville brothers are opening indoor golf clubs around Alachua County. Future Country Club offers a virtual golf simulator with two Gainesville locations and another set to open in Alachua.
Seth:As always, visit mainstreetdailynews.com for more details on our stories. Thanks to our generous members, this news stays free for the whole community with no paywall.
Seth:Thanks again for listening to Street Smart. I'm Seth Johnson, and Alachua County is gearing up for a lot of elections this year. Each of the municipalities in the county were scheduled to have elections. However, two of those cities, La Crosse and Micanopy, have canceled theirs after no one filed to run against the incumbents. And covering it all, at least a lot of it, is Lillian Hamman.
Seth:Thanks for joining.
Lillian:Thanks for rounding all that up, Seth. It's a lot to keep track of. And we are now officially through two qualifying periods for Alachua and Newberry. They have elections coming up on Tuesday, April 14. In the city of Alachua, the stage is set with three candidates for seat three.
Lillian:It's gonna be another three year term. So incumbent Dana Williams did apply to run again. She's been on the commission since 2018. She's been vice mayor twice, And she also works with WastePro, the solid waste company here in town.
Lillian:Another one of the candidates is Bill Menadier.
Lillian:Bill was recently appointed to Alachua's Planning and Zoning Board in December after having served a couple years ago as well. And he owns a private engineering firm in town, Menadier Engineering, and works as a realtor.
Lillian:And those two candidates took a little bit to put in their applications kind of right before the qualifying period. But Jackson Youmas, who is a CVS store manager, put in his application to run back in October and announced it at a January city commission meeting.
Seth:He has been ready and waiting.
Lillian:Absolutely.
Seth:And there's only one seat open there in Alachua, so it'll be a tight race between those three candidates. We got multiple seats open though in Newberry.
Lillian:We do. And all of the incumbents for them tend to run. So we have seat one, which is Rick Coleman, and Brandy Oldman is going to challenge him for that seat. And unlike Alachua, these are going to be two year terms. So seat two is also up for grabs.
Lillian:Mark Clark is in that seat right now, and David Wallace is gonna challenge him. In seat three, we have Monty Farnsworth, who is the incumbent, and he will be challenged by Naim Joseph Erched and JD Mercado. At the last Newbery Commission meeting, Farnsworth announced that this will be his last go at running for city commission, whether he wins or loses.
Seth:And we'll announce the other candidates for the other cities once those are done, along with the state house and senate, which also has some open seats, and the county, which has a very competitive seat for District 2. So we'll keep you in the loop for that.
Lillian:And this week, we're also back to Gainesville Regional Utilities. What's going on there, Seth?
Seth:Yeah. This past week wasn't scheduled to be a big week for Gainesville Regional Utilities. Everybody's just been waiting for the appeal court to issue a decision, and obviously, there's no timeline on that. However, a state representative put a 24 word amendment in a bill that has been kind of marching through different committees and that 24 word amendment landed with a punch when people saw it because it seems to target Gainesville Regional Utilities and the authority and will make it permanent despite several votes by Gainesville residents here in town that would actually dissolve the GRU authority. The amendment was passed really without comment by the final committee and is now moving on to the House floor.
Seth:Here in Gainesville, leaders heard about the amendment and had a regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday where they added it to the agenda and Gainesville city commissioners were not happy. They said the Florida Legislature should wait and let the courts decide how these lawsuits go and honor the referendums if that's where things kind of land with the lawsuits. Mayor Harvey Ward also pointed out that this is a pretty targeted amendment only touching Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority. In the amendment, since it's so short, I'll just read for you. It says, the subject of a regional utilities authority created by the legislature through charter amendment after January 1, 2023, is expressly preempted to the state, and the GRU authority is the only regional utilities authority created by the legislature through charter amendment after January 1, 2023. So Gainesville is kind of the only area that's gonna be involved and impacted by this amendment.
Seth:The Alachua County Labor Coalition has also started to mobilize against this amendment, sending out messaging on social media, encouraging people to call and email their representatives at that Gainesville meeting. The city commission authorized the mayor to send letters to the speaker of the house, the president of the senate, the entire Alachua County legislative delegation, and other Tallahassee leaders. They asked the mayor to especially emphasize that voters want the jury authority to dissolve according to the last two referendums and that this is ongoing before, two different Florida courts. And representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson, who's one of those Alachua County legislative delegates, also put out a statement on the issue condemning the amendment, asking that it would be removed. The labor coalition even went so far as saying it's taking a bipartisan bill and making it partisan because of this 24 word amendment.
Seth:The bill overall doesn't deal with regional utilities. It's more focused on city owned municipalities that are operating outside of their city limits and putting some restrictions on them. Another member of the Alachua County Legislative delegation, Chad Johnson, came out in support of the bill. I talked with him over the phone and he said the amendment is simply putting into words what legislature already intended with its 2023 legislation which created the GRU Authority. He said there's implied and there's expressed preemption for the state legislature, and whereas, you know, the GRU authority was already under implied preemption that it shouldn't be touched and that the legislature didn't want it touched, this amendment just codifies that and makes it super clear.
Seth:Obviously, other officials might disagree with that, but that's where things stand currently. That amendment will be going to the House floor and potentially onto the Senate if it passes. So, obviously, still up in the air whether it will pass, but it could be really big impacts if it does. Another thing of note is that there is a companion bill in the Senate that follows the exact same mirror language, but it has not included the amendment, at least so far.
Lillian:And we're gonna take a quick break to hear from our sponsor, Forest Meadows, before we come back with the news forecast and event roundup.
Sponsor:At Forest Meadows, our commitment is simple. Exceptional care, personal attention, and respect for every family we serve. Forest Meadows offers every option in one trusted place. Visit our beautiful gardens and glass front niches, or plan ahead for cremation, funerals, and memorials at our funeral home or tribute center located on our cemetery grounds. Forest Meadows, where compassion meets experienced and every life is honored with care.
Lillian:Now for this week's news forecast. Today, the city of Hawthorne will break ground on a new resource center. The center will provide residents with food and various community resources. Also today, Newberry's planning and zoning board will vote on-site plans for a new greenhouse. The greenhouse is part of Harvest Singularity's $132,000,000 investment into Newberry's innovation park.
Lillian:And the Gainesville City Commission will meet on Thursday to review funding for Heartwood Soundstage and a search for its next city manager. Commissioners will also review its planned 4 and a half million dollar Streatery construction contract.
Seth:Now for our event segment covering upcoming family friendly events this weekend. Florida Gators baseball will take on Florida Atlantic University at the Gainesville Ballpark tomorrow night at 6PM, while men's basketball takes on Mississippi State at the O'Connell Center at 8PM. The number four ranked Gator gymnastics team will take on number two LSU on Sunday, while Gator softball challenges the University of Missouri. Santa Fe College will put on its jazz up spring concert at 07:30PM on Friday in the Lyceum Concert Hall. Tickets start at $10.
Seth:Gator Nationals will kick off at sixty fifth edition this weekend at Gainesville Raceway, starting Thursday and running through Sunday. Thanks so much for joining us for this episode of the StreetSmart Podcast. Now in our second month, is our first March episode and exactly one month after our February second launch. How does it feel?
Lillian:That's a milestone for sure, and we haven't taken our eyes off print. In fact, this week, we're printing extra 1,800 newspapers in celebration of Newspaper and Education Week. It's a really unique opportunity for students in the Alachua County Public School district to use Mainstreet copies to boost their literacy and learn about the news around them.
Seth:I think it might bring a little extra pressure knowing elementary students and middle school students will be reading over our copies this week, but glad to be of service and hope they enjoy this week's edition, which will have Gatornationals right there on the front. And that's all we've got for this week's Streetstreet Podcast brought to you by Mainstreet Daily News and made possible by our generous members. Another special thanks to Forest Meadows for believing in local news and sponsoring us. We'll be back next week to round up more local news that matters to you. Please share StreetSmart to help us continue the work.
Seth:And if you're interested in any stories we mentioned on StreetSmart, you can click on links in the show notes to go and read those stories for free at mainstreetdailynews.com, or you can pick up a print edition around Alachua County. Our theme music is Sunset Sonata by Gainesville's Own, Now Leaving Space. This episode is a production of MARC Media.
