Officials Consistently Whispering to Each Other at Alachua County/City of Gainesville Joint Commissioner Meeting

Alachua County Commissioners, Gainesville City Commissioners, and multiple other local officials were consistently whispering to each other at Monday’s joint commissioner meeting. 

Commissioners were present to discuss the city–county streetlight agreement and infrastructure grant funding. The commissioners also heard presentations on the One Nation One Project program and Florida’s law against public camping.  

GnvInfo caught local officials on camera whispering to each other over two dozen times throughout the meeting. 

Item Contents: If you’re only interested in reading about one of the items, click on it to skip to coverage of that item.

Item 1: The Streetlights 

Item 2: Infrastructure Grant Funding

Item 3: One Nation One Project (gun violence prevention) program update 

Item 4: Discussion on House Bill 1365 (Florida’s public camping ban)

Item 1: The Streetlights 

The meeting began at 1:00 p.m. with commissioners discussing the payment of street lights by the City of Gainesville to Alachua County through Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU).

Mayor Harvey Ward said, “We have an existing, decades-old agreement between the Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Board of Commissioners assuming that the City of Gainesville can deliver utility functions. We cannot deliver utility functions…. I would like to see us dissolve the agreement and start from scratch because we do not deliver utility services through the Gainesville City Commission."

City Manager Cynthia Curry’s special advisor, Phil Mann, stated the streetlight agreements date back to 1941. Mann said, “The biggest thing for the city was that as the utility developed, it was a joint city-county reaching utility board, and in 1979 that board was dissolved with the utility coming over to the City of Gainesville with some considerations…. In the agreement that was called for, in exchange for the city utility company being able to use county right-of-way considerations, the city would pay for street lights and fire hydrants. In 1990, when the rubout agreement dissolved, a new agreement was executed between the city and the county…. At the time, [GRU] wasn’t even an independent charter; it was a department under the city manager. That agreement was approved in February 1990. What that agreement provided for was for the city to pay for street lights and fire hydrants in the unincorporated area…. In May 1990 the general manager was changed from a department in general government to its own independent charter officer. In 2005 the City Commission altered the fire hydrant charges to be included in base rates of water. That took effect October 1, 2006…. The city’s position is that with the [GRU] Authority, the city should no longer be paying this because there is no benefit to the city’s side. The benefit is to the authority and GRU.”

Since October 2023, GRU has been under the authority of a state-appointed board.

Gainesville City Commissioner Bryan Eastman said “I always thought the person who lost out the most in this agreement was Alachua County…. We are all owed as governments, some amount of franchise fee for the use of our right-of-way. Our taxpayers pay for the roads that deliver the electricity, the water, all of that. We paid for that over time. We continue to maintain those. Every government is owed some rental fee for the use of that right-of-way. I just took the FY22 audited financial statements of GRU, I looked at a 6% electric, 3% water fee, and 3% wastewater fee, and that would come out to about $6 million that GRU would be paying directly to the county as opposed to the $1.3 million that you guys are getting from the streetlights and fire hydrants deal. I would imagine that GRU should jump at the opportunity to take this up, but I was kind of surprised that GRU decided they wanted to pass the buck to us.”

Alachua County Commissioner Ken Cornell said, “I think we might be a little premature in talking about this. As I understand it, there was a ballot referendum, and there’s a lawsuit…. Let's see how that materializes over the coming months. When I went back and reread this agreement, I noticed that if there was any right-of-way compensation that the county would be asking for, we’d need to do that by March 1 next year for the upcoming fiscal year. That’s obviously going to entail a study that's not going to be done by March 1, which means we're not gonna be able to meet that in this agreement…. When you look at the value of the right–of–ways, they probably far exceed this agreement that we have with the taxpayers and ratepayers…. I think the county is probably going to come back with a recommendation with a right-of-way study, which would be a good place to begin a discussion with GRU, the city, and the county, but certainly we haven’t even started that process…. I think the best case scenario would be to tell our staff to work on that and see if they can come back before March 1, 2026, for the 2026–2027 fiscal year, and that should give the authority and the city plenty of time to sort out the lawsuit.”  

Ward responded, “All that is great, but the agreement, aside from the money, contemplates the city providing things we are not able to provide. It is a mechanically broken agreement.”

Cornell said, “Mr. Mayor, you still own GRU, so you do provide it. GRU is the authority governing it, but you are the owner of the utility. That statement, I just disagree with it.” 

“We are unable to compel them to do anything,” said Ward.

Cornell said, “Again, you said ‘unable to provide,’ but the utility is owned by the city. Until it's not, I view them together. Obviously there's some friction of how they and you operate, but they are still owned by you.”

Ward said, “We cannot compel the utility legally to provide services that are demanded in this agreement.” 

Cornell responded, “I believe these are the two wrong bodies having this discussion. I believe the city and GRU should enter into agreements back and forth about what you require of them and they require of you. 

Ward responded, “You’re suggesting that two years out maybe something can be done about this, and in the meantime the taxpayers of the City of Gainesville, who are half of your taxpayers, will continue to be on the hook for it.” 

Cornell shot back. “This is a back and forth, and I’m happy to continue. So, no, this agreement has certain dates, and those dates require that if we're going to do something, we have to do it at a certain date…. There is no way the county can do a study and notify GRU or the city by March 1, 2025, under this agreement, so by definition, based on this agreement, the soonest we could do it would be March 1, 2026.” 

As Cornell was talking to Ward, City Manager Cynthia Curry began whispering to Gainesville Chief Operating Officer Andrew Pearsons.

Alachua County Commissioner Mary Alford said the county needed to have discussions with their staff and that they’re not ready to make a decision on the street light agreement yet. 

Gainesville City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said they should notify the GRU Authority that discussions about the streetlight agreements have begun. She said, “We cannot allow this to linger. I think first a letter from the mayor to the authority notifying them they need to contact Alachua County and that Alachua County plans to have a study…. See if there’s some way that the authority can assist them in that study…. Schedule this for the next joint meeting at the top of the next agenda.”

Commissioner Casey Willis said, “Our City Charter calls upon us to extricate the relationship between the GRU Authority and the City. Even before [October 2023], we started to make some moves. While the City Commission still had full authority over GRU, we moved the payment for these street lights to GRU to line it up more for the future that was coming.” 

As Willis was talking, Pearsons and Curry began whispering to each other again. 

Willis asked Mann if there would be a way for Alachua County and GRU to continue with the current payment without a right-of-way study. Mann said he wasn’t qualified to answer the question.  

Alachua County Assistant County Manager for Budget & Fiscal Services Tommy Crosby walked up to the speaking stand and said, “We have not received a bill or paid anything for the last two years. There has been no transaction. The number was down to below $800,000 in Fiscal Year 2022; that’s the last time there was a transaction between the city and the county. In 2023-2024 the work was done by GRU. They didn’t send us a bill, nor did we request payment for the surcharge…. As long as we're not getting billed and we're getting the service and the streetlights are on, the county is fine. We don’t see the urgency and concern. It would seem like it would make more sense on the county’s side to wait and see with the city and GRU; what works out with legal action and voting and all that stuff to know who that partner is and make sure it's all still appropriate and good. GRU has decided to do away with the 10% surcharge, but they have not indicated they’re going to stop running the streetlights. 

As Crosby was speaking, Eastman quietly exchanged a brief word with Cornell. 

Willis responded to Crosby, “So just to be clear, GRU customers outside of the city in the unincorporated area are not paying any extra for street lights, but GRU is requesting that city taxpayers subsidize people who don't live in the city?”

“That’s a GRU question,” said Crosby. 

Ward said he “understands why it doesn’t feel urgent to the county, but Gainesville taxpayers are paying it whether you’re getting the money in the county or not.”

Alachua County Commission Chair Charles “Chuck” Chestnut IV said, “At least give us some time; this has just sprung up upon us. I know the back material, and I'm familiar with this because I used to be a city commissioner at one point too. So I understand what's going on, and I just think that, you know, give us some time to work this out.”

As Chuck Chestnut was speaking, Eastman and Cornell began whispering to each other again. Eastman began smiling while Cornell took a sip of his drink. 

Chuck Chestnut asked county staff if GRU had asked for any payments.

Assistant County Manager for Public Works and Growth Management Missy Daniels said, “No, we have not. Like Tommy said, we received notice from GRU a couple of years ago that they were going to stop billing us, and no payments have gone back and forth.”

As Daniels was speaking, Eastman whispered something to Cornell once more. 

Chuck Chestnut began reiterating how Alachua County needs more time. As Ward responded, Curry quietly conversed with her special advisor, Mann. Curry then walks up to the stand and makes what appears to be a hand signal before sitting back down.

Cornell motioned for Alachua County’s staff to come back with a right–of–way study. 

Cynthia Chestnut made a motion to notify GRU of the dilemma and to ask Alachua County to come back with recommendations at the next joint city-county meeting. 

Following the motions, Ward asked Curry if she had any comment, and she said she did not. 

During public comment, Gainesville resident Chuck Ross said that GRU is being “run by general manager [Ed Bielarski] because none of the authority members know how to run a utility, and they pretty much do whatever he asks them to do, which is a different problem. As an example, the finance director went to the last meeting and asked him to pull from the consent agenda the reduction for this payment of $1.3 million, and they refused to pull it from the consent agenda…. One of the four [GRU board members], aside from the chair who represents commercial customers, is supposed to be from outside the city or a county representative. You don't have that, just so you know.”

Jim Konish said, “Every single statement, every single one, is false. In the mid 1990s, the county was bamboozled into imposing a privilege fee on the use of right-of-ways, allowing utilities to operate without a franchise agreement. During a bond validation proceeding, this was struck down by the Supreme Court in a four-page opinion.” Konish spoke to Ward, saying, “You have a contract with the county to pay for their streetlights, sir. At the final budget hearing for FY '24, we had to recess for 45 minutes while you and Cunningham argued because you weren’t honoring that contract—acting like pirates. The authority deducted FY '23 from your transfer and will deduct FY '24 unless the county pays for its streetlights.” 

Konish said, “The claim that we’ll go to the property appraiser and tax right-of-way infrastructure is false because it’s tax-exempt, like all government property. Mr. Cornell is completely and totally wrong and uninformed on the subject.”

Ward questioned Konish’s “pirates” comments. 

Konish said he called the city "pirates" for ”taking more money than GRU made, getting caught with it, and having the utility taken away," and then he walked out of the room. 

The commissions passed both of the aforementioned motions. The county was unanimous, and the city passed with Willis as the only dissenter. 

Item 2: Infrastructure Grant Funding 

City Manager Cynthia Curry’s special advisor, Phil Mann walked up to the speaking stand and said, “Today, we’re going to talk to you about the grant money the county offered when the surtax was approved. For the city, it totals—and while I’m not fond of this number, it is what it is—$6,666,666. We should either add or take away a dollar there.”

Surtaxes are an additional level of taxes on top of an already established tax and are used for funding local authorized projects.  

Mann said, “The city is proposing two projects on the infrastructure side. The first is the Northeast 9th Street milling and resurfacing project, spanning from East University Avenue to Northeast 23rd Avenue. The second project is the Southwest Public Safety Center, to be located at 1400 Southwest Archer Road. We are currently in negotiations with North Florida Regional Medical Center to purchase property immediately west of their new urgent care center on Archer Road.”

The Northeast 9th milling and resurfacing project will include the elimination of parking bays and the installation of protected bike lanes from E. University Ave to NE 23rd Ave, providing access to Howard Bishop Middle School and Metcalfe Elementary School. Mann said the city is recommending $2.3 million of the county’s grant be used on this project. 

Mann said the Southwest Public Safety Center will serve as a fire rescue station, a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) substation, a public works warehouse, and a community room for public meetings. Mann said the city is recommending $1 million be used from the county’s grant to help fund this project. 

Mann said the Southwest Public Safety Center’s estimated construction cost is $28 million. 

The director of Wild Spaces Public Places, Betsy Waite, gave a presentation on their side of the infrastructure grant. She said their grant would be split in several ways to fund several local projects. 

One of the projects Waite proposed would be a trail along NE 31st Ave. 

Commissioner Desmond Duncan-Walker asked Waite, “Can you share with us where this trail intersects with any major highways?”  

Waite responded, “So we have Waldo Road to the East—”

“Stop right there,” said Duncan-Walker. She said, “One of our trails crosses Waldo Road, and for me it is harrowing every time I know that I approach it because what tends to happen is people have built up to a certain amount of speed, lawful or not, but even if it is lawful, sometimes by the time the light is triggered, people still have to slam on brakes in order to stop safely…. If I'm driving down the street, and I'm at 35 miles an hour, but I'm coming up on the area to stop, and a pedestrian or someone who is on a bicycle wants to cross Waldo Road, but I am now almost at the trail, traveling just at 35 miles an hour, or by the time I get to the trail, the light pops on, and I now have to throw on brakes at the trail, I'm trying to figure out how we have studied or how we can prevent accidents.”

Mann responded, “Originally we had the rapid flashing beacons out there, and obviously we still had issues with those because of a variety of issues, so we got the department of transportation to put up the traffic signal that's there now. The way that signal works is just like any other traffic signal. It starts flashing to let you know it's going to change, and the length of time it flashes is just like a traffic signal; it's based on the speed limit of the road.”

Duncan–Walker said it sounds like the crosswalks would work in theory, but that she had personally seen many people being forced to rapidly step on their brakes. 

Wheeler asked Waite if the Wild Spaces Public Places would be ambitious in finding more funding sources for their projects. As she was asking the question, Eastman and Cornell exchanged a brief word. 

Waite said they’re more engaged in project management than grant seeking and that they have other grant funds for other projects. 

As Waite continued her presentation, Ward leaned over to whisper something to Duncan-Walker, attracting Cornell’s attention. Whatever Ward said caused Duncan-Walker to smile. Duncan-Walker and Cornell began whispering to each other. Duncan-Walker began nodding her head and smiling while looking in Ward’s direction. Then Cornell began whispering with Eastman. 

Duncan-Walker asked Waite if any funding may be coming from the school board. While she was asking the question, Alachua County Commissioner Mary Alford appears to be whispering to City Commissioner Casey Willis in the corner of the camera.

Curry walked up to the speaking stand and said, “We're still a long way from that. We're so early, commissioner; those conversations have to take place. We cannot do it alone. We will be meeting with the school board, but we are not there yet.

Duncan-Walker said “Since there are other interested parties, I'm very interested and excited to have those conversations with what it is that they'll be bringing forward.”

Pearsons patted Curry on the back and briefly whispered something to her a few minutes after she sat back down. Curry began shaking her head while slightly smiling. 

Wheeler began talking about adding some additional housing to the project. As she was speaking, Mann whispered something to Curry.

Pearsons whispered something to Curry again as Waite continued her presentation. 

As Waite was speaking about the Sweetwater Wetlands project, County Manager Daniels, Cornell, and County Communications Director Mark Sexton all got up and exited the room. 

The Sweetwater Wetlands project includes the construction of a visitors' center and prairie tower. Wheeler asked Waite if the developments would be in the same area.  

Waite responded that the construction may be connected but that they’ll be separate spaces. Wheeler and Willis briefly whispered to each other after Waite answered the question. 

Waite began speaking about proposed improvements to the Split Rock Preserve at Sweetwater Wetlands. 

While Waite was speaking, Curry heard from her special advisor, Mann.

Cornell returned to the meeting as Waite continued her presentation.  

As Waite concluded her presentation, Cornell and Eastman began whispering to each other again. 

The City Commission had already moved to accept the aforementioned projects at a previous meeting. The county moved unanimously to accept the projects. Willis and Alford could be seen whispering to each other shortly before the county’s vote. 

Item 3: One Nation One Project program update 

The commissioners heard an update about Gainesville’s One Nation One Project program that was developed in 2023 to combat the epidemic of shootings in the community. 

Since May 2024, multiple people in Gainesville have been shot, but there haven't been any shooting deaths. There has been a decrease in shootings this year compared to 2023 and the previous few years.

Coleman attributed part of the success to GPD’s gun violence unit, launched in August 2023. 

Coleman said, “We've been able to work with Parks and Rec in their youth, resilience and well-being were collaborative and partnered with the Gainesville Housing Authority for some community canvases and neighborhoods where we go and knock on doors and introduce ourselves and get a sense of what the people need and are feeling as it relates to gun violence…. We continue to do our crisis intervention and de-escalation classes. Most recently we hosted our community safety day, which combined our crisis de-escalation and Stop the Bleed segment and a Narcan training, and as we do these trainings and have done them in the past, we want to continuously be evolving based on the feedback that we've been given.” 

Coleman said that the Children’s Trust of Alachua County approved $500,000 in funding for One Nation One Project for Fiscal Year 2025. Coleman said, “$222,000 is for grant-funded projects, $30,000 for a strategic planning consultant to bring together collective efforts under a collaborative plan, $150,000 for violence interruption and training, $4,700 to our youth steering committee and to bring in a new facilitator to help in those efforts, $50,000 for technology hubs, and there's some funding in there for the county to start two additional steering committees.”

Youth Services Director for Gainesville Parks, Rec, and Cultural Affairs, Cherie Kelly, and Community Health Director of Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR), Brandy Stone, shared more about the One Nation One Project program and what they learned from Gainesville’s youth while facilitating it. 

One Nation One Project is a national program with 17 other cities around the U.S. participating.

Stone said Gainesville was part of an original cohort of nine cities selected for the program, and an additional nine cities were later added.

While Stone was speaking, Eastman and Cornell began whispering to each other. 

Stone showed a map displaying where shooting incidents in Gainesville are concentrated. Blue dots mean one incident, while white dots mean that multiple incidents have occurred in that area.

As Stone was showing Gainesville’s gun-related statistics, Eastman and Cornell began whispering to each other once more.

While Stone was sharing information on health and well-being trends, Eastman exited the room.

Kelly showed a chart displaying the local programs and organizations that partnered with One Nation One Project for various events. 

Participants of the One Nation One Project reported music as the most participated arts/culture activity. 

45% of the participants we aged 4-11; 16% were aged 12-14; 30% were aged 15-18; 8% were aged 19-24, and 1% were aged 35-49.

Stone presented data indicating that local youth have gained a healthier attitude towards gun violence. As she was speaking, Cornell whispered something to Duncan-Walker, causing her to smile and slightly nod her head.

Kelly began presenting the best practices of the One Nation One Project program. As she was speaking, Alford briefly whispered something to Willis. 

Kelly detailed how the One Nation One Project program implemented cross-sector collaboration. At this point, Eastman had been out of the room for roughly six minutes.

Eastman returned with a cup of coffee and exited the room with Cornell moments later. Eastman came back into the room about 20 seconds later. Cornell returned about 1 ½ minutes after Eastman returned.  

Willis left the meeting early during the One Nation One Project presentation. As he went to leave, Duncan-Walker followed him out of the room. Ward then briefly whispered something to Cynthia Chestnut. A minute later, Cornell and Eastman began whispering again. Duncan-Walker returned a few minutes later. Shortly after, City Clerk Kristen Bryant got up and whispered something to Cynthia Chestnut.

Cynthia Chestnut got up and left the meeting shortly after she spoke with Bryant.

Duncan-Walker spoke about how, as the meeting was ongoing, victims of the Abundant Life Christian School shooting in Wisconsin were suffering from gun violence. “I would like to ask all of my colleagues and anybody who's watching in this room to keep the individuals who are in Wisconsin in our hearts because just as we sat here, there was a shooting at a school where two were killed. As we sat on this dais talking about gun violence, we are so blessed and so privileged to be able to share today about how our numbers are going down, yet there are people who right now are hurting.”

While Cornell was thanking Coleman, Kelly, and Stone for their presentation, Ward exchanged a quiet laugh with Chuck Chestnut.

Cornell commended how the city and county, Santa Fe College and nonprofits came together for One Nation One Project, and said the collaboration should continue. As he was speaking, Curry and Mann exchanged a quiet word. 

As Book congratulated Coleman, Kelly and Stone, Cornell and Duncan-Walker began whispering to each other. 

The item was informational only, so commissioners didn’t make any motions.

Item 4: Discussion on House Bill 1365 (Florida’s public camping ban)

Mann gave the city a presentation on Florida’s public camping ban and explained the implementation of the city’s recently passed ordinance allowing them to legally punish people for publicly camping. 

Mann said, “The state enacted this Florida statute last summer known as House Bill 1365 that went into effect on October 21 of 2024. There is a fourth subsection that goes into effect on January 1, 2025. That bill defines public camping and public sleeping. The city just went through a process to adopt ordinance 2024-947, which codifies what goes into our code and gives us an enforcement mechanism and makes it a code violation to publicly camp or sleep on city property, city parks, or right-of-way. The goal is to provide services to those people that are most in need. I think when I addressed our commission, one of the things we talked about is that our objective is not to criminalize homelessness or arrest people. If it happens, it is going to be a last resort."

At least one arrest has taken place during local homeless camp sweeps, occurring at the Lynch Park sweep on May 10. GnvInfo was not present at the scene and does not know the identity of the person arrested. However, both a GPD officer and a witness confirmed the arrest during a follow-up sweep on SE 4th Pl.

Mann said that the city implemented an encampment reporting mechanism through the My GNV app. Mann said that once reported, the city will make a determination within five business days if the reported encampment constitutes a legal violation. 

Mann said, “Our ultimate goal is to achieve voluntary compliance with both the code and the statute. Again, we do not want to arrest people…. If it is a park, the process is that the park staff will reach out to the encampment or the people sleeping and try to get voluntary compliance…. Our next approach will be to have outreach organizations reach out in an attempt to provide services, and some of the services we've got are the community paramedicine program. We were talking about the One Nation One Project. We've got the downtown ambassador program that just began in the last few weeks in Gainesville, the Grace MarketPlace outreach team, and the GPD corresponder team. One of the things we just celebrated is the opening of the Meridian Healthcare Joint Intake facility…. If we have to involve the police department, the first attempt by the police department will be to try to get voluntary compliance. If after repeated attempts we can’t get voluntary compliance, that’s when GPD will be forced to take whatever action we’ll be forced to do.”

Mann said that if an unhoused person has belongings they’re forced to leave behind when being forcefully moved, the city doesn't throw their stuff away. Mann said the city keeps it at a public works facility for 90 days. 

This wasn't the case with at least one previous sweep. Photos and videos from the May 16 SE 4th Pl tent encampment sweep show homeless people's belongings being shoved into trash bags and clumped into a truck in an unorganized manner. GPD and GFR assisted public works employees using a crane to destroy tents homeless people were living in.

GnvInfo has not been present at any other sweeps, and hasn't independently verified if sweeps of a similar nature are regularly practiced by the City of Gainesville. GPD Captain Victoria Young gives an update on homeless camp sweeps every three months at GPD Quarterly Updates.

Mann said the ordinance will be implemented in “Downtown, Midtown, and everywhere we have homeless encampments.” 

Wheeler began talking about the locations of local homeless encampments. While she was speaking, Chuck Chestnut and Duncan-Walker exchanged a quiet word. Cornell and Eastman happened to be whispering to each other at the same time. 

Ward began saying that the conversation shouldn’t become about all things related to homelessness but that the city and county would need to have that conversation in the future. As Ward was talking, Eastman and Cornell began whispering to each other again. 

Ward said, “There's a lot to be said about where we provide services. If we provide more services downtown, that's where folks will congregate, so if that is our desired result, then we should provide more services downtown. I'm not sure that's our desired result, so just a thought there.”

Alford said she used to do a coat giveaway every year on one of the coldest nights of each year but that she stopped after someone asked her to redirect the services to Grace MarketPlace. 

Eastman and Cornell continued their quiet conversation as Alford spoke.  

Chuck Chestnut commended the city for their handling of the new Florida statute and said it was more compassionate than cities in South Florida that have been incarcerating homeless people. According to WLRN, in Miami-Dade County more people have been booked into jail for illegal camping so far in 2024 than in the previous eight years combined.

Eastman said that Gainesville’s most recent homeless count shows there are 639 homeless people in Gainesville, and 346 of them do not have beds. 

The item was informational and the commissioners took no action. 

Before the meeting‘s adjournment, commissioners heard from Demetrius Branca, who's been going around the state speaking to commissions about his work to strengthen Florida’s distracted driving statute after his son’s death. 

Man Speaks to Gainesville City and Alachua County Commissioners on Making Florida Hands Free

commissioners heard from Demetrius Branca, who’s been going around the state to strengthen Florida’s distracted driving statute

Gainesville Public Information ServicesJack Walden

After 3 ½ hours, the commissioners adjourned their last meeting of this year. 

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