All four current members of the GRU Authority Board submitted resignation letters over a lawsuit filed by Gainesville Residents United, a nonprofit organization aiming to bring awareness to the board’s takeover.
The resignations will take in 60 days and were submitted to act as a settlement for the lawsuits, according to the Gainesville Sun.
The law establishing the GRU Authority Board required board members to live within Gainesville’s city limits, but only one of the original five members live within the city limits.
The current four members have operated the board since Oct. 1, giving them control over municipality utility decisions.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed James Coats IV, Robert Karow and Christopher “Eric” Lawson in September and the final two — Craig Carter and Tara Ezzell — in early October. Ezzell resigned shortly after her appointment because she did not meet the residency requirements of the law.
The current members will stay on until DeSantis appoints new members, but it’s unclear if any of the current members will reapply for the position.
Residents were critical of the a governor-appointed utility board, raising concerns over residency issues and the selection process, which local officials nor residents had say over.
Contact Ella Thompson at ethompson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @elladeethompson.
Ella Thompson is a fourth-year journalism major and the Fall 2024 Digital Managing Editor. She was previously the Metro Editor at The Alligator and an intern at the Las Vegas Review-Journal covering education. In her free time, she likes to cook soup, read a good book and plan her next trip.
