Both the City and the Governor are voluntarily moving beyond procedural hurdles such as standing, discovery, interrogatories, and depositions by admitting all the facts necessary for a judge to rule on the issues. In this suddenly expedited timeframe, both parties are suggesting to Judge Angela Dempsey that she rule prior to the transfer of power on October 1st, or before the swearing-in and first meeting of the Utility Authority on October 4th. Judges set their own timetable, so it's possible her ruling will be made before these deadlines.

 

If the City prevails – which means there is no immediate takeover of GRU by the State – the Governor's office will have thirty days to appeal the decision. The State may choose not to appeal if our local legislative delegation indicates they will introduce yet another bill to change the governance of GRU – this time avoiding the unconstitutional elements they included in HB-1645. If the State prevails, the new Utility Authority Board will be seated and the City Commission will decide whether to appeal the verdict.

 

There are two other lawsuits against HB-1645, but they are in Federal court with a slower timeline. The first is our Gainesville Residents United, Inc. action, and the other was recently filed by former judge Nath Doughtie. These cases have both been assigned to U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, and are likely to be combined. Right now, the parties are in the process of swapping paper, such as the defendants' recent pro forma motions to be dismissed from the case and to question our right to sue. Both sides have submitted a suggested trial schedule to the federal judge, which may be modified based on what happens in the City's state case.

 

There are other actions contemplated by both sides of the issue. Since the State failed to follow their own rules in establishing the Utility Authority, there may be additional litigation over procedural matters. Based on comments by legislators, it is also possible they will be revising the Authority's legislative mandates whether or not the current legal challenges succeed. Finally, since the law disallows the Utility Authority to consider "social, political, or ideological issues", it's likely that when they inevitably do so, we will attempt to invalidate those decisions until the First Amendment is fully restored to Gainesville.

 

More than 250 people have contributed to the legal fund of Gainesville Residents United, Inc. These early and generous contributions enabled us to quickly prepare the legal research and develop these complex cases. HB-1645 was passed on May 4th, signed by the Governor on June 28th, then became law on July 1st. Two days later, Gainesville Residents United filed a comprehensive lawsuit with twelve counts in Federal court. We were able to do this quickly because we could engage a top-notch legal team to do their best work. And since we did file early, much of our research and analysis was available to the City's legal team, which is enabling their case to move with such alacrity and promising prospects.

 

If you can attend the September 22nd hearing in Tallahassee, it's bound to be interesting and a show of support is always nice. The swearing-in of the new Utility Authority appointees is currently scheduled for October 4th at noon (with the chance that it could be postponed or cancelled. And finally, the local legislative delegation is meeting on October 25th, and many folks are planning to discuss issues of importance with our legislators.

 

See the original post here.