Alachua Voter Guide

Nathan Skop is running for the At Large 1 seat of the Gainesville City Commission with a commitment to protect our community from the more than $3 billion biomass contract disaster of the commission’s own making.

If Nathan Skop is elected in the February 28, 2012 city runoff election, my understanding is that as a first order of business he would require GRU General Manager Robert Hunzinger to provide information about what construction has been completed at the GREC biomass site, and at what cost. In addition, it is my understanding that he would require GRU General Manager Robert Hunzinger to provide information about whether the infrastructure that has been put in place by GREC could be used, or could be adapted to, a less expensive form of electric power generation. It is my understanding that with the above information in hand he would seek the cooperation of other commissioners for a renegotiation of the GRU-GREC contract under terms that would favor the ratepayers of this community.

Commissioners can at long last stand up for ratepayers, or not. But make no mistake – if Nathan Skops’ efforts are rebuffed by GRU-GREC-biomass-plant-at-any-cost-to-ratepayers commissioners who remain committed to forcing the financially irresponsible GRU-GREC biomass disaster of the commission’s own making down ratepayer throats, there is a “death penalty” option.

Based on information that has come to light since previously secret portions of the GRU-GREC biomass contract were made public on April 6, 2011, the contract may be found by a court to be void on several bases:

1. GRU General Manager Robert Hunzinger, contrary to May 12, 2008 city commission instructions that he himself negotiate the GRU-GREC Contract, instead appointed an ad hoc committee, headed by GRU Assistant General Managers Ed Regan and John Stanton, whose meetings were required to have been noticed and opened to the public but were not;

2. Hunzinger, Regan, Stanton and others “daisy-chained” information between the Mayor and individual commissioners by GRU officials before the commission’s May 7, 2009 vote; and

3. The city commission on May 7, 2009 approved a contract differs substantially from the contract the commission authorized in a public meeting on May 12, 2008. Changed terms of the contract were not publicly noticed or discussed before the commission approved them.

These and other Sunshine Law violation, if established in court, provide bases on which a judge would be required to rule that the GRU-GREC contract is void and without legal effect.

The significance of all this is that if a court now determines the GRU-GREC contract is void, there is no contract to break. Should GREC file suit against GRU and/or the City of Gainesville to attempt to recover damages, no damages may be awarded to the extent GREC was on notice that its contract with GRU was in violation of the Sunshine Law but chose to proceed with construction at its own risk.