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MONDAY, MAY 19, 2025
VOLUME 119 - ISSUE 31 Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Michael Goston // Alligator Staff
Cassidy McLellan strikes the ball after a pitch by the Mercer Bears during their Friday match on Friday, May 16, 2025. Find this story in Sports on pg. 12.
Proposed GRU special election is another Santa Fe College considers chapter in the fight over utility control signing ICE agreement The 2025 referendum to return control back to the city is the newest entry in a decade-long battle By Logan McBride Alligator Staff Writer
On May 15, the Gainesville City Commission voted 6-1 to hold a special election in November. This election will retry a referendum to return control of Gainesville Regional Utilities to the city. Citizens and organizers from groups like Gainesville Residents United, the Alachua County Labor Coalition and the Alachua County NAACP branch offered public comments at the meeting. They repeatedly urged the commission to draft a new, improved referendum and hold a special election. In 2014 and 2015, Republican lawmaker Keith Perry proposed bills to change GRU’s governance to a new authority board, but
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT
Constellation Charter Story description finish with comma,
School closes abruptly after safety pg# concerns. Read more on pg. 5.
none advanced past committee. One bill cleared committee in 2016, but former Gov. Rick Scott vetoed it. Former Rep. Chuck Clemons sponsored a ballot measure in 2018 that would have appointed an authority board to control GRU. Voters rejected the measure, with 60% voting against it. In April 2023, Clemons filed House Bill 1645, which would turn control of GRU over to a governor-appointed authority board. The bill passed, and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law, forming the GRU Authority. After hearing complaints from Gainesville residents, the city commission placed a referendum on the November 2024 ballot to allow voters to decide whether to return control to the city.
Gainesville residents voted in favor of city control with a 72% majority — an even stronger margin than in 2018. Despite its passing, the authority board continued to fight in court. Judge George M. Wright of the Eighth Judicial Circuit nullified the referendum in April. Wright ruled the referendum’s wording was misleading. The term “elected,” not “appointed,” was used to refer to a charter officer who would help manage GRU. Wright took issue because the Gainesville charter officer would be appointed by the commission, not elected like the commissioners themselves. The GRU Authority has remained in control of GRU since.
SEE GRU, PAGE 4
Grad student evictions
Students given 60 days to find new housing, pg. 5
The Avenue: Situationships
A conversation on Gen Z dating, pg. 6
Santa Fe students and faculty express shock, confusion and wariness By Maria Avlonitis Alligator Staff
ICE is on Santa Fe College’s doorstep. While the agency has yet to knock on its door, faculty and students are wondering what a potential agreement with immigration enforcement means for their safety. In January, schools and churches lost the protection of being “sensitive” locations, or places where ICE is usually restricted from immigration enforcement actions. The Santa Fe Board of Trustees votes on May 20 whether to sign a 287(g) Task Force Model memorandum of agreement with the agency, a legally binding contract that would allow Santa Fe Police Department officers to act as immigration officers under ICE’s supervision.
The possible collaboration took many by surprise. Student concerns Aleeza Carruthers, a 29-year-old Santa Fe health services administration senior and the Santa Fe Student Senate President, said she’s worried the deal will shatter trust between SFPD and the student body. “ I would like the administration to know that if this is signed, students are going to be afraid, and there's not really a way to talk their way out of that,” Carruthers said. “It is going to create more fear than it fixes.” The college’s lack of effort to inform students about the agreement
SEE ICE, PAGE 3
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