With early voting starting March 11 and election day looming March 19, the Alachua County Republican Party is making some noise in the city of Gainesville races.
The Alachua County Republican Executive Committee has started a Web site, www.lowermygrubill.com, targeting Mayor Craig Lowe and City Commissioner Randy Wells, who are both up for reelection. The site has an online petition that automatically sends and email to commissioners requesting that they lower Gainesville Regional Utilities bills.
“It specifically hits Lowe and Wells,” Alachua County REC chair Stafford Jones said.
The Web site and yard signs also state that “Lowe and Wells GRU our electric bills.”
“I’m expecting GRU to try and file a cease and desist notice because we’ve integrated their logo into a parody of their logo,” Jones said. “I’m expecting a cease and desist letter. My attorney has already prepared a letter telling them to pound sand.”
As it stands, GRU electric rates have declined since 2009. They do remain among the highest in the state for most usage levels and will increase next fiscal year as a result of the biomass plant. The utility has made a number of moves, including a hotly debated decision to build up a fund of some $23 million through current fuel charges, to try and limit the rate increase to $10.56 per 1,000 kilowatt-hours.
Lowe was a city commissioner when the biomass contract was unanimously approved in 2009. Wells was not yet in office.
The county Republican Party is also calling registered Republicans and urging them to vote for former City Commissioner Ed Braddy in the Mayor’s race. That phone message describes the 30- year biomass contract as a $3 billion “scheme.” The message also encourages a vote against the referendum to move city elections from every year in the Spring to the Fall of odd years and extend terms from three to four years.
If that referendum did pass, it would not affect the length of term for the offices on the ballot on March 19 and would fully take effect in 2017.