GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) — Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward and Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) CEO Ed Bielarski are trying to convince voters who should control the utility at a town hall on Tuesday night ahead of next week’s city referendum.

The referendum would remove the utility from a governor-appointed GRU Authority Board and return oversight to the city commission. Only city residents can vote, which means utility customers outside city limits have no say on the issue.

The authority filed a lawsuit to stop the city charter from being amended after last year’s vote, and a judge ruled the language on the ballot was unclear, nullifying the vote.

City leaders rewrote the proposal and put the referendum on the ballot for Tuesday, Nov. 4. The governor-appointed board voted to sue t

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