GRU July Meeting

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On June 30, 2024, the Alachua Chronicle posted my letter titled: “Why

Craig Carter Should Immediately Resign From the GRU Authority”.

The original five (5) Governor-Appointed GRU Authority members were to

serve staggered terms from one (1) to four (4) years.

Carter resigned along with all GRU Authority members in order to settle a

private nuisance suit over GRU Authority member residency. He was subsequently

reappointed to finish another member’s term that expired 10/1/2024.

Nonetheless, Carter stayed on the Authority claiming verbal authorization

from the Governor’s office. Such a result is nowhere authorized in HB1645.

On December 3, 2023, a 50 minute hearing took place at the GRU Authority

meeting that revealed:

- The “Full Cost Allocation Payment” (FCAP) for GRU IT Services had been

falsified by Cunningham resulting in a 2024 GRU Service Level Agreement

(SLA) loss of $3 million. The GRU Chief Information Officer had refused to

sign the GRU IT FCAP Statement. The GRU CFO knew of the discrepancy

yet accepted the partial payment as full payment. The GRU CFO

acknowledged that this SLA loss was not included in the Flow of Funds (and

GRU Financial Statements) as required by HB1645.

The full audio and video for this meeting can be viewed at

www.whypaygrumore.com.

A member other than Carter made a motion to fire Cunningham for

Falsification of An Official Record, which can be criminal. Neither Carter nor any

other member seconded the 12/3/2023 motion.

The falsification of GRU IT FCAP Reports had been detected by the State

Auditor General for 2017-2018, and such SLA losses continued at ever increasing

levels through 2023.

On June 12, 2024, Carter publicly admitted to slow jamming implementation of

HB1645 with the collusion of Cunningham, Lawson, and Nee, and only then threw

Cunningham under the bus in an emotive outburst.

In June 2024, there was gridlock on the Authority regarding a proposed

complete pause in the GRU Direct Transfer to the City Commission.

Bielarski originally favored such a complete pause in his short stay as an unpaid

Authority member, but abandoned that position in order to get Cunningham fired

and get Lawson and Carter’s support to segway from unpaid Authority member to

GRU CEO/GM at a $1/3 million annual salary.

In October 2024, Bielarski proposed forgiving the 2024 $3 million IT SLA loss

WITHOUT INCLUDING the loss in the Flow of Funds or in the GRU Financial

Statement. Carter and the other GRU Authority members agreed unanimously with

this.

As a matter of fact, Bielarski currently claims there are no SLA losses, which is

a bald lie.

The ill-fated Johnson Bill would have deducted all GRU SLA losses from the

GRU Direct Transfer to the City. The current $8.5 million GRU Direct Transfer

from GRU to the City Commission is not large enough to offset GRU SLA Losses

(See Alachua Chronicle November 17, 2024 “Konish: SLAs Hide Transfers of

GRU Ratepayer Money to the City”).