Gainesville Regional Utilities has recently renewed its request for approval of funding for "smart" meters, estimated to cost over $47 million in the first two years during implementation.
The Gainesville City Commission considered the item during its Feb. 4 meeting. Sadly, news coverage of this important issue was quickly sidelined by a needless distraction, the arrest of a local attorney for failing to keep his face mask on during the meeting.
The meeting video discloses that the attorney’s mask slipped twice under his nose and that he apparently became frustrated with it and pulled it off while addressing the commission, saying to Mayor Lauren Poe, “I’m not going to put my mask on so I can be heard” and “I am more than six feet away.” (The video discloses no problem being heard.)