After years of debate, the city of Gainesville is moving ahead with enforcing a controversial law requiring energy-efficiency inspections in smaller rental properties.
The proposal, which affects only rental properties with four units or less, is opposed by real estate organizations but supported by advocates for the poor.
State law prohibits local governments from passing laws requiring the inspections for rental buildings with five or more units.
The Gainesville City Commission last week picked C.A.P. Government Inc. out of Coral Cables to start conducting the inspections on Oct. 1. The commission authorized staff to enter into contract negotiations with the firm.
Gainesville City Commissioners, Consultants Work To Add Racial Equity In Comprehensive Plan Update
By Hannah Shelton
April 1, 2021
The Gainesville City Commission is seeking to cement racial equity considerations into city planning rules in a way it has never done before.
These rules will be revised through Imagine GNV, which the city describes as “an update to the…Comprehensive Plan that centers racial equity and the experiences and priorities of Black Gainesvillians and other historically-marginalized communities.” The city has hired New York-based consultants HR&A Advisors, Inc. to help complete the update.
Lydia Gaby and Eri Furusawa, two HR&A employees, delivered a virtual presentation on Wednesday to update commissioners on their current progress and future plans for Imagine GNV. They proposed goals, strategies and an eight-chapter outline that prioritizes racial equity in the new Comprehensive Plan. The city is paying HR&A $212,600 to assist with the plan changes.
Beverly King spent the day campaigning for incumbent Commissioner Gigi Simmons at Springhill Missionary Baptist Church.
“Gigi is a person of her word, she has really helped out in our community, the Porters community,” King said.
Right across the street, Jason Davis campaigned for Simmons’ opponent, Desmon Duncan-Walker.
“I care about our community, what is going on with it. I’m supporting my cousin Desmon Duncan-Walker because she cares about our community,” he said.
At Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, Simmons’ mother was out campaigning.
The polls closed at 7 p.m. Before the result, Simmons and Duncan-Walker both said they felt good about their campaigns. Simmons said she felt confident she would win a second term, despite the fact that an incumbent had not won the District 1 seat since 2009. Unofficial results showed her coming up short to Duncan-Walker, according to results posted shortly after 8 p.m. Johnson won reelection over her challenger, Gabriel Hillel.
Meet the candidates for the Gainesville Regular Election - The Independent Florida Alligator alligator.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from alligator.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Voters can go in person to vote early from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at four locations: the Supervisor of Elections Office, the Millhopper Branch Library, the Reitz Union and the Martin Luther King Jr. Multipurpose Center.