Today, there is an epic decision to be made in the City of Gainesville. Are you voting for Lauren Poe, the guy that, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, believes he made the right decision on the GRU / GREC biomass plant, or are you voting for Nathan Skop, the guy that, while on the PSC, warned them of the financial consequences of this deal and is equipped to mitigate the upcoming, disastrous rate increases you are going to have to carry to cover the cost?

If you live in Gainesville and haven't voted, then please go vote. Who around you can you take with you? If you don't live in Gainesville, who do you know that does? Just yesterday, I found a couple of people in the community that hadn't voted and really weren't planning to vote. Today, they are going to vote for Nathan Skop.

Ten years ago, if you had told me that Harold Saive and Paula Stahmer would be in our Republican HQ making phone calls, I might have said you were crazy. But, that's how bad this biomass deal is, and that is how calvanized a large cross-section of the community is against this bad decision.  We are proud of the fact that our Tea Party friends have come to help us make phone calls, and we are proud of our Republican volunteers who did the same and are poll watching.  We are proud of all of the volunteers that took call sheets home, and we are proud of our Republican family from all over the state that helped to pitch in with those phone calls.  We are proud of all of the volunteers that walked neighborhoods with Nathan and are standing on street corners, and we are proud of the fact that so many Democrats and Independents came into Republican HQ to make phone calls because this is such a community changing issue.

We are the Republican Party, but his campaign has transcended idealogical and party boundaries.  Its been about accountability and affordability.  Its been about diversity of thought instead of letting the same group that made this mess continue to run it with their group think.

Today is the day.

 

Offended!  Offended, I say!  Craig Lowe is just offended and incredulous that Nathan Skop would point out that there is a dark side to Gainesville Regional Utility's Standard & Poor's rating, but that isn't half as entertaining as Susan Bottcher trying to paint a picture of Skop as a mentally deranged psychopath.  Yep, the last I heard, the stories out of the Poe, Lowe, Bottcher camp is that Skop goes out on weekends to club baby seals just for the sport of it.

So, back to GRU, Lowe and his whining about Nathan Skop.  Nathan correctly pointed out that the Gainesville City Commission's big lie is that the Standard & Poor's rating is, to a great deal, predicated on the fact that same City Commission is willing to continue to raise rates to meet the $1.025 billion (and growing) debt service, not to mention the more than $3 billion that they contracted at inflated prices to pay GREC for biomass power.

According to the Gainesville Sun, one of the strengths identified by Standard & Poor's is:

Translation: despite the fact that GRU has committed to spending a mountain of money, it's ok since they have also committed to continuing to raise customer rates.

According to the Gainesville Sun, one of the concerns that S&P had was:

Translation: despite the fact that GRU has committed to spending a mountain of money, it's ok since they have also committed to continuing to raise customer rates.

Wait!  Both of those translations are the same thing.  How weird!

Folks, the fact is that while Craig Lowe is accusing Skop of trying to sabotage GRU's S&P rating, and while Susan Bottcher is trying to convince you that he is a raging psychopath, Skop is right, and Lowe is not telling you that the commission can continue GRU's outrageous spending because they will just keep raising your rates to infinity and beyond.

Check it out.  Businesses in Alachua County already pay the highest electric rates in the state.  If you are a family with several children or a handful of college students sharing a house and your usage puts you in GRU's second tier, you are paying some of the highest residential rates in the state, and that's without GRU's fuel surcharge.

Hang on, Gainesvillagers! (ack! gag!)  The Poe, Lowe, Bottcher cabal ain't done yet!