Florida Governor Names Gainesville Utilities Authority Members: Two New Appointees and One Reappointment
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on October 30 his appointments to the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority: Douglas Beck and Clark Futch as new members, and the reappointment of Eric Lawson. Gainesville, in Alachua County, Florida, owns GRU, the municipal utility providing electric, water and other services; its authority members are appointed by the governor.
Beck is a retired GRU employee who worked at the utility beginning in 2005; he holds a Florida professional engineering license and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Indiana Institute of Technology. Futch works at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business; he holds a bachelor's degree in food and resource economics from the University of Florida and a master's degree from the University of Arkansas. Lawson, reappointed, is a former CEO and CFO of HCA North Florida Hospital and previously served as CFO at HCA's Orange Park and St. Joseph's hospitals; he studied accounting at Tennessee Technological University.
GRU's debt and electric rates have drawn sustained state-level attention in recent years, and state legislation shifted its governance to a governor-appointed authority. The new members will take part in overseeing the municipal utility's operations and financial decisions.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Gainesville市中心，佛罗里达州（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，Rbrko摄，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Downtown Gainesville, Florida (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, by Rbrko, via Wikimedia Commons.
