Gainesville In August: Policing, Alcohol Establishments, and City Elections
In August we’re tackling a few hot-button issues: policing and alcohol sales. It’s also election month, so we’ll be electing at least one new City Commissioner.
July was a big month with a lot of big votes at once. August has a few things we’re working on, but it slowed down from July.
But this month we’re tackling a few hot-button issues: policing and alcohol sales. It’s also election month, so we’ll be electing at least one new City Commissioner.
First, Some Good News
Gainesville is showing up and showing out at the Paris Olympics. Two of America’s biggest stars, Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky, are Gainesville’s own and the big stars of Olympic Swimming. The first American gold was won by Caeleb Dressel in the 4x100 men’s relay.
But also be on the lookout for the Women’s 3x3 basketball team (coached by Gainesville’s Rhyne Howard), Parker Valby for track and field, and any of the other 40 Olympians from Gainesville competing this year. The University of Florida has a great website showcasing when each of the athletes is competing and highlighting their successes.
In more local news, the City of Gainesville got a bond rating upgrade from Fitch, from AA- to AA. It’s a real testament to the hard work of our staff, who were able to weather over $20 million in cuts in a single year all while making the City financially stronger. Quoted from Fitch:
In spite of these significant revenue reductions the city continues to demonstrate a commitment toward maintaining strong financial resilience, and Fitch expects the city will adjust as needed in response to additional changes in its revenue profile.
The City received a $26.4 million grant from the Department of Transportation to replace our diesel buses with hybrid buses and install solar generation at the RTS station.
The Commission approved our first major protected bike lane. NE 9th will soon be repaved and designed with rubberized protection between cyclist and cars going from University Ave to 23rd Ave. This road leads directly to Howard Bishop Middle and Metcalfe Elementary and will help a lot of kids safely get to school without fear.
Election on August 20th
The Primary election is this month, August 20th. Early voting kicks off August 5th-August 17th, 9 am-6 pm everyday at the Supervisor of Elections Office, Millhopper Branch Library, J. Wayne Reitz Union, and Santa Fe College NW Campus.
Here are some of the people I’m supporting for the race in August:
City Commission At-Large: James Ingle
Alachua County Sheriff: Chad Scott
Alachua County School Board District 2: Thomas Vu
As a whole, though, I like most of the candidates running and think we’ll be in good hands however these go.
Most important to me is the election of James Ingle for the At-Large city seat. James is a much-needed voice for working-class people in Gainesville. He’s a union guy, with years as an IBEW electrician, which gives him knowledge of both labor relations and electric utilities. It’s a perspective we don’t have enough of on the City Commission.
He’s also the only Democrat in the race, and is the only one that shares my values of a forward-looking, locally-controlled Gainesville. He stood strong against the takeover of GRU by the Governor, was a thoughtful member of the Alachua County Planning Commission, and is a big supporter of the arts.
But however you vote, just make sure you get out and vote August 20th and make your voice heard.
Police Retention and Salaries
Today the City Commission will be receiving an update from GPD: reviewing recent crime statistics, and voting whether to increase pay for police officers following the labor negotiations with them.
The Gainesville Police Department has been in a bit of a transition over the past few years. Low morale, high turnover, burnout, and low recruitment have been hitting the department hard. This isn’t unique to GPD, cities across the United are dealing with these issues in recent years, and low staffing has been called a “crisis” by the IACP.
Today there are 50 vacancies for officers and 17 “civilian” staffers at GPD. That short staffing has meant a historic low of officers on patrol, even as our city has jumped in population.
In 2017 GPD had 123 officers on patrol, that number dropped to 94 by 2017 and is now down to just 78. This has meant officers are now doing more overtime, working more hours, and facing more burnout. So as we lose more officers, that forces more overtime, which causes more burnout, etc. etc.
This is an internal issue for the city, but you are seeing the effects of it. If you’ve ever needed GPD for anything you’ll see their response times have dropped, and there are huge swaths of the job that just aren’t being enforced like they need to.
The chart below is a review of response times to crimes based on where they sit on the priority categories. While GPD is still responding quickly to Priority 1 calls (a call where there is an injury or threat to someone’s life), there has been a big slowdown in response time to lower priority calls.
At the same time, proactive policing on smaller-scale issues like traffic enforcement have fallen off a cliff. Specialized units that we used to have like our downtown policing unit are completely gone. Neighbors are feeling the effects of all of this, even if they don’t realize it’s specifically a GPD staffing shortage issue.
There are a lot of ways to address this, but all are easier said than done. We need to fix the clear morale issues at GPD and we need to increase pay to better compete with other police agencies. Thankfully we’re starting to that turn around. After changes in leadership and some reforms at GPD in the first two quarters of 2024 the turnover rate has been cut in half:
But we’re still nowhere near where we need to be. So on Thursday, the City Commission will be deciding whether to approve a $10,000 per year increase in starting police salaries, from $42,162 to $52,137. This will, hopefully, go a long way in recruiting and staffing up our police force at the city.
Where alcohol can be served
Alcohol is always a contentious issue, and has been for decades. This month we’re going to be looking at two policies that we’re still wrestling with from decades past: the bottle club ordinance and restrictions around churches and bars.
A more onerous Bottle Club Ordinance
Bottle clubs were a real hot-button issue in the 80’s & 90’s in Gainesville. There were a lot of them around town, they were rowdier than your average bar, and the Commission spent years wrestling with how best to get them under control.
Bottle Clubs are businesses that don’t sell alcohol but allow alcohol to be consumed in their buildings. In the 1980’s they were popular because of a loophole in the law - bars would “close” their doors at 2 am and then immediately reopen as “bottle clubs” at 2:01 am. A liquor store next door would supply the alcohol which would keep them going all night.
Whether this was good or bad and how to regulate it dominated a lot of discussion in the 80’s and 90’s, but that’s cleared up by now. The state came in and started regulating bottle clubs and today they’re pretty boring establishments. There are 34 across Florida, all niche businesses like dinner theatres, membership clubs, or arts venues that don’t want to sell alcohol but want to allow people to bring in their own if they choose.
Here in Gainesville, there’s only one registered bottle club: Painting with a Twist.
Painting with a Twist lets you drink your own BYOB wine and paint with your friends and family. With the loopholes closed years ago this is what your average bottle club looks like in 2024.
But city staff is bringing back a change to our bottle club ordinance that puts more severe restrictions on them: rolling back the hours to 2 am, limiting the ages allowed inside of them, and barring certain businesses from becoming bottle clubs.
I’m mostly confused as to what this is supposed to do and why. We haven’t had issues with bottle clubs in years, and I’m very concerned that we will inadvertently restrict law-abiding businesses like Painting with a Twist from existing. They reason that bottle clubs could open in the future like how they used to, and we want to regulate them before that happens. They insist that businesses like Painting with a Twist will be exempt.
I think that’s pretty tortured logic and I’m planning to vote no, while trying to make changes to protect smaller businesses like Painting with a Twist.
Limitations on bars near religious places
In 1961 Alachua County went from a dry county to a wet one. That change was good, but it also brought in a bunch of weird regulations around alcohol that are still on the books.
Currently, a bar cannot be located within 300 feet of the front door of any “established place of religious assembly”. Bars are already heavily regulated and only allowed in some very specific areas, but this law limits them based on the pretty arbitrary question of whether a church/temple/mosque is anywhere near it.
This issue might sound benign and in the weeds, but here’s a map of the religious institutions in midtown across from UF:
As you can see, every block has a church, which means that despite the fact that we’ve zoned the land across from the University to allow bars you can’t open a bar there today. The existing bars are either grandfathered in or they’ve gotten creative to get around the regulations.
This is similar to downtown in the 1970’s. As I detailed in “Downtown Revitalization Part 2: The 1980’s” this church restriction deadened downtown for a decade until it was exempted from the regulations. The result was a renaissance of restaurants and bars that turned into the downtown we know today.
Is that likely to be the case for midtown? Doubtful, there have been bars there for decades and they’ve mostly been able to find loopholes around the regulations. But regardless, it’s a silly and outdated ordinance and should be stricken from the laws of Gainesville.
Business of the Month
Onyx & Iris is a newly-opened self-proclaimed “weirdo” gallery on 10th Street across from Wildflowers Yoga Studio and near Cypress and Grove. Over 15 artists contribute to the “whimsical” selection of Onyx & Iris, which includes bone art, crystals, unique jewelry, and more.
There was a great article in the Independent Alligator two weeks ago that captured the vibe of the place well.
It’s a brand new store, just opened a few weeks ago, and I know they could use some early help and support. So if you’re into crystals, incense, dream catchers and candles, stop into the shop and check it out.
Local Music of the Month
Sooza Brass Band is a joy of a live show. A six-piece brass band that plays something between New Orleans, funk, and ska all mixed together. It’s hard to explain what the genre is, but it’s a blast.
The video above shows their music pretty well. It’s meant to be seen live, with a ton of energy, dancing, and bouncy rhythms that are impossible to not have a good time watching. That’s probably why they’re playing around so much. You may have seen them at Fanfares and Fireworks in 2023 or Free Fridays. As hard as they are to pin down they’re just at home in a variety of places. You can find them at a corporate fundraiser, a punk rock show, or a coffee shop.
If you ever get the chance to see them live at a local brewery or Heartwood Soundstage I would highly recommend it.
Great endorsements for the upcoming election, Bryan. I couldn't agree more! And as you know from my past rants, I wholeheartedly support fixing any issues with GPD so that we can make good use of our officers on proactively addressing public safety issues like traffic enforcement (including automated options for doing so, as you've pointed out). In my opinion, we should have well compensated, highly trained, highly accountable police officers. Thanks for your work and for keeping us updated on it!