Commissioner for Gainesville, Fl City Commission District 4

Gainesville, Fl
Joined May 2009
Good work by Hailey Kan digging through a pretty complex discussion about crime, homelessness, and public services. I think our investments in getting people housed and increased public safety has been strong and shown real results, but were constantly working to make it better:
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Our whole community was really impressed by the new UF President Stuart Bell this morning. We've had a run of presidents these past few years and seeing what a professional he is and his passion for student success was a breath of fresh air. mainstreetdailynews.com/educ…
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Commissioner Bryan Eastman retweeted
OUR GATOR WILL PLAY FOR A US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 🏆 Ben Shelton takes out fellow American Frances Tiafoe to become the first #Gators tennis player to ever reach a Grand Slam final 🤯 His opponent: #1 🇩🇪 Alexander Zverev We’ll see you Sunday afternoon for the title 💍
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Commissioner Bryan Eastman retweeted
Happy to. Since I joined the Commission weve invested heavily in GPD and getting results: crime is down 25%, including a 12% drop in violent crime since 2022. Theres more work to do but Gainesville has been committed to public safety. Our police would love to discuss with you.
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My municipal utility GRU, which is controlled by the Governor, was exempt from this bill. The people of Gainesville have no protections from seeing their bills going up from data centers and are completely at the mercy of whoever is appointed by the Governor.
Byron Donalds DOUBLES DOWN on building data centers. Lectures boomers that he knows better than them because he’s in Congress. Byron lies through his teeth that they will be protected from electric rate increases. Says we need data centers to win the “space race”.
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Very excited to be named the Florida Housing Coalition’s 2026 Housing Champion for Local Government! Proud to see Gainesville recognized for leading the state on housing reform and proud of everything we’ve accomplished together.
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Commissioner Bryan Eastman retweeted
Actually, Florida’s ACTUAL operating budget has increased 47% during DeSantis’s tenure as Governor Sharing this would not help this attempted narrative about local governments and the services they provide
I worry about taxpayers who local governments have overtaxed. Property tax revenue has nearly doubled for local governments this decade. The state has reduced its budget for 4 straight years — local governments can do the same. Floridians should not be taxed out of their homes!
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Commissioner Bryan Eastman retweeted
State economists have developed city-by-city estimates of the fallout from Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would drastically cut and cap property taxes in Florida. The city of Orlando, for instance, would lose ~$100 million in annual revenue by year 5.
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Commissioner Bryan Eastman retweeted
Good evening. Fla @GovRonDeSantis has issued his first vetoes of 2026. He vetoed 3 bills that each had passed unanimously including a bill that would have mandated speed limits for electric bicycles. ...
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A bizarre new interview with our utilities CEO. He, among other things, says City Commissioners are "kids just out of college" who have "never had a job" and says Gainesville is a "breeding ground" for socialist ideas. This is what our CEO is focusing on. Not rates, politics.
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With the 250th coming up I went down a rabbit hole on what happened here in Gainesville in 1776. The answer surprised me: it was a lot more than I thought so I wrote about what I found about it on substack. It's a wild, very Florida story: gville.substack.com/p/gaines…
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Gainesville is now an experiment in extreme preemption. A governor-appointed board controls a city-owned utility worth nearly $2 billion. Cities across Florida should pay attention. I wrote about it more in depth for @Fla_Pol floridapolitics.com/archives…
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3 years ago Gainesvilles utility was taken over with a simple promise: lower bills. Today electric bills are higher, water and wastewater rates have increased, stormwater costs are increasing, taxes are up. The promise was lower bills. The results have been the opposite.
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Commissioner Bryan Eastman retweeted
Over $200 million recurring reduction for #ManateeCounty. After funding the Sheriff’s budget and contractual debt service, we have less than $200 million left in total NOW. There’s no “tightening the belt” to make this work. That’s just math.
🧵 Two weeks after the vote, we’re finally beginning to discover what the Legislature voted for. This county-by-county estimate projects a recurring impact of nearly $11.9 billion per year on local governments by FY 2030-31. The obvious question: Why are we seeing this now instead of before the vote?
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Thank you Gainesville! Yesterday I was reelected to represent District 4 for a second term. I’m grateful for the trust my neighbors have placed in me and honored to continue serving this community for another 4 years. Looking forward to the work ahead. mainstreetdailynews.com/govt…
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Today Florida became home to the only major city in America with a city dept controlled by the state. If Tallahassee is willing to override 75% of voters to maintain control of a local utility every city should take notice. This starts with Gainesville but it won't end here:
Governor Ron Desantis has signed a bill affirming state control over Gainesville Regional Utilities. wcjb.com/2026/06/12/governor…
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Commissioner Bryan Eastman retweeted
Replying to @Gh4nder
The debate isn’t whether local governments will need revenue. The debate is whether your 2030 tax bill looks like: Property Tax: $4,000 or Fire Rescue Assessment: $385 Solid Waste Assessment: $425 Stormwater Assessment: $210 Public Safety Assessment: $575 Transportation Assessment: $290 Street Lighting Assessment: $95 Parks Assessment: $120 Total Due: $2,100 Plus whatever ad valorem taxes still apply to property that isn’t exempt. Non-ad valorem assessments already exist throughout Florida. If local governments lose a significant share of their homestead tax base, don’t be surprised if you see more of them. Government still needs revenue. The real question is whether we’re cutting taxes, shifting taxes, or simply changing the labels on the bill.
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A lot of the "this wont hurt local governments" rhetoric assumes city budgets are one big pot of money. They're not. State law heavily restricts local spending, & property taxes are the "load-bearing wall" holding much of it together. Thats why local governments are so concerned
Property tax is just one stream of many revenue streams to a county. Homestead residential is a fraction of property tax, so a fraction within a fraction. They’re acting as if this takes the whole pizza pie when it takes a snippet of a single slice leaving 7.5 of an 8 slice pie.
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and a lot of these restrictions are good! Cities shouldn't use trash fees for police or permit fees for parks, the system is restrictive but designed around fairness & transparency over decades. You cant kick one leg of the stool out and say theres 2 more legs for you to sit with
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