Who supports the idea of moving Gainesville City elections? The Gainesville Sun does! In this piece from 2014, the Sun editorial board writes, “If we want a City Commission really representative of the city, we should move their races to the same time that other elections are held.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Who else has written about this in the Sun? Ron Cunningham had this to say: “The upside to including Gainesville races in the general election cycle is that … well, more people are likely to vote. Right now, anything above a 20 percent spring turnout is considered robust. Also, the city would save money. Holding annual city elections when nothing else is on the ballot is expensive — in effect, we city taxpayers are subsidizing low turnouts.”
Former Gainesville Mayor Jim Painter and former Gainesville City Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa wrote, “We are working to set in motion a bipartisan effort to move the city of Gainesville elections to fall, to get a higher turnout of voters and to save money.”
Gainesville Votes! 