That was a very narrow ruling dealing only with the law they were presented with, which was a mistake on the part of the plaintiffs who should have included the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution in their appeal. Judges in Florida are all “strict constructionists” and only the Florida Supreme Court can expand on the law by referencing a wider scope of issues.

That said, the judges should have made the effort. There is not much point in a “public meeting” if the public isn’t allowed to participate.

The first district pulled the same garbage with the law suits on imposing property taxes on the leaseholders on the barrier islands. It took a very narrow reading to come to their conclusion.

The state is stuck with a nearly $50 million dollar mortgage that will approach $100 million in actual cost by the time it is paid off. We will be stuck with a building that has minimal resale value, and cost a mint to upkeep.

We are cutting state jobs across the board and reducing funding for schools while wasting money like this. We could have bought an existing building with more space almost anywhere in the district for a fourth of what this thing cost, if there was actually a demonstrated need for more space.

Conservative government – penny-wise and pound foolish. Complain about the cost of school lunches, but build palaces for the elite.