Biotech Blunder costs the taxpayers

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A total waste of taxpayer money. The voters should have had a say when it came to this costly decision, but we voted these officials in and they want to be ensured of all the power to make these decisions like "Ooops, I made a mistake," Aaronson. We let them continue to do that when we voted on Election Day.

In December 2004, Palm Beach County closed on the Mecca Farms property for $60 million, paying $31,000 an acre. The Mecca family had bought the property in 1983 for $6,000 an acre. The purchase caused four law suits and environmental groups protested.

At the time, board members of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County voted unanimously to support keeping the project on Mecca Farms, saying, "Allowing environmental groups to set public policy ... faults the judicial review process and relinquishes future decisions regarding bio-scientific companies' expansion plans into our county to the whims and desires of the same litigants."

Biotech blunder at Mecca Farms keeps costing Palm Beach County taxpayers

City and County Commissions continue to make horrendous "mistakes" and the taxpayer has no say, no vote. "We made a mistake," Santamaria said about the county's purchase of Mecca Farms. "We have to get rid of it. … Bite the bullet."

Steve Rosen says, "Here you go, dumb ass politico scum in Palm Beach County, costing taxpayers a TON with excuses of 'if only we knew then what we know now' BS. Yep. Elected officials are much more qualified to determine future growth than us dumb ass members of the general public. This is THE CLASSIC example of why Amendment 4 was needed. Let the taxpayers in Palm Beach County pay and pay and pay and pay. They deserve to have to pay endlessly and forever. They can go suck wind when they write checks."