George Niemann is a daily loaf contributor & UCAN, RLAND, FSP member.
The views expressed are my own and may not be the same as organizations to which I belong.
Since the Regent first opened its doors in January 2011 it has gotten bad press. It appeared that the publicly funded Regent was being run as a private upscale catering hall. Hillsborough County, the state of Florida and the Feds paid almost $7M to build what is now being called the Taj Mahal of Brandon. The politicians originally sold the idea as a public/private partnership but citizens ended up paying for the entire project. The private not-for-profit that now controls its use has tried to counter the bad press by arguing that it would be made available to the community. Available yes, but at what cost, and to whom? It made me wonder, so I decided to put them to the test. Could your average civic group or local organization get to use this facility in the same manner that we can use other publicly funded buildings? What we discovered was outrageous.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2011.