TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It's been dubbed Tallahassee's "Taj Mahal." The expensive new courthouse cost $48 million and it was built with taxpayer money.
The public hasn't been allowed to go inside, but Tuesday afternoon Florida CFO Candidate Loranne Ausley showed WFTV some pictures of the inside.
It's a first look at exactly how the judges in Tallahassee are spending some of the $48 million.
The photos included an inside view of the atrium as well as one of the private kitchens built for each of the 15 judges.
WFTV recently traveled to Tallahassee to see the building from the outside, but the chief judge who pushed for the project refused to talk to or give WFTV a tour.
Ausley, who's a Democrat running for CFO, blamed her opponent and senate president, Jeff Atwater, for allowing the project to get approved in 2007.
"This building, the 'Taj Mahal,' is a symbol of everything that's wrong with Tallahassee. It's the type of embarrassing, lavish spending that I'm going to put a stop to," Ausley said.
As a state legislator at the time, Ausley said she voted against the 142-page bill that contained a $33 million bond to build the courthouse. But she didn't say specifically if she knew about that item at the time.
A spokesperson for Atwater told WFTV he's "as outraged as anyone." He says Ausley has mischaracterized his position. While Atwater voted for the bill that contained a bond for the courthouse, his spokesperson says he didn't "advance the issue" and has since implemented rules in the Florida Senate that requires amendments to be heard in committee before they can make it into a bill.
Ausley is making this a key point in her campaign. She plans to make similar presentations Wednesday in Jacksonville and later in Daytona Beach and West Palm Beach.
WFTV
