hours on Tuesday and had multiple experts testify, public comment, etc.. then ALL 5 board members read lengthy, pre-written statements explaining their vote. In other words, the hours spent in the meeting were pointless as they had already made up their minds.

Watching them question the experts invited to speak it was painfully obvious - questions were asked in a manner to support their opinions and if they didn't get the answer they wanted, they changed the subject or rephrased the question. The whole political aspect of this is why the US sucks at this.