Outspoken Trenton residents are no match for Gov. Chris Christie's vision for their city's future.

An obscure, yet powerful commission voted Thursday to press forward with plans to relocate two state office buildings despite fierce objections from Trenton residents who argued the development is a squandered opportunity that was forced through the approval process.

The swirling controversy is around a project opponents peg at $250 million for two new offices to house the state's Health, Agriculture and Taxation departments and raze the current structures.

Opponents say the location and building plans are bad for two reasons. They say new buildings would be outside of the city's downtown business district and too far from the Trenton Transit Center. And they won't be mixed use buildings -- which include stores, restaurants or apartments -- that would encourage economic growth in the city.

"Why is the criteria for modern, urban development employed everywhere except here, except in Trenton?" asked Jim Gordon, of Trenton, at the hearing.

But none of that appeared to be the concern of members of the State House Commission, which voted 7-0 to approve the project after more than an hour of testimony and barely any discussion among commission members.

Most of the four legislators that sit on the committee weren't in the room to hear during a bulk of the testimony. Either they got up to take calls or talk in the hallway. At one point, a man was interrupted mid-testimony because three of the lawmakers were away at one time, which meant they didn't have a quorum.

The other commissioners are members of Christie's administration.

The cake appeared already baked to the people pleading with the commission to delay a vote.

Construction groups argued in favor of the project and a spokeswoman for the city said Trenton officials favor it. But Mayor Eric Jackson, who didn't attend the commission meeting, offered only lukewarm support.

"I certainly would have liked to have seen a lot more connectivity to our transit system ... with some mixed use development," Jackson told NJ Advance Media. "But it's sort of a gamble to say, 'let's stop this.'"

Opponents wanted to stop the project and revisit it when Gov.-elect Phil Murphy takes office on Jan. 16. They argued it would give them a better chance to locate the new buildings near the train station and bring in private developers to build mixed use offices.

They made progress on that front three weeks ago when the same commissioners voted unanimously postpone the proposal. But with short notice, the commission reconvened and the state office proposal returned to the agenda.

"I don't know what happened in the last three weeks. Miraculously, minds have been changed," Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, an outspoken critic of Christie's plan, said.

"It's just asinine planning," Gusciora, D-Mercer, said. "It adds nothing to the capital city or the urban landscape."

Christie announced his plans to take a wrecking ball to Trenton's "outdated" state buildings a year ago.

He defended the proposal at a news conference earlier in the week.

"The plan is a good plan," Christie said. "It's going to be a good thing for Trenton and the mayor supports it."

The governor says once the current buildings are razed, private development will build on that "prime space."

"I want to develop the downtown," he said. "The space has to come first."

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.