City Council Wrecked in Voter Bloodbath After Allowing New Data Center – DNYUZ
Small-town politicians are learning the hard way that when Americans say no to data centers, they mean it.
In Festus, Missouri — a sleepy town of about 12,700 people — the backlash was so strong that residents ousted half of the city council after it approved the development of a $6 billion data center against the public’s wishes. According to PolicyThe outcry over the data center’s approval led to a surge in voter turnout, the majority of which expressed their displeasure with former councilors by voting for four anti-AI newcomers.
Take Rick Belleville, a 70-year-old who had never run for office before but unseated Jim Tinnin in the city’s Fourth District. Tinnin, an eight-year city council veteran, was previously elected in 2018. This time, he lost to newcomer Belleville by more than 40 percentage points after voting in favor of building the data center.
“I ran because I thought the city wasn’t listening to the people,” Belleville said. Policy. “It’s really the way the deal was handled that led to this kind of uprising.”
Belleville is joined by three other newly elected officials, who won thanks to their anti-data center attitude. Speaking to local media, Belleville promised to be more transparent than previous representatives. He said each new council member would have a cell phone with a public telephone number to speak directly to voters.
Although the remaining city council members won’t be up for election until next April, local media reports that voters opposed to the data centers are circulating petitions to remove them as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to wait until next April,” said Mary Fakes, an anti-data center voter, adding that citizens also hope to expel the mayor. “This is a referendum against them all, based on their support for the data center.”
One thing is certain: This resounding defeat sends a clear message to elected officials across the country: public anger over data center development has reached a boiling point.
Learn more about data centers: Nearly half of U.S. data centers scheduled to open this year are expected to be canceled or delayed
The article City Council Destroyed in Voter Bloodbath After Allowing New Data Center appeared first on Futurism.
