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 residents – the reaction was so overwhelming that residents ousted half their city council after it approved a $6 billion data center development against the public’s will. According To politicoThe uproar caused by the data center approval led to an increase in turnout, with the majority expressing their dissatisfaction with the old councilors by voting for the four anti-AI newcomers.
Take 70-year-old Rick Belleville, who had never run for office before but who unseated Jim Tinnin in the city’s Fourth Ward. Tinnin, a city council veteran for eight years, has previously been elected in 2018. This time, he lost to upstart Belleville by more than 40 percentage points after voting to approve a data center buildout.
“I ran because I felt the city wasn’t listening to the people,” Belleville said. Politico. “It’s really the way the deal was handled that caused such an uproar.”
Belleville is joined by three other newly elected members, who won as a result of his anti-data center stance. Speaking to local mediaBelleville promised to be more transparent than previous representatives. He said each new council member will have a cellphone with a publicly listed phone number to speak directly to voters.
Although the remaining city council members are not up for election until next April, local media report that anti-data center voters are filing petitions to recall them sooner rather than later.
“We don’t want to wait until next April,” said anti-data center voter Mary Fakes. He said citizens expected the mayor to also be ousted. “It’s a referendum against all of them based on their support for the data center.”
One thing is certain: The crushing defeat sent a clear message to elected officials across the country that public anger over data center development has reached boiling point.
More information on data centers: Nearly half of US data centers scheduled to open this year are likely to be canceled or delayed
