Voters Aren't Waiting For November to Try Ousting Officials Over Data Centers
- Reference: 0185072972
- News link: https://politics.slashdot.org/story/26/08/20/1951246/voters-arent-waiting-for-november-to-try-ousting-officials-over-data-centers
- Source link:
> In Festus, Mo., critics of a local data center project gathered enough signatures in May to force a vote to remove the mayor and City Council members who had approved a $6 billion data center, though the effort is tied up in legal wrangling. In Mason, Mich., residents will vote in November over whether to recall a City Council member over a vote to create zoning rules for data centers. Voters in Yukon, Okla., will also decide in November whether to recall their mayor after the town moved to sell land to a data center developer. And residents of Independence, a city of 121,000 that is 10 miles from Kansas City, will vote on whether to remove Mr. Perkins on Sept. 1.
>
> Some local officials have already lost their jobs in the face of data center concerns in regularly scheduled elections. Last year, two members of the Georgia Public Service Commission lost their seats amid concern about data centers' driving up electricity prices. A Virginia state delegate, Geary Higgins, also lost his job last year after his opponent branded him "Data Center Geary." [...] Independence would be one of the first municipalities to hold a data-center-motivated recall election. A judge this month rejected a legal challenge by Mr. Perkins and others, who argued the recall violated Missouri's Constitution.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/technology/data-centers-voter-concerns-independence-missouri.html
Oh No! (Score:2, Troll)
They lost their local-government salary while moving into a much nicer house in a much nicer neighborhood far away from the site of the new data center. Whatever will they do?!
Voters unknowingly bankrolled by the CCP (Score:3)
The CCP is pressing everywhere.
[1]https://apnews.com/article/sou... [apnews.com]
And won't this just make Elon richer in the long run as he puts datacenters into space?
BTW, the next Starship test launch is a few weeks away.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/southern-california-mayor-chinese-agent-resigns-f9eea16895868e940521823d12b4ebbe
Re: (Score:3)
Data centers in space is a terrible idea. How are you supposed to radiate excess heat in a vacuum?
Just audit them!!! (Score:2, Troll)
The solution to most governmental problems is to follow the money, find the bribes, and put the assholes in jail. You don't need a recall if they're impeached. Nobody has 500 angry people screaming at them over a datacenter and telling them all to F-off unless they're taking money from it. They'd have to be next level delusional and unable to do 10 seconds of research to think the BS the datacenter provider is telling them is true. There are no jobs. Utilities will go up. Etc. So the only logical conclusion
Re: (Score:3)
Laughs in Californian.
Re: (Score:1)
> activist judges
That is just repeating something that someone else made up. Cognitively vacant.
Re: (Score:3)
It is much easier and much quicker to just call a vote and kick them out. Following the money takes time, takes money, takes court orders, and even if you prove wrongdoing chances are they did more wrongdoing while you let them sit there while you followed the money.
It's like a puppy that broke into the dog food storage, sure you can try to teach them what they did was wrong but it is much quicker for everyone to just grab the mutt and put them outside while you clean up the mess and put a better lock on
The human created internet is big enough (Score:2)
GPUs should be for games and graphics not hallucinating on scraped texts. Save the water and land supply for nature.
Re: (Score:2)
IKR. There will eventually be a prompt-based series video generator able to create infinite seasons. Want a character who wears a donut on their head? Any terrible wish can be fulfilled.
TX ag commish is going after Gov Abbott (Score:2)
Flock, AI, and data centers.. and they're both Republicans but the commish seems like an upgrade. Abbott sold out Texans and kissed the orange ring.
Re: (Score:2)
2/ s/^/Commish is in the right sides of /
Large scale backlash, not serious discussion (Score:2)
There's obviously a massive large-scale backlash here, and it is pretty bipartisan. Part of it is concern about water use (which is largely overblown) and part is concern about increases in electricity cost (which is much more reasonable). But it is clear that two related things are happening: 1) People are reacting this way to all data centers, whether or not they have anything to do with AI. 2) People are blocking data centers rather than trying to take reasonable steps to make them manageable with their
Oh metaphorically oust (Score:2)
I was hoping the removal had a more physical quality to it.
Re: (Score:2)
This may please you, [1]Riding A Rail [wikipedia.org]. Don't forget the tar...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_a_rail
sudo make me a data center (Score:2)
Step 1: Propose a new data center.
Step 2: Leak false information claiming the current city council is planning to approve it.
Step 3: Agitprop a recall election.
Step 4: Front two slates of staunchly anti-data-center sockpuppets, one liberal and one conservative.
Step 5: Have the winner approve your data center.
And that's why "betrayal of public office" needs to be a capital offense.
I think this is another step (Score:1)
I think this is a step. We also have a general problem where the people who are using AI are lauded while those who are not are treated as "deniers" or those who will be "left behind" who have also blown up the backlash with their behavior.
AI is the largest and most obvious poster-child of the tech industry in how it breaks social norms for profit. People who are being creative and want to share what they are doing are doing it for human interaction... not for training some tech company's ai model. Peop
Good (Score:5, Insightful)
Not specific to data centers, but too often legislators ignore the will of the people who voted them in. We could use more of this type of accountability.
Re: Good (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah what a bunch of lunatics being worried about giving more power and control to billionares. That's been working amazing so far. They should get with the program!
Re:Good (Score:4, Interesting)
> his AI data center thing is the latest moral panic. Few really cares much about the water use or incremental increase to electricity costs... certainly not enough to become activists and start recall campaigns.
This tells me you live in an area that is not attracting data centers.
Most of my family live in such areas. A significant portion of the population already live paycheck to paycheck. People have been hit hard by the higher inflation over the past 4 years since wages are not keeping up. Small increases to utilities is actually a very big deal when it's something that is not necessary to day-to-day life.
People do what they can when food goes up because it's a necessity. AI is a luxury item, so when people who are less likely to benefit from AI data farms are the ones getting hit with "incremental" cost increases, they abso-fucking-lutely care.
It's not about job replacement, it's about squeezing more money out to the "1%" at the expense of the working class.
Re: (Score:2)
Really? You must be in BFE or something.
Here where I am - somewhere in South Florida - FPL has consistently jacked up our rates, for a variety of stated reasons - including feeding the new colos.
Your experience != everyone else's.
My power bill has increased by about 20% DESPITE switching to LED lighting, which reduced my light draw from about 700w to maybe 50w for the whole house minus home cine and bathroom.
My power bill has increased DESPITE setting higher aircon temps.
So yes -- datacenters are absolutel
Re: (Score:3)
I'm pessimistic, I think most likely those initiating recall signature collections are those with money and influence that don't want the data center built in their back yard or they want the official out for another reason than 'data center'. If this was tom, dick, or harry any calls for signatures to initiate a recall vote would fall on deaf ears.