City Council OKed $6B Data Center. Residents Voted Them Out

Voters in one Missouri city just turned a data center fight into a political housecleaning. In Festus, a town of about 12,000 south of St. Louis, all four city council incumbents seeking reelection were voted out after backing a $6 billion data center project that many residents say was pushed through with too little transparency, reports Politico. One winner, 70-year-old first-time candidate Rick Belleville, who won by almost 45%, said frustration centered less on the facility itself than on "the way the deal was handled." "This data center fight has struck this community to the core and really, honestly ignited a community-driven effort here," Dan Moore, who defeated Ward 3 incumbent Bobby Benz, tells St. Louis Public Radio. "People are awake now, and we're not going to let this continue on anymore."

The March 30 council vote approved a development agreement for a massive facility on 360 wooded acres, even though the operator hasn't been publicly identified. Residents say officials downplayed potential impacts on utilities and neighborhoods, and records requests surfaced texts in which unnamed city figures referred to critics as "uneducated people" and talked about a "need to keep the flock herded." A new lawsuit filed against the city and developer CRG alleges secret meetings and inadequate public notice. Activists with the Wake Up JeffCo group aren't done yet, and are gathering signatures to recall the mayor and remaining council members and hope to unravel the deal—part of a broader pushback against data centers nationwide.