JACKSON, Miss.—After weeks of residents appearing before the Jackson City Council to voice concerns and warnings about the effects of data center construction, the council passed a six-month moratorium on data center-related decisions at its Tuesday meeting, following a final public comment session. The moratorium passed with a 5-2 vote, with Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote and Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson casting the dissenting votes.
Although the moratorium did not come to a vote until Tuesday, the city already promised that zoning changes and permit approvals for any potential data centers will be delayed until Jackson passes regulations on data centers at its first related public hearing on June 22.
The council originally intended to vote on the moratorium in May, but Jackson City Attorney Drew Martin advised that public hearings needed to be held for the moratorium to be legal, delaying the process.
Jackson’s moratorium comes as cities across Mississippi scramble to pass data center regulations after construction—and sometimes operation—has already begun.
Adjustments to the Moratorium
Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson, attending via Zoom, introduced two last-minute amendments to the ordinance during the meeting. The first was to exclude the area adjacent to the Jackson-Medgar Evers Wiley International Airport from the moratorium, and the second was to shorten the moratorium period from six months to 60 days.
Parkinson proposed the four-month reduction after Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes noted that the council could change the length of the moratorium at any given time.
The exception for the land surrounding the airport passed unanimously. Parkinson’s second motion failed, with just himself and Foote voting in favor of the change. Stokes, Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay and Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell voted against the motion.
“I would rather see us go from 180 down to 60 instead of 60 up, because you know if it’s this hard to get anything approved, 60 is what it’s going to be,” Clay said at the Tuesday meeting.
Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley and Ward 6 Councilwoman Lashia Brown-Thomas both abstained from voting on the motion.
The final draft of the moratorium passed 5-2, with only Parkinson and Foote dissenting.
Foote: “We Shouldn’t Let the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good”
Robert Ireland, who represents Saxum Investment Company in its interest in building a data center on the Forest Avenue Extension, spoke at the June 22 and July 14 meetings. He discussed the economic benefits projected to come to areas like Madison as a result of projected increased tax revenue from the data center on Tuesday.
“I’ve already expressed my concerns to the City Council that a moratorium could limit Jackson’s ability to land data centers that meet all of the concerns of the city residents about water, utility billing, emissions, noise, and other issues…,” Ireland said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “There’s very intentional efforts that are being made in other areas to attract these kinds of projects because of the success that they can have in bringing economic development benefits.”
While dozens of Jackson residents have attended the public hearings on the city’s data center moratorium, only one audience member—other than Ireland— spoke in favor of Jackson ever hosting a data center: Pastor Ronnie Crudup Sr.
“Instead of being pro-property rights for people who own property in this city to be able to decide what they do with their property and investments, I think we’re, you know, we’re putting that to shambles,” Crudup said at the July 6 hearing.
Crudup is the chairman of Downtown Jackson Partners, the economic development agency that oversees downtown Jackson, and previously served as the chairman of the Jackson Redevelopment Authority.
He argued that a six-month moratorium on data center decisions would only increase the economic gaps between Jackson and surrounding communities.
“We got businesses leaving this city (and) we’re losing population in this city…” Crudup said. “… We’re creating a bigger gap for ourselves, and we’re hurting ourselves in the midst of it, and so for that reason I’m against this moratorium, and I’m pro-data centers.”
Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote did not comment extensively during Tuesday’s public hearing, but he expressed support for economic growth that may be associated with data center construction in Jackson in a June 11 opinion article published in the Magnolia Tribune.
Foote is a member of the Bigger Pie Forum, a Ridgeland-based non-profit focused on “market-driven economic growth for a bigger and brighter Mississippi,” its website says.
He described resistance to data center construction as “a hornet’s nest of protests and gnashing of teeth” in his June 11 article. Although residents expressed their displeasure with the city when attending previous meetings related to the data center, there have been no related protests in Jackson.
Foote’s article addressed two of the environmental concerns Jackson residents brought up at council meetings before the publication of his June 11 opinion article—water and electricity—but his final comments before Tuesday’s vote did not explicitly address any environmental concerns.
Foote believes allowing the construction of data centers in Jackson could fix the city’s budget.
“We shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Foote said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “Data centers may not be the perfect economic development, but they can very be a very good economic development, and they can bring millions of dollars to the city government… They can be a big help.”
Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay argued that the city’s budget improved greatly under Chief Economic Officer Pieter Teeuwissen and does not need to depend on data centers for economic stability.
“We have done a great job, thanks to Mr. Teeuwissen and the rest of the people and all of the department heads, not to overspend,” Clay said at the Tuesday meeting. “… We technically do not have to amend our budget.”
Clay’s ward includes a proposed data center site on the Forest Avenue Extension. While the public hearings were intended for discussion of the data center moratorium, several speakers commented on the potential data center project proposed on that land near Jackson’s Ashley Acres neighborhood.
‘That Doesn’t Sound Like Democracy’
The public hearings were only intended to discuss the moratorium—but some residents made it clear that they don’t want data centers in the city at all.
“As I know, nominally, we live in a democracy, and I just realized that nobody wants this,” Jackson resident Justin Gudger said at the July 6 meeting. “… So I’m just wondering why we as citizens, constituents, are up here begging for consideration of a moratorium on something that nobody wants. That doesn’t sound like democracy to me.”
Gudger’s comment came after Mississippi for a Just World organizer Margaret Lawson called out Foote for rolling his eyes during her public comment.
“I want you guys to understand that that is important to people, and I see you rolling your eyes at me,” Lawson said. “I just want you to know, person to person, that I felt that…”
Lawson previously organized attendance at a May 27 planning meeting discussing the data center.
“I hope that everybody in here knows that you are just as qualified as anyone up here to run for these seats, and if they do not do what you want them to do in this case—from tomorrow, the next day, a month from now, a year from now—you’re just as qualified as anyone in here to run for any of these seats, and I hope that you guys act accordingly,” Lawson said at the July 6 hearing.
Concerns brought up about data centers at the respective June 22, July 6 and July 14 hearings ranged from air, noise and water pollution to increased electrical bills, interference with local farming practices and potential health effects.
Audience and Attendance
Jacksonians spilled out of the Jackson City Hall meeting room, well beyond the new 60-person occupancy limit for city council chambers—a 30% drop from this time last month—that was implemented at the beginning of the June 22 public hearing on data centers. About 20 different people watched through from the hallway at any given time.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes and Chief Executive Officer Pieter Teeuwissen were absent from the July 6 hearing.
Horhn and Stokes were both absent from the June 22 public hearing as well.
Stokes was absent from prior meetings because the issue did not involve his ward, he told the Mississippi Free Press on Tuesday.
Horhn attended the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative in New York City during the July 14 council meeting, Jackson Communications Director Nic Lott told the Mississippi Free Press.
Lott declined to provide an explanation for Horhn’s June 22 and July 6 absences, suggesting that a records request would need to be made for the public to access the mayor’s schedule at those times.
Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson attended the July 6 public hearing and July 14 vote via video chat, but was present in person at the June 22 hearing.
Neither Stokes nor Horhn attended nor participated in the hearings via video chat.
Video of the July 14 Jackson City Council meeting can be found here.
A video of the City of Jackson’s July 6 public hearing can be found here. Another video of the June 22 public hearing is available here.
Follow the Mississippi Free Press’ coverage of data centers and read past stories here.
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