Missouri Voters Recall Councilman John Perkins by 1,118-525 Over $6 Billion Data Center Tax Breaks
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 2
Missouri Voters Recall Councilman John Perkins by 1,118-525 Over $6 Billion Data Center Tax Breaks
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 2
Summary
Independence voters appeared to remove John Perkins after 1,118 ballots backed the recall and 525 opposed it, with only a handful still outstanding.
The recall centered on Perkins’s March vote to approve more than $6 billion in tax breaks for a Nebius data center project that city officials tied to a $150 billion development.
Residents and organizers said the city failed to adequately involve the public, while broader fears about data centers have focused on electricity costs, environmental strain and neighborhood disruption.
The result marks one of the first elected removals tied to data center backlash, a sentiment that has already hit utility regulators in Georgia and could spill into November's midterm elections.