Missouri town fires half its city council over data center deal

Voters deliver a coup after a $6 billion vote

Voters in Festus, Missouri, turned out in force and ousted all four incumbents who had been up for reelection just days after the city council approved a development agreement for a $6 billion data center. The upset was decisive — Rick Belleville, a 70-year-old political newcomer who walked neighborhoods and knocked on doors, beat incumbent Jim Tinnin by more than 40 percentage points in Ward 4. “I ran because I thought the city was not listening to people,” Belleville said. It’s the kind of small-town backlash that feels big: frustrated residents, sudden turnout, and an election that changed the balance of power overnight.

Lawsuit, recall and charges of secrecy

The fight is far from over. Opponents are gathering signatures for a recall petition aimed at the mayor and the remaining council members, and residents filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the rezoning and the development agreement with CRG, a unit of Chicago-based Clayco. The suit alleges, among other things, secret meetings and a lack of timely public information intended to stifle opposition; it has been reported that residents say the operator of the project has not been identified. Plaintiffs such as Sherman Boyle — whose backyard borders the planned site — and Lori Merriman, co-founder of Wake Up JeffCo, say officials downplayed concerns about water, electricity rates and neighborhood impacts. Mayor Sam Richards and CRG did not respond to requests for comment.

A local fight that mirrors a national trend

This is not an isolated spat. On the same day, voters in Port Washington, Wisconsin, passed a referendum to limit future hyperscale projects amid Oracle and OpenAI’s $15 billion campus plans — a signal that communities across the country are rethinking deals that promise jobs and tax revenue but force heavy local trade-offs. The Festus site is planned for 360 wooded acres on the city’s southwest side, and the operator’s anonymity has only added fuel to the fire. How do you weigh economic opportunity against disruption to neighborhoods? For Festus residents, the answer was loud and clear at the ballot box.

Sources: politico.com, Hacker News