CHESAPEAKE, Va. — All five candidates who won seats on Chesapeake City Council in Tuesday’s election have previously signed a community petition opposing data center development. This is raising new questions about what the election results could mean for the future of the controversial projects in the city.
Three of the five winners are newcomers to council: Janelle “Dr. J” St. Louis, Santiera Brown-Yearling and Daniel “Lieutenant Dan” Rosinski.
The results come months after a July debate over data centers brought dozens of residents to City Hall and led council to vote to pause recommendations or consideration of data center applications for eight months.
Watch previous coverage: Chesapeake City Council votes to pause any data center decisions for 8 months
In August, Chesapeake reporter Erin Holly reported on a petition started by Chesapeake environmental advocate Jeff Staples asking City Council candidates to publicly disclose their positions on data centers before voters went to the polls.
At the time, only six of the 16 candidates then in the race had voluntarily shared their positions, according to Staples. He said the goal was to give voters a clearer picture of where candidates stood on an issue generating significant debate in the city.
Watch previous coverage: Chesapeake neighbors petition for council candidates to disclose stance on data centers before election
By Election Day, Staples said 14 of the 15 candidates ultimately on the ballot had signed the petition.
“Fourteen out of fifteen. We’re very proud of that. We wanted fifteen out of fifteen,” Staples said Wednesday.
When asked whether he believed data centers were a prominent issue on voters’ minds, Staples said, “It’s been the talk of the town for quite some time now and it really hasn’t let up.”
All five candidates who won council seats signed the petition. The only candidate who did not sign was incumbent Daniel Whitaker. Whitaker did not finish among the five winners.
News 3 Chesapeake reporter Erin Holly called and texted Whitaker Wednesday seeking his perspective on the election results and the data center debate but has not heard back.
The election results alone do not establish what motivated voters or whether candidates’ positions on data centers affected their decisions.
One of the newly elected city council members, Dr. Janelle St. Louis, who was an early signer of the petition, told News 3 she believes Chesapeake should continue taking a cautious approach to data center development.
“My view is to listen to the citizens of Chesapeake,” St. Louis said.
St. Louis pointed to a previous City Council meeting where residents spoke about the issue and said she supports the city's current pause while officials consider what should happen next.
“It’s right for us to have a moratorium and to think about what we’re going to do moving forward, but I definitely agree that we need to have some tighter restrictions so that we can prevent a data center from coming in Chesapeake at this time,” St. Louis said.
She also raised concerns about infrastructure, electricity and water demands and the potential noise associated with data centers. As a clinical pharmacist, St. Louis said she intends to bring a public-health perspective to council.
“As a healthcare provider, I have to think and bring a public health lens to City Council and that ambient humming noise coming from a data center is not what we want here in Chesapeake,” St. Louis said. “Our citizens deserve better.”
The Data Center Coalition, which represents the industry, offered a different perspective after News 3 asked the organization to respond to the Chesapeake election results and concerns from residents and incoming council members.
A spokesperson for the coalition provided the following statement:
“Data centers can play a crucial role in advancing Virginians’ top priorities including affordability, job creation, local tax revenue, and bringing investment and opportunity to communities.“The data center industry remains committed to engaging with residents and local leaders to understand community priorities, and to ensure digital infrastructure meets local standards and delivers the clear benefits that communities are seeking.“Communities that signal that they are closed for business and investment may miss out on those opportunities, relinquishing substantial long-term economic investment, high-wage jobs, and critical tax revenue to neighboring areas or other states.“DCC looks forward to working with local communities and state leaders to maintain trust, support responsible development, and help build a stronger economic future for every Virginian.”
Chesapeake's current pause gives officials time to consider how the city should approach future data center applications and what rules should govern them before those projects are considered again.
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