Response to Mayor

City of Peculiar

It has been brought to my attention that there is an effort to forward a petition asking for my removal as Mayor.

All the info including WHY this is happening is in the open. There is a petition. Peculiar is designated as a fourth-class city. As a fourth-class city, the motion to impeach must come from the Aldermen. The public cannot petition to impeach, but they can petition the Aldermen to impeach. This is what we are considering.

The effort appears to be organized largely by opponents (many of whom live outside of the city limits) of the formerly proposed data center. 

The potential effort to remove the mayor comprising of opponents of the data center is only a correlation. It is not the causation of the effort. The causation is due to the Mayor’s continued behavior of obfuscation, lack of transparency, and most-importantly procedural misconduct. His verifiable conduct towards citizens and the board of Aldermen will not go unchecked.
Furthermore, he implies that those outside the city should NOT have a voice in the matter. This simply highlights the issue EVERYONE has with this mayor. When those outside the city limits voice concerns that align with those inside the city limits that helps everyone. Peculiar’s citizenry sees this too, hence the effort to remove. It is EVERYONE’S loss of liberty that is at stake with this Mayor.
 
I have repeatedly said (publicly and to the opponents and surrounding property owners) that this project might not be right for Peculiar; but that we should at least listen to the proposal. 

This statement is misleading in and of itself. We DID listen to the since-retracted proposal. It was so blatantly inadequate that this whole thing blew up. The only way the developer will even submit a proposal is if we agree to light industrial zoning FIRST… and with approval for Datacenters without a special-use. This is the trap. The Mayor KNOWS the trap exists and we know he knows, and therefore we know this entire statement of his is a sham. A ruse. We are not going to be duped.
 
We are always glad to see citizens actively engaged in the process of protecting the best interest of our city. 

Replay the tape. When concerns have been expressed during public discourse, these are either dismissed or shouted down.
 
However, every time this group of citizens had a concern, the city would take it to the developer and work with them to find a solution. 

Still waiting… we have never seen nor heard evidence of any of potential solutions. Instead, the developer points the citizenry to their website which states these common concerns are myths that have been debunked. Nothing to see here. The problem is there are literally hundreds of impacted neighborhoods across multiple states negatively impacted by hyperscale datacenters in proximity. When a problem is so large and real and those that have already hopelessly suffered are willing to come to your aid, then these are REAL problems and not MYTHS.

Upon presenting a solution back to these citizens, they would then add more concerns. 
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Did we miss an important meeting? Still waiting on solutions to be sent back….

Many in this group had stated they were okay with the project as long as some specific concerns were addressed. When the developer agreed to comply with their concerns and find remedies;

… still waiting for the proposed remedies. The developer says vote in unrestricted access to light industrial and we will then address your concerns. The phrase “Fool me once… shame on you… fool me twice… shame on me” comes to mind.  We have tons of historical and empirical evidence with the hyperscale data center industry to illustrate what happens when one follows the “trust me” model. The developer said as much. Remember the “we need a leash” comment? The Mayor knows this too. Treating the citizenry for fools gets one unelected.
 
the group began to spread misinformation about the project. 

As stated MANY times, keeping citizenry in the dark or shouting them down when uncomfortable questions are asked, leads to people filling in the gaps on their own. Amazing how many times ‘misinformation’ turns out to be true in hindsight.
 
This group made false statements regarding tax abatements and the number of years that those might be. All of this was still in the negotiation process; an official proposal for tax abatement had yet to be brought before the board.

Answer these questions without hiding behind an NDA shield: What are the minimums you are willing to settle on behalf of your citizenry, in terms of abatements, number of years, etc.. in order toaccept any developer’s proposal? How are you going to enforce these minimums? … still waiting
Have you spoken to cohort governments to see how well  hyperscaledata center agreements have paid off?  Why are early-adopter states rewriting their laws because the seduction of “hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue” have not materialized, but the vast drain of resources has?
The big question: Why do you need to have Light industrial approved before negotiating?
 
This project could have potentially meant hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the city, the school district, the fire district and the county. The city could have used these funds to build a police station, improve our roads and other infrastructure and improve parks (like ball fields at Dunsworth Park). Finally, it could have served to pay down water & sewer bonds, reducing the burden on all of our tax paying residents. 

Each sentence includes a “could have.” Change this to a “will be guaranteed to…” and you might have something to discuss. “Could have” doesn’t cut it. 
 
Finally, it could have served to pay down water & sewer bonds, reducing the burden on all of our tax paying residents.
 
This sounds familiar. Looking back several years ago a negotiation was made concerning our source of water. On paper it must have sounded good, but reality follows the law of unintended consequences:
We now have the highest water rates IN THE COUNTRY (PWSD #2 just went up another 8.5% by the way) and an energy bill increase of 17%. Follow the path of hyperscale data centers nationally and you will observe this same trend. 
 
…so when you say you “could have” a reduced burden on our tax paying residents now you know what we hear.
 
Unfortunately, we were never allowed to get to that point in the negotiations. The developer was never able to officially submit a proposal to the city with all of the factual, fully negotiated parameters in place. 

You were allowed, you weren’t willing … and neither was the developer. Show us, the impacted public what you have. Don’t hide behind an NDA. Don’t Myth-bust actual concerns, and then decide whether a hyperscale data center is appropriate for a light industrial next to residential areas BEFORE APPROVING FOR USE. But the Mayor already knows these things.   
 
The Alderman felt the pressure from this boisterous and ill-informed group and requested to remove data centers as an allowable use in the light industrial zoning class, essentially killing this project. 

Why would it kill the project? It is NOT light industrial. You know it, the Hyperscale data center industry knows it, and we know it. The aldermen did their homework. They know it too.  
 
This area has been master planned for light industrial for almost 10 years.

Right. Keep it that way.
 
I've always believed in, and supported this town. This project might have had the ability to help this community in areas of great need. This development might have propelled our city forward; or the developer's ask may have been too great, and turning it down was the best option. Unfortunately, we'll just never know.

Here you go with the “might haves” again. Rising water and energy rates, mismanaging meetings, shutting down discussions with citizenry and aldermen… perhaps it is time to consider a motion for Peculiar to become a third-class city and bring more governance through Commissioners and less through a Mayor only.
 
The Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) has made it clear that this very public debacle has damaged our city's reputation and our ability to attract good, positive developments in the immediate future. 
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Nope. This very public debacle has bolstered this city’s reputation letting big corporations know that we will not just lay down and give them the city. It is OUR city and we will tell you what you can and cannot do here.
 
If you have any questions that you want to ask me, please contact me and I will tell you honestly what I know as facts. I appreciate your support.

Yeah right.

​Brian Lincoln