OUT, OUT DATA CENTERS
My name is Lauren Howsmon. I am a mother of two and currently a stay-at-home mom. My favorite hobbies are hiking, bonfires on the beach and stargazing in fields listening to crickets and lightning bugs. I can’t wait until my husband teaches our boys his passions of fishing and hunting. Lately, this lightning-fast incursion of data centers in our local communities is terrifying me to the point of wanting to change my career to become an environmental lawyer. I will not stand by while corporate billionaires buy off our land and water resources and pollute them for their financial and authoritarian gain.
To go the legislative route, you must meet with your local city clerk. They will provide you with a list of steps to be taken. These steps must be completed by 5/7 by CA law which is past due unless you want to wait until the November 2027 ballot. However, there is a huge hack I figured out by speaking with my local city clerk! Here are the steps:
● Petition the members of your local city council to bring up an agenda item. You can find their information by going online and searching your city’s name, city council (ex: Santa Cruz city council). There you will find each member of the city council’s email and phone number. Email and call them and ask them to add a moratorium on all data center and battery storage facilities to the next city council meeting. You can also go to the next city council meeting and tell them to add the agenda item there.
● Post on social media to get the community involved, make flyers, make online petitions using change.org or other platforms.
● Once the council has agreed to vote on a new resolution, if the majority are in favor it will become local law/precedent that can only be undone by a subsequent ruling undoing the law.
● Do not give up! Attend meetings until they agree to vote on this ordinance! Public servants serve the people, not corporate interests.
This is also true at the state level. I spoke with the State Attorney’s office. If a member of the CA State Senate or Assembly agrees to add an item to be voted on, which in this case is a complete ban on all future data centers and battery storage facilities, and the majority are in favor, it will become state law.
● You can find your state reps by going to this website: Find Your California Representatives.
Get involved, speak up and fight for your community. Our kids deserve to live in a beautiful, healthy community. We the people matter just as much as the billionaires. The federal government is not regulating this booming industry. We must fight back to protect our land. My children will spend their summers swimming in the San Lorenzo River and have untouched camping spots but we must fight.
Lauren Howsmon | Santa Cruz
NANCY PARK CELEBRATION OF LIFE
Please join us from 2:00-6:00 PM on Saturday, July 4 at the Resource Center for Nonviolence (612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz) to celebrate the life of our dear colleague and friend Nancy Park. Hosted by The Park Family and RCNV. RSVP’s appreciated.
We invite you to reflect on a memory to share with Nancy’s family at the memorial. Nancy’s family has also created a Gofundme to help support her children.
Gail Valker | Santa Cruz
