ISSUE 28 OPPONENTS HAVE HUGE MONEY ADVANTAGE

Talk about David vs. Goliath.

Opponents of Grove City’s Issue 28 have amassed more than $237,000 for their campaign to defeat a proposal that would require voter approval of large industrial developments like data centers.

Virtually all the money came from corporate interests that support data centers and taxpayer money from City Hall.

The other side, a grassroots group of data center critics, reported raising about $3,500.

That’s a ratio of almost 70-to-1!

Issue 28 would amend the City Charter. It will appear on the Nov. 3 citywide ballot for a vote by the people.

TWO DIFFERENT CAMPAIGNS, SAME CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS

In a related issue, a campaign finance report filed in Butler County near Cincinnati, severely undercuts one of the main arguments bandied about by Issue 28 opponents. These opponents claim the main reason they want Issue 28 defeated is because it’s too broad. They’re not necessarily in favor of data centers, opponents claim. They only oppose Issue 28 because it would affect all types of large developments including schools and parks.

Issue 28 supporters contend such arguments are red herrings and scare tactics. Issue 28 would only require voter approval of data centers and other large industrial complexes, not schools and parks, Issue 28 supporters contend. The real motive behind the anti-Issue 28 campaign is to defeat any measure that would curtail data centers in Grove City, they argue.

And a campaign finance report involving the Butler County city of Trenton, Ohio, appears to substantiate these allegations.

The Nov. 3 ballot initiative in Butler County is narrowly tailored. It would ban only data centers in Trenton – not other types of large developments. Yet, the same big-business interests that oppose Issue 28 in Grove City also oppose the Trenton ballot initiative, the Butler County campaign finance report reveals.

Jen Belt, a spokesperson for Issue 28, says, “The Ohio Chamber and the construction industry are not donating because they think Issue 28 is poorly written or will hurt Grove City. They are donating to stop the anti-data center movement.” These corporate entities aim to defeat any citizen-initiated ballot issue in Ohio that would restrict data centers, Belt adds.

 (For additional information, read a related In My Opinion commentary headlined POLITICAL EXPERTS OUTSMART THEMSELVES on the ProtectGroveCity.org website.)

70-TO-1

In Grove City, the lopsided money picture emerged from campaign finance reports filed Wednesday and Thursday (Oct. 21 and 22) with the Franklin County Board of Elections and from City Hall financial records.

An analysis of money collected and spent by Issue 28 opponents shows the following:

• A political action committee (PAC) dubbed Save Grove City, that opposes Issue 28, reported on its pre-election campaign finance filing that it collected $145,575 through Oct. 14. (A post-election finance report will be filed after the election.)
• All but $575 of that total came from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and three trade organizations representing the building industry – companies that construct commercial and industrial buildings; sewer and water lines; highways and bridges; and telecommunications utility lines. These organizations also strongly endorse the construction of data centers in Ohio.
• The $575 in non-business organization donations came from five local residents.
• The Save Grove City PAC’s expenditures included $43,000 on mailings to residents and other campaign literature, $12,000 on political consultants and $20,000 on polling, its report shows. The PAC still had more than $63,000 in the bank to spend during the final days of the campaign.
• In additional to the money collected by the Save Grove City PAC, Mayor Ike Stage’s administration has spent an estimated $92,000 in taxpayers’ money to defeat the proposed charter amendment. The tax money has paid for two mailings to residents, political consultants and other campaign expenses

Issue 28 supporters’ PAC is dubbed Protect Grove City. It reported collecting $3,549 from 36 individuals, a car show fundraiser and the PAC’s legal fund through Oct. 14. Its largest expense was $1,773 for yard signs. It still had $1,014 in the bank to spend on the remainder of the campaign.  

BITTER BATTLE

Data center skeptics scored a major victory on June 1 when the City Council, by a 6-1 vote, imposed a one-year moratorium on data centers in Grove City. Councilman Randy Holt was the lone dissenter.

About six weeks earlier, the skeptics had launched a grassroots campaign in response to a Texas developer’s proposal to build a 310-acre data center here. They flooded Council members with emails and jammed City Council biweekly meetings. The Dallas developer’s plans call for 900,000 square feet of data center buildings – the size of 15.5 football fields.

Buoyed by the moratorium success, the grassroots group collected enough signatures to place Issue 28 on the citywide ballot. The group noted that the moratorium will end next year. A charter amendment would provide a far more iron-clad limit on data centers and other large industrial complexes, they argued.

Ike Stage’s administration quickly launched a well-financed campaign opposing the amendment. Administration officials and others claimed Issue 28 was too broad and would stifle business development in Grove City. 

The 81-year-old mayor’s administration began mailing – at taxpayer expense – anti-Issue 28 literature to voters and lining up businesspeople and others to speak against the proposed amendment. Administration allies also launched a social media campaign against Issue 28 and formed the Save Grove City PAC. The PAC’s treasurer and attorney, David Langdon, is one of the nation’s top dark-money specialists.

Issue 28 supporters scoff at dooms-day predictions by the State administration and its allies. Similar apocalyptic-type arguments have been used by data center supporters throughout the nation to blunt criticism of the massive industrial complexes, they argued.

Issue 28 supporters realized early-on that their opponents would have a campaign money edge. But a 70-to-1 advantage is staggering.  Issue 28 supporters face an uphill fight. The Nov. 3 election will be a classic test of grassroots power vs. moneyed interests.