Letter to the editor: Keep corporate greed out of Portage County

Editor’s note: The Portager publishes letters to the editor from the community. The opinions expressed are published not because they necessarily reflect those of the publication but because we feel they contribute meaningfully to the local discourse on matters of public interest.

Shalersville, Ravenna, and now Streetsboro have all passed moratoriums on data centers, but a moratorium is only a delay. One hyperstructure built in a neighboring county on the scale of Utah’s recently approved 62 square mile data center (read that number again) will overshadow any local ban or moratorium. What we need is a blanket ban of large-scale data centers across the state, to give each small town its power back to say “not here, not our water, not our health.” Despite overwhelming local support for such a ban, success is not assured.

I’m a woman who grew up on a Portage County dairy farm and spent a chunk of my twenties working with large zoo animals. I don’t back down when I’m faced with something a lot bigger than me. Now that I have a career in the corporate and regulatory world, that trait has led me to more than a couple of metaphorical David and Goliath-style scuffles. And boy, there’s no better metaphorical Goliath than Big Tech’s data centers. I am the local contact for a state PAC called Conserve Ohio, and we are circulating a petition to ban large-scale data centers from Ohio.

This should be the point that I explain why you, The Reader, should oppose these behemoth structures, but I’m learning I really don’t have to. Most people I’ve spoken to in the community already know that data centers can make your water wells run dry, drive up your power bills, make as much noise as an airport, and in return don’t even give us more than a paltry dozen or so jobs in the long run. The most-asked question I get is, “Who is gaining from this?” The answer is Zuckerberg, Bezos, O’Leary, and other billionaires. Men who will never go to the local tree farm and cut their own tree at Christmas time, will never get their four-wheeler stuck in the creek behind the barn, and will never check to see if their corn is knee-high by the Fourth of July. It’s clear, Portage County does NOT want these men buying our land and taking our heritage away from us.

Yet, most petitions that make it to the ballot do so not because they have overwhelming support, but because they have corporate funding. It’s about the money, honey. As you can imagine, a petition initiative that directly opposes corporate interests does not get much in the way of large donations. But, like David fighting Goliath, we little shepherds can call upon all of our grit and determination to get this measure over the finish line. We are a community of Davids. Will you volunteer to circulate petitions and help me BAN BIG TECH from all of Ohio? Just one hour a week for the next seven weeks can save our county from greed, pollution, and loss of farmland. Sign up or learn more at www.conserveohio.com.

— Jessica Winchell, Streetsboro