Data center ban

Celebrated the landslide passage of Measure NDC banning data centers (about 86% to 13%) and credited the council for listening to residents; also voiced support for the Pride resolution.

Urged the council to pass the data center ban ordinance on second reading and encouraged residents to vote yes on Measure NDC in June, also calling for focus on the Barnes Park pool.

Union member and District 3 constituent questioning union leadership for backing a project residents don't want; urged building something else like a Trader Joe's instead.

30-year resident and Measure NDC volunteer saying clean water and air matter more than AI; also wants BESS kept out of the city.

District 3 resident supporting the ordinances and urging the council to keep doing the right thing.

Eight-year Laborers' union member saying the ban cuts off work hours that fund pensions and healthcare for his family.

Played a video of data center noise, cited pollution, water use, and property value declines, and suggested attracting Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or Costco instead.

Supporting the ordinances and asking the council to research battery storage systems as a potential fire hazard.

Registered speaker saying the city isn't listening to residents, asking who the council works for, and requesting affordable housing instead.

Directors Guild/Writers Guild union member calling the construction unions a special-interest lobby for big tech, praising the mayor and mayor pro tem's $1,000 donations to Yes on NDC.

Pasadena resident supporting the ban, saying data center impacts would hit surrounding cities too.

Fifth-generation resident and Laborers' union member opposing the ban, saying the work supports his family's livelihood and that only a tiny fraction of the city opposes the project.

Resident and union member weighing job pros and cons, saying private business can't profit at residents' expense.

Resident supporting all three ordinances to protect families and elders, sharing worries her parents might have to move; also asked for a BESS ban.

Shared a personal story about her grandfather's home in Monterey Park and thanked the council for fighting to protect it.

South San Gabriel resident, former Teamster and current SEIU member, confused why union members back a project residents oppose; supports the full ban and BESS research.

Laborers' union member opposing the ban, saying it blocks union jobs, apprenticeships, and career paths for youth and veterans.

District 5 parent living 500 feet from the proposed site, thanking the council and asking to also ban battery energy storage systems and close data processing facility loopholes.

Resident echoing the BESS ban request and broadly criticizing AI's impact on labor and human rights.

Questioned whether the developer might reapply depending on the Measure NDC outcome and shared research findings on data center heat islands.

District 3 single parent and caregiver concerned about the developer's theoretical information, diesel generator risks, and the speculative nature of the data center industry.

No Data Center San Gabriel Valley Coalition member praising Monterey Park's leadership and urging protection of working-class neighborhoods from billionaire-backed infrastructure.

Laborers' union member supporting responsible data center development, saying projects bring union jobs and tax revenue and shouldn't be rejected before being proposed.

Southern California District Council of Laborers rep urging the council to let projects go through the normal vetting process rather than banning them outright.

District 5 resident urging a yes vote to ban data centers, noting the council once supported a data center before opposing it, and urging voters to pass Measure NDC on June 2.

District 3 teacher and union member supporting a permanent ban, citing noise pollution, water use, and falling property values; she's been canvassing door to door for a yes vote.

Resident supporting the ban and calling for responsible development the community actually wants.

District 5 resident urging adoption of the ordinances; she requested the Table 21.12(A) amendment and the section renumbering that staff incorporated.

Utilities engineer supporting all three ordinances, citing noise, water consumption, grid strain, diesel generator pollution, and lack of local jobs; also asked for a BESS ban.

District 2 resident supporting the ban, saying it's a step toward earning back public trust after a 'serious breach of trust' by the council; also asked for BESS research.

District 2 resident using a speed-limit analogy — hyperscale data centers can't operate quietly or cleanly, so they're a public nuisance; urged passage of all three ordinances.

Resident since 1967 family supporting all three ordinances; been canvassing for Yes on NDC.

Opposing the ban, saying data center jobs provide career pathways and dignity for working families.

Supported the June ballot measure, demanded the under-one-acre loophole and timing language be fixed, and pushed back hard on a comment dismissing health concerns.

A non-resident educator who reminded the council that neighboring communities breathe the same air and asked them to think beyond the city's borders.

A 30-year resident speaking for elderly neighbors who can't attend but vote, demanding the June ballot and no under-one-acre exemption.

A longtime resident who only learned of the project last week, researched it, and urged the council to be courageous and not back down to money or power.

A District 3 homeowner who invoked the city's founding in 1916 — born from residents banning a sewage treatment plant — and the OII Superfund site as warnings from history.

A District 5 resident with three lawyers in her family who demanded the council explain why it won't adopt an ordinance now when it changed zoning before on the say of 19 people.

A first-time speaker and Animation Guild Local 839 member who connected the project to AI-driven job losses in her industry and urged the council to pass an ordinance.

A San Gabriel resident who argued the air pollution affects the whole San Gabriel Valley, warned of future liability lawsuits that could bankrupt the city, and called data centers '21st century nuclear waste.'

A resident since the late 1970s who attended HMC's town hall, noted regulators weren't there to answer questions, and defended the city's transparency on meeting schedules.

A great-grandmother who confronted Mayor Yang about feeling snubbed at a meet-and-greet, said residents were blindsided, and asked point blank: why not just pass the ordinance tonight?

A 30-year resident, she conditionally supports the ballot measure but demands the city close the loopholes and pass an ordinance now, citing her granddaughters' future.

Argued the council can and should adopt a zoning ordinance banning data centers itself, and flagged ballot-language loopholes around the one-acre threshold and the 'data processing facility' definition.

A 45-year area resident who laid out carbon, electricity cost, and noise data, and urged closing the under-one-acre loophole and fast implementation of the ballot measure.

Performed a satirical monologue impersonating an HMC board member, mocking the developer's public-relations campaign and urging a moratorium plus ballot measure.

Called the ballot 'a band-aid' and demanded a real citywide ordinance now, and flagged HMC's acquisition of the neighboring 1980 Saturn Street property as an ignored cumulative impact.

A South San Gabriel resident who criticized HMC's town hall for never answering what the data center would actually be used for, and warned of BlackRock's grid acquisitions.

An East LA resident who framed the data center as an environmental and class injustice, warning about AI's impact on workers and air quality in the air basin.

HMC StratCap's representative said the company invested based on the city's prior assurances, offered to explore alternative land uses for Saturn Park, and asked the council to postpone the ballot measure.

The developer's attorney warned that the moratorium and ballot measure are 'fraught with legal risk' and submitted a letter for the record, urging the council to work with the applicant instead.

A District 5 resident living within 500 feet of the site, who criticized HMC's town hall, said big tech can't build safe data centers near homes, and backed the moratorium and ban.

An Australian-born resident who criticized HMC's use of union apprentices to fill seats, questioned the 33-megawatt facility's power supply, and endorsed the moratorium, ballot, and ordinance.

A District 3 resident who called out HMC's town hall talking points — the tiny pocket park and the diesel-generator comparison to hospitals — and conditionally supported the ballot measure.

A 50-year resident who called the project the most destructive proposal she's heard here and said she would consider moving if it's built.

A 13-year resident, business owner, and communications professional who offered pro bono services to the city and demanded clearer ballot language.

A planning professional who reminded the council that a data center is an industrial use that doesn't belong near homes, and urged the council to deny the 1977 Saturn application outright.

A Mark Keppel grad and college student who compared a data center's 26 permanent jobs and huge power draw to what a McDonald's would deliver for the city.

A union representative who warned that a citywide ban kills good union jobs and pledged that union voters would mobilize against the ballot measure if it proceeds.

Called HMC dishonest and vindictive, denounced the union turnout as corporate astroturf, and told the council to close the loopholes and pass an ordinance.

A five-generation resident who worried about electrical, heat, and battery hazards and supported the ballot with amendments but not the project here.

No Data Center MPK leader who blasted HMC's town hall, said the community has found its courage, and called on the council to lead with an ordinance plus an airtight ballot.

Co-founder of No Data Center MPK who laid out the 'belt and suspenders' strategy: ordinance as the belt, ballot as the suspenders, warning the ballot alone leaves the city exposed if it fails.

Another No Data Center MPK founder who systematically rebutted five claims the council has made about why it can't pass an ordinance, saying its attorney found none accurate.

A lifelong District 4 resident who urged ballot language fixes and a two-pronged ordinance-plus-ballot ban, speaking for residents who can't vote.

A restaurant owner and UNITE HERE Local 11 member who accused outside 'paid agitators' of weaponizing union membership and praised the council and city staff.

Detailed the health and environmental case — diesel exhaust, PFAS coolant, noise, seismic risk — disputed the revenue claims, and urged the ballot measure plus ordinance.

Said HMC's lawyer calling residents an 'uninformed mob' shows contempt, and laid out the electricity math showing the facility would use nearly twice what all city households use combined.

An Alhambra speaker with a socialist organizing message demanding the council reject the data center and threatening to run candidates against them.

A college student and first-time speaker who said residents are afraid and worried and asked the council to listen.

A LA City community member who questioned why the city and developer failed at community engagement when both know how to win elections and turn out voters.

A film-industry graphic designer who lost work to AI, who opposed the data center citing water use during drought and wildfire strain and generator pollution.

Representing Food & Water Watch, delivered a letter from 20+ climate organizations and laid out data on fossil-fuel power use, rates, and the 100x cost per data center job.

A 31-year District 5 resident who did the property-value math: a 10% drop on 1,500 homes near the site would cost homeowners $135 million — far more than the revenue the city would get.