City of Edgerton files lawsuit against two women over putting data center to a vote
The City of Edgerton, Kansas, has filed a lawsuit against two women, Carrie Schmidt and Kimberly Twente, who successfully gathered signatures for a petition to put a vote on prohibiting high-impact data centers on the ballot. The city argues the petition is a disguised zoning restriction and is seeking to pause the election process. Opponents view this as an attack on citizens' rights to oppose data centers.
The City of Edgerton, Kansas, has initiated legal action against two residents, Carrie Schmidt and Kimberly Twente, following their successful petition effort to bring a data center development to a public vote. Schmidt and Twente, representing the "Public Trust Collective," collected more than double the necessary signatures to place an ordinance on the ballot that would prohibit high-impact data centers within city limits.
The city's lawsuit aims to temporarily halt the election process, contending that the petition contains unsupported factual findings, is essentially a zoning restriction disguised as a nuisance ordinance, and does not legally qualify for the citizen petition process. An attorney for the City of Edgerton clarified that the lawsuit does not prevent residents from communicating with the city, but rather seeks a court determination on whether the proposed ordinance can legally proceed to a vote.
Schmidt and Twente interpret the city's legal challenge as an attempt to silence residents and suppress opposition to data center developments. They expressed concern that if the city's action proves successful, it could establish a precedent for other municipalities to quash similar citizen-led initiatives nationwide.