Shelbyville mayor links run-down rentals to data center opponents
Shelbyville, Indiana Mayor Scott Furgeson is facing backlash for comments linking data center opponents to "shitty," run-down rental properties. This controversy adds to months of tension over the proposed annexation of 400 acres for a hyperscale data center by Prologis, which has already seen a lawsuit filed by residents.
Shelbyville, Indiana, Mayor Scott Furgeson is facing calls for resignation after a video surfaced showing him suggesting that opponents of a proposed data center live in "shitty," run-down rental homes. The mayor's comments, made after a Common Council meeting and posted on social media, have garnered over 30,000 views and hundreds of critical responses from residents. Furgeson's spokesperson, Jenna Martin, clarified that the mayor intended to reference property maintenance issues and regrets any offense caused, stating that resignation is not an option.
The controversy highlights existing tensions in Shelbyville surrounding a months-long debate over the annexation of 400 acres for a hyperscale data center. The Shelbyville City Council had previously voted in April to allow Prologis to develop the data center near I-74 and State Road 44, a project expected to create up to 450 full-time jobs across about a dozen buildings. However, residents have actively opposed the development, with more than 7,000 people signing an online petition to halt the annexation.
Further escalating the conflict, thirteen neighbors filed a lawsuit in May to challenge the land-use decision, effectively pausing the data center's progress. Residents like Bryan Bond, 47, and Abby Dunn, 25, who both oppose the data center, expressed dismay at the mayor's remarks, asserting that opposition spans all social classes and income levels within the community. Dunn, who lives in a rental home, displayed a new yard sign in response to the mayor's comments, reading "Just another shitty house against a data center."