Riverside Council Candidates Talk Policy, Issues At Community Forum
Riverside City Council candidates discussed data center development at a community forum, with candidates expressing varying levels of support for a proposed 90-day pause on new data center applications. The Riverside Land Use Committee has directed city staff to draft the pause, which is scheduled for further review by the committee and City Council.
Riverside City Council candidates Gracie Torres, Aram Ayra, Chuck Conder and Rich Vandenberg debated data centers at an October 7 forum hosted by the Mission Grove Neighborhood Alliance. The Riverside Land Use Committee has directed city staff to draft a 90-day pause on data center applications, with additional committee review and a City Council discussion scheduled in October. Ayra supported the pause and advocated a permanent ban, while Torres said the largely built-out city had no place for a large-scale data center. Vandenberg sought more information before supporting a permanent ban, and Conder defended data storage on U.S. soil while questioning some opposition claims.
The candidates also discussed a nonbinding city agreement that had referenced a data center and involved a nonprofit connected to Enterprise Technology Alliance CEO. The article noted that Enterprise Technology Alliance donated to Torres’ campaign, which she said did not influence her decisions. Separately, all four candidates supported undergrounding the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project, an electrical-grid connection opposed by residents and the city of Norco; Southern California Edison is responsible for the project and has not provided the city with an undergrounding cost estimate.