The Memphis City Council in Memphis, Tenn., returns Thursday to the proposed data center moratorium, two days after a meeting on the ordinance broke down amid protests and a fight in the City Hall lobby.
Council member Jana Swearengen-Washington announced Wednesday that the body will pick up where Tuesday’s meeting left off, with a committee meeting and planning session at 1 p.m. followed by a continuation of the regular council meeting at 4 p.m. In her statement, she urged calm and said keeping order is not about silencing residents who disagree with the council.
The trouble began Tuesday when a majority of the council voted to delay the final vote on the moratorium. The vote was originally shelved for two weeks. Seven members, including Rhonda Logan, Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, Chase Carlisle, Philip Spinosa, Ford Canale and Janika White, supported the delay.
Five members voted against postponing: Michalyn Easter-Thomas, Jerri Green, JB Smiley Jr., Pearl Eva Walker and Swearengen-Washington. Smiley, the sponsor of the ordinance, said residents are not asking for a ban on all data centers but want the city to slow down and involve them in setting a framework.
More than 100 people attended Tuesday to hear the outcome. After the delay, a fight broke out in the lobby. Memphis police were called to the disturbance, but a department spokesperson said no one was detained and no one was harmed. The council then recessed the meeting until Thursday.
Not every member backs the pause. Councilman Jeff Warren said he believes a moratorium is a bad idea, though he supports regulations the city can legally put in place. Warren also said he does not support the protests and outbursts that happened Tuesday.
Thursday’s session will show whether the council keeps the two-week delay on the moratorium or moves sooner on the ordinance Smiley has sponsored.
