Imperial Valley residents runs Data Center Developer Out of County Meeting
Full meeting here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1wRcjM5-\_\_g&ra=m
‘No Data Center’ Chants Ring Out at Imperial County Board Meeting
May 28, 2026
EL CENTRO — Imperial Valley residents held “Not In My Backyard” signs and chanted “No Data Centers,” demonstrating overwhelming opposition to the proposed hyperscale AI data center as they gathered for a special Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday evening, March 26.
The 6 p.m. meeting quickly reached capacity before it even began, prompting the county to open two overflow rooms where people could watch and make public comments via livestream. These overflow rooms reached capacity by the time the meeting began, leaving out more than 50 people who would then gather in the administration building parking lot.
“This community will remember who stood with the people and who stood with the developer; this community will remember the decisions made here and will respond accordingly through public process, public record, and at the ballot box,” said Franscico Leal during his public comment.
Sebastian Rucci, founder of Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing LLC and the principal developer, was given the podium to give his presentation on the proposed Imperial Valley Data Center Campus.
The 110 slides and video prepared by Rucci covered site plans of the data center and briefly covered results from commissioned studies regarding the impacts of the data center project. According to Rucci, the 950,000-square-foot AI data center is planned to be in the southeastern corner of West Aten Road and Clark Road in order to avoid California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.
“You only have some areas that are industrial; there’s not that much of it, because if I went and found some land farther away from houses, which I would most definitely welcome, it would be agricultural, it would require CEQA, and it would go through all that torture, and probably wouldn’t happen in four years,” said Rucci during his presentation on Thursday’s special meeting.
In November 2025, the county granted the data center project an exemption from CEQA, state law that requires state and local agencies to disclose and evaluate the significant environmental impacts of proposed projects and adopt all feasible mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts.
As Rucci continued with his presentation, “No Data Centers” chants could be heard from people outside the administration building, shifting the energy as residents in the chamber audience joined the chants, leading to County Executive Officer Kathleen Lang to call for a recess.
During the recess, Rucci left the meeting and exited the administration building as the crowd of people held anti-AI data center signs high and continued chanting “No Data Centers.” Rucci entered his car and drove off. Once the special meeting resumed, public comments regarding the proposed hyperscale AI data center began.
Jared Sanchez, a school teacher and resident of Imperial County, commented on the necessity of CEQA review and how data centers in other towns have greatly increased their average temperature, such as in Loudoun, Virginia. He noted that for Loudoun, between 1996 and 2020, the temperature had an average increase of 1°F. But from 2022 to 2025, when the first data center was introduced in Loudoun, the temperature had an average increase of 4°F.
“As soon as the data center started getting put in, we could already see it doubled or tripled its speed; that’s an issue that we need to at least get investigated, because if I have to get 3 to 4 more degrees in our 120 degrees, I’m gonna be paying a lot more than $25 to get that AC going back up,” said Sanchez.
Ian Hayasaka, an electrical engineering student, questioned the security of the AI industry and noted the lack of trust in the developers to ensure permanent jobs for Imperial County residents.
“Open AI itself has lost $16 billion, with a B, since 2023. What’s the developer’s plan in the event that the AI industry collapses?” asked Hayasaka. “Also, data center jobs, if it’s around 100 jobs, would account for less than a percent of our unemployment, less than a percent.”
Hayasaka referred to the 100 jobs figure from a presentation by Mike Bracken, managing partner and chief economist of Development Management Group, presenting unbiased and factual findings of the economic impacts of the data center project. Bracken’s findings concluded that the project would create between 100 and 200 permanent direct operation jobs.
Hayasaka also commented on the ethical concerns of AI. He raised concerns that AI has been used to generate child abuse material, and companies such as X are under investigation for such material. “Does the developer understand that data centers have created abusive material, and we risk this happening here?”
Shirley Mah, a lifelong Imperial Valley resident, raised her concerns regarding the power demands of data centers, using the residents of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, as an example, as they are going to lose power from their longtime power supplier due to data centers there.
“The data center is soaking up all of Nevada’s energy. 49,000 people are losing their utility company because they can’t afford the electricity, because the data center is getting it and I don’t want that to happen here.”
“They’re only concerned about making the fast buck. It’s like, I want to protect this planet, and this county for children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and that’s what the board needs to do,” said Mah.
“He’s posturing in front of us that he’s putting all his money and time to get this project done as if he is doing us a favor, but Rucci enjoys the lawsuits, he enjoys the smalltown drama this is not extraneous labor for him, this is all part of his process, he thinks we are stupid and most importantly that you guys are stupid,” Reina Adame said in his public comment to the board.
Jose Garcia, representing Laborers International Union of America Local 1184, gave his full support of the data center project, commenting that it is a difficult time for laborers and that finding jobs to support themselves and their families seems harder than ever. He explained how another union member wanted to join him at the special meeting to show support for the data center, but had to take up a second job to provide for his family.
“There’s no work for him right now; he has to travel out to San Diego or to Riverside County to find work.”
“I understand about being part of the community, I do, but we can’t just block out one sector of your constituents; we’re all taxpayers, we all live here,” said Garcia.
Adame, alongside other residents opposing the AI data center, rallies behind the demands to the board to reject the ministerial classifications of the project, require full CEQA review, and impose a moratorium on the data center.