A meeting on data centers Wednesday evening became confrontational toward the end with one man yelling and dropping the “f-bomb” at Mayor Mark McBrayer.
McBrayer told the man, “I’m not going to sit here and take that kind of treatment. I have not been disrespectful to you, and I expect you to be respectful of me, please.”
Some people in the audience applauded. Then event organizer Stephen Sanders restored calm, ending the meeting with a closing prayer.
The meeting at the YWCA was hosted by organizers of a petition drive to slow data center development. The group “Save Lubbock” wants the city to adopt an 18-month moratorium on new data centers inside the city limits.
Most of the meeting featured Clayton Tucker, Democratic candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. He suggested ways people might slow down or stop large-scale data centers. One idea he presented was an Agricultural Development District, which we’ll explain further below.
Things got tense
During questions and answers at the end of the meeting, a woman asked, “So how is our community going to benefit from these data centers? How do the pros outweigh the cons? And are our city officials benefiting in some way?”
Sanders then repeated the question, saying, “The question is, what are the pros and cons and how does our city benefit from a data center? And are city officials taking money under the table technically?”
He gave McBrayer the microphone and he said, “No, I’ve not received any offer, any benefit, any cash, any emolument of any kind from anybody or anything.”
As far as campaign donations, McBrayer said all of these are public record for anyone to see.
McBrayer mentioned Leprino as an example of how a large company benefits Lubbock. His argument was property taxes on homes do not generate enough money for police, fire and other city services. The city also needs property tax revenue from businesses.
Local activist Phyllis Gant interrupted the mayor and said, “Leprino is a company that never should have been built in that particular community.”
Leprino, a large-scale provider of cheese, employs 600 people as of 2025, in Northeast and East Lubbock.
Gant claimed many of the jobs went to people who live in other parts of town, not Northeast and East Lubbock.
“We’re doing a survey to find out who works for Leprino that lives in that community,” Gant said.
For a moment several people were talking over each other.
McBrayer said, “I’m not going to argue. … If you don’t want to hear me, I’ll leave, that’s fine.”
He again reiterated sometimes the city looks for business and industry to offset the tax burden to homeowners.
“I don’t know what else to tell you,” McBrayer said.
Someone retorted, “Is it going to be the expense of our health?”
Then a man seated directly behind McBrayer yelled, “Money’s useless when it makes life terrible!”
McBrayer answered, “But not everybody agrees with you that it will make life terrible.”
The man behind McBrayer screamed, “Almost everybody ——- does, guy,” causing McBrayer to say he wouldn’t take that kind of treatment.
After Sanders took the microphone back, he said, “We let people talk – we let everybody talk. … I think we can do better at that. But, hey, look, we got it done. We’re done with that. So here’s the deal. I thank all of you for coming.”
The signature drive
If those associated with Save Lubbock (savelubbock.com) can collect enough signatures, they can force a vote of the City Council. From there, if the council rejects their proposed moratorium, it would go to a citywide election.
An email from Courtney Paz, city secretary, to Stephen Sanders, the petition organizer, said, “The deadline to submit the required 2,410 signatures is Monday, August 3 at 5 p.m.”
Tucker’s presentation
Tucker told the story of a man who retired in Dallas and wanted to have a farm.
“He bought himself the perfect little meadow. He loved it. He just had cows. He was living his dream. His grandkids loved it,” Tucker said.
A battery facility set up next to his property which made noise – but not as much noise as a data center, he said,
“His cows started acting strange. They started losing weight. They no longer slept in the little meadow. They slept literally leaning against the barbed wire on the far side of his ranch,” Tucker said.
Tucker said the calves started dying. He then provided other anecdotes of large-scale data centers causing health problems. For example, he said a woman in Glen Rose began suffering migraines when a data center moved next door.
Lubbock Lights found a similar story reported by time.com located near a bitcoin facility. The story was from Granbury – a short drive from Glen Rose.
Tucker told the audience noise from data centers affects bees, cattle and chickens. He claimed chickens lay 50 percent few eggs because of the noise.
Lubbock Lights looked online and found studies have shown constant noise can reduce egg output but the only source we found for the 50 percent claim was Tucker’s social media.
Tucker told the crowd counties for the most part cannot regulate data centers the same way cities can. Tucker presented an alternative idea.
“It’s called an Ag Development District. So, you get 10 landowners, they can be farmers, they can just be people who own some property – they don’t have to be touching. … You now have a little mini city with very similar powers to a city,” Tucker said.
A new district needs approval from county commissioners.
Lubbock Lights looked into section 60 of the Texas Agriculture Code. We were unable to confirm that Agricultural Development Districts have zoning power. They have the power to assess fees (and tax increment financing) and engage in economic development projects to create jobs.
A district can take land by eminent domain, sue and be sued, according to section 60.
Lubbock Lights tried reaching out to numerous people and institutions including the Texas Department of Agriculture for clarification on Agricultural Development Districts. We will provide an update if possible.
Sanders’ reaction after the meeting
After the meeting, Lubbock Lights asked Sanders if it’s fair to accuse local officials of taking money “under the table” without evidence.
Sanders answered, “I wouldn’t say that it’s fair, but the reason that people are saying that is because the City Council is being so hush-hush and we don’t have a lot of information. And that’s what it feels like.”
“What the mayor and the council has to do is prove to us that they are being honest. And I think they have a great opportunity here to really be heroes and prove to the people that they’re not taking any money,” Sanders said.
Sanders also gave full credit to McBrayer for organizing a city meeting during evening hours in a room where up to a thousand people could attend, which is what happened Tuesday. Sanders said that was precisely what he asked for a couple months ago and McBrayer fully honored the request.
“Mark [McBrayer] is under a lot of pressure from LEDA, from Texas Tech and then from the citizens. So, he’s got a lot on his plate, but that’s the job that comes with the territory of being the mayor. … If it were me, I would be under the same pressure and I’ve learned a lot from this whole process.” Sanders said.
Lubbock Lights also asked about the man who cussed and yelled at McBrayer.
“People get fired up sometimes, but we gave the mayor an opportunity to speak, and I think that was the right thing to do. … We can’t control every single thing that everybody does,” Sanders answered.
“People get heated up sometimes, you know? But it’s his right to have an opinion. He got too loud. … We took care of it as best as we could,” Sanders said.
“We had some heated moments, but for the most part, that was positive,” Sanders said.
