It's been a raucous week in Memphis, especially for those keeping their eyes on data center regulations.
The ongoing debate over a data center moratorium came to a head at a Memphis City Council meeting, which was recessed in a hurry due to meeting disruptions by some audience members and arguments between attendees and council members. Council Vice Chairman Chase Carlisle later spoke at a press conference Oct. 8, saying, "we can do better," referencing the meeting gone wrong.
Days later, Mayor Paul Young signed an executive order mandating a 90-day study on data centers.
Memphians can expect more data center developments from city and county governments coming up.
Early voting starts this week
Early voting ahead of November's election starts Oct. 14 and runs through Oct. 29.
During the early voting period, registered Shelby County voters can cast their ballot at any available polling place, and are not limited to the ones they are geographically assigned to on Election Day.
See all of the early voting locations on the Shelby County Election Commission's website.
There are a number of municipal, state and federal races on the ballot. Here's a sample ballot:
Paul Young reflects on cryptic social media post
Weeks after Memphis Mayor Paul Young made waves with an Instagram post responding to online chatter, calling him a "sellout," the mayor said he is putting the incident behind him.
In the now-deleted Sept. 16 post, which went locally viral, Young said, "I have seen a number of misinformed, silly a** posts trying to paint me as a sellout the past few days. PY from Oakhaven wants to respond (because I have plenty to clap back with), but the God in me says to stay focused and keep doing the work."
But Young said he's moving on, and "getting to work" rather than "battling about personalities."
"I'm human just like everybody else, and when you hear criticism that is not targeted towards a policy but targeted towards an individual, sometimes you respond," he said at a press conference Oct. 9.
Coming up
The Memphis City Council will next meet at 4 p.m. on Oct. 20 at City Hall, 125 N. Main St. Meeting agendas for the Council's committee and regular meetings will be posted on the city's website closer to that date.
The Council is expected to continue discussing a possible temporary ban on data center development, or more likely, regulations for ones proposed within city limits.
The Council is also holding several special Planning and Zoning Committee meetings focused on workshopping proposed data center regulations. The following sessions will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at City Hall, and are both open to the public and livestreamed:
- Oct. 19
- Oct. 22
- Oct. 26
- Oct. 29
The Shelby County Commission's next regular meeting will be at 3 p.m. on Oct. 12 at Vasco A. Smith, Jr. County Administration Building, 160 N. Main St. The meeting will also be streamed on the commission's YouTube channel.
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Got a question for the metro reporting team you would like us to take on? Have thoughts on what you want to see in our weekly politics column? Send an email to annie.goldman@commercialappeal.com or call 901-930-7431.
Annie Goldman covers government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at annie.goldman@commercialappeal.com or 901-930-7431, and followed on X @AnnieSGoldman.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Early voting starts this week; Paul Young reflects on online lash out
