Opinion: Prince William withholding data center info from public

Letters to the Editor July 18, 2022

Citizens were recently treated to two more mind-numbing episodes in the surreal story of the Prince William Digital Gateway.

 

The July 13th Planning Commission meeting featured an exchange where Gainesville commissioner Rick Berry asked acting Planning Office Director Rebecca Horner why there was a work session scheduled to discuss the proposal when neither the Comprehensive Plan update nor the overlay district review were complete.


Ms. Horner’s incredulous reply was “they [the Supervisors] did not require that type of analysis”.  Why is the Prince William Digital Gateway jumping the line to be considered ahead of reviews that ought to precede it? 

On the following evening, the Planning Office hosted a virtual discussion on the Camoin report that they seem to believe validates all their pre-conceived notions.

When asked when the County would release detailed information on the land and expected capacity for data centers under development, Director of Economic Development Christina Winn said that information is protected by non-disclosure agreements.  Is that a joke?  Is she really telling us that information essential to evaluating the necessity for the Prince William Digital Gateway will be withheld from public review and scrutiny at the behest of private corporations that stand to profit from public ignorance?  Unbelievable.


What is driving the contrived urgency to push the Prince William Digital Gateway proposal forward in this illogical sequence?  Whose armored car is double-parked outside?

Stop the embarrassment and suspicion surrounding this troubled proposal until the Planning Office can get its act together and its story straight.

Bill Wright

Gainesville

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  LETTER TO THE EDITOR   Anti-Digital Gateway Activist Endorses Deshundra Jefferson for Chair   Gainesville resident Bill Wright supports Jefferson-D for Chair of Prince William County Board of Supervisors   Posted Wednesday, April 12, 2023     ( Anti-Digital Gateway Activist Endorses Deshundra Jefferson for Chair - Bristow Beat ) Ask yourself: Are you better off than you were four years ago, or have your dreams been hijacked to serve the selfish aims of others? Prince William County is at a crossroads and the 2023 elections will decide whether we free ourselves from subservience to developer exploitation or slip permanently into the abyss.    A positive change awaits in the candidacy of Deshundra Jefferson for County Board Chair.  She vows to restore transparency and integrity to a government that has been quick to abuse your trust and give away the store to big tech predators who are gorging on your slice...
Read more
Image
  Subject: A Trojan Horse at the Gate On March 7 th , members of the Heritage Hunt Homeowner’s Association met with representatives from QTS to hear about their plans for developing the adjacent Prince William Digital Gateway.  They had previously met with representatives from Compass Datacenters on February 28 th .  The Heritage Hunt Board of Directors is justifiably wary of interlopers who have demonstrated they will employ any tactic that serves their interests.  The Heritage Hunt Board wrote: “Our previously stated concerns that the Digital Gateway is inappropriate for the Pageland area and that there are more suitable uses for that land has not changed.”  Citizens of Prince William County are still irate over the unethical practices employed by QTS and Compass in strong-arming their way into our area despite broad public opposition.  Both corporations negotiated plans secretly, under the cloak of non-disclosure agreements designed to inhibit publi...
Read more

Pay-for-Play on Full Display

Image
  Friends and Neighbors, In light of the shameless Devlin Technology Park betrayal ( UPDATED: Prince William Supervisors OK Devlin data centers despite residents' objections | News | princewilliamtimes.com ), how many of you have been wondering how public officials sworn to represent your interests can not only be indifferent to your welfare, but actually take the side of predatory corporations determined to exploit you? Peruse the multiple tabs of the spreadsheet at:   Donations Driving Data Centers - Google Sheets   and wonder no more.  Instead, wonder why any of us ever thought we might get the time-of-day from blatant political prostitutes masquerading as supervisors.  If you want their attention, you’re going to need a bigger suitcase full of cash.  If the obscene amount of money showered on our current crop of Democratic supervisors isn’t a corrupting influence, I don’t know what is.   Now prepare yourselves for the next public fleecin...
Read more