Letter: Another viewpoint on data centers Letter to the editor Just the prospect of a proposed data center coming to unincorporated Alachua County has created a firestorm of opposition that is threatening the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) to kill the idea before it grows. A few vocal individuals and the usual alarmist groups that inundate them with emails filled with misinformation are trying to obstruct the BoCC from thoughtfully addressing this issue. The proposed data center is referred to as a high-megawatt data center, which is a rather generic description in the context of data center types. There is no way to weigh the advantages against the disadvantages for the County with just that tidbit of information. The idea of changing the County’s Comprehensive Plan and land use policies to exclude any and every type of data center is exceedingly narrow-minded and reeks of laziness by folks who are afraid to do their job comprehensively. There are several thousand data centers in the U.S., and this number continues to grow each year. Depending on their type, large data centers can actually provide significant benefits for a county. So far, the reaction from the BoCC has been brutally predictable, given their proclivities about growth. All the commissioners appear to be considering grouping all data centers into one category and moving on from the issue, because data centers turn cities into ghost towns. I would prefer to see the BoCC stand tall and do their due diligence to see if there could be some real economic benefit to the county from the proposal. Given the looming economic challenges ahead, now is the time to establish a mindset focused on real-time decision-making, grounded in the idea of “ask not what the country can do for you…” Cringing on the dais and hollering,