Data centers are coming to Pima County, whether residents like it or not.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors has approved a new data center despite major community opposition and no end user formally lined up.
Amazon was outed earlier this summer as the longtime, unofficial end user lined up for the 290-acre data center, Project Blue, but the e-commerce giant reportedly backed out around the beginning of this month after the developer, Beale Infrastructure, nixed water cooling in favor of the more electricity-dependent air cooling process.
Amazon’s departure was uncovered during the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) hearing earlier this month by sources first reported on by the Arizona Daily Star. ACC approved, 4-1, a decade-long Energy Supply Agreement between Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and the developer to power Project Blue.
Beale Infrastructure made the cooling process switch after the Tucson City Council voted unanimously to deny access to their reclaimed water system back in August. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero also pledged to place limits on future data centers.
The days leading up to the council vote were filled with contentious community information meetings on the project.
Per 13 News, multiple unnamed sources told Pima County Supervisor and Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham that up to eight other companies expressed interest in taking Amazon’s place. Sources conflicted on whether one of the companies is Meta, or whether Meta had already backed out as Amazon had.
Project Blue’s developer, Beale Infrastructure, presented the proposed data center as both an economic driver and environmentally friendly operator: “no risks or financial burdens [will be] passed on to other customers,” their representatives promised in their presentations during the community information meetings.
Opponents argue these data centers will further strain an already stressed water supply and electric grid, ultimately leading to scarcity as well as higher fiscal and health costs for the consumer.
It was the promised economic benefits that won over the 3-2 majority of Pima County supervisors. The two supervisors against the data center, Andres Cano and Jen Allen, expressed concerns over the long-term unknown impacts on the environment and community health.
Pima County’s vote came several weeks after ACC approved Beale Infrastructure’s application for Project Blue.
Data centers are the powerhouse for platforms covering virtually every aspect of modern life online: government, streaming, remote work, cloud storage, e-commerce, education, finance, and healthcare.
An independent Economic Impact Study on Project Blue projects a $3.6 billion total capital investment, $250 million in tax revenues, 180 new jobs by 2029, and over 3,000 direct construction jobs during the building phase.
The project will be located north of Pima County Fairgrounds, at the I-10 and Houghton interchange. The development site is over a mile away from the nearest resident, located within an unincorporated area that’s part of the Southeast Employment & Logistics Center.
Beale Infrastructure is also moving on another, equally controversial data center development in Marana totaling 600 acres. Two rezoning applications were filed recently for potential data center development: Luckett North and Luckett South. Earlier this month, the town’s planning commission recommended rezoning for development.
As with Project Blue, the closest resident lives about a mile away from the proposed data center campus. It will also be an air-cooled facility.
In preparation for consideration of the data center, town officials produced two podcast episodes on the town’s data center ordinance and potential for development.
Marana Town Council is scheduled to consider the data center project on Jan. 6, 2026. Progress on the project is available for viewing on the town’s development projects and activity portal.
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The Pima County Democrats may have violated open meeting law by neglecting to issue public notice of their meeting and requiring secrecy when selecting potential replacements for former State Rep. Andrés Cano. State law nullifies any actions taken during a meeting found to have violated open meeting law.
The public must receive a 24-hour notice of the meeting details. However, as Tucson Sentinel reported, Pima County Democratic Party leadership initially refused to provide access to the online meeting link.
Leslie Stalc, Legislative District 20 chair, reportedly told the outlet that she “sent out notices to anyone who was concerned” when asked if she issued public notice of the meeting. During the meeting, Pima County Democratic Chairman Eric Robbins reportedly prohibited public participants from recording the meeting or discussing anything that took place.
“No party but the party host may create an audio or video recording of these proceedings,” said Robbins. “No matters discussed here may be disseminated to the public for any purpose not consistent with the goals of the Pima County Democratic Party.”
Later on in the meeting, Robbins reportedly admitted that they hadn’t been as transparent about the meeting as they should have. He denied any malicious intent, predicting that reporters might pick up on the potential open meeting law violation.
“We are trying to accommodate this and be as open and transparent as possible. Again, if people need to level criticism on that point, I understand it,” said Robbins. “It’s certainly news if you have to make it news. But realize we’re not trying to do anything nefarious here.”
The leadership also reportedly opted to not disclose the vote tallies during the meeting, but pledged to do so at a later point.
After the meeting, counsel for the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) declared that leadership met open meeting law requirements by putting a calendar event on their website. The event listing didn’t include information about how the public could attend.
The Pima County Democratic Party calendar only listed the Tanque Verde Valley Democratic Club Monthly Meeting. Legislative District 20 meetings occur on the fourth Monday of each month.
The county party didn’t post about the meeting on any of their social media profiles.
Fellow LD20 lawmakers, State Rep. Alma Hernandez and State Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, requested a do-over of the meeting in a joint letter to the ADP and the Pima County Board of Supervisors (BOS).
Supervisor Matt Heinz told Tucson Sentinel that it didn’t matter if the public was notified. Even if the meeting did violate open meeting law, Heinz said he would propose that his colleagues consider the three candidates anyway.
“The public notice thing doesn’t make a difference for the process at least with this,” said Heinz.
Cano resigned formally on Independence Day, about a month after announcing his intent to do so. The former lawmaker stepped down to obtain a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Pima County Democrats voted last Saturday for three candidates to replace Cano: Elma Alvarez, Lourdes Escalante, and Betty Villegas.
Alvarez is a Tucson Unified School District teacher. Escalante is the executive director and former co-director of programming of Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, an activist group across southern border states and Mexico.
Villegas is the development director for the South Tucson Housing Authority, with a brief former stint as a supervisor for Pima County and a longtime housing program manager for the county.
I've submitted my formal resignation from the Arizona House of Representatives.
It has been a true honor to represent the people of District 20 and to serve as the House Minority Leader.
Democrats claim a new program will bankrupt the state. The opposite is true.
Is school choice bankrupting Arizona? That’s what Gov. Katie Hobbs and Democratic legislative leaders would have you believe, but simple math says otherwise.
Arizona’s choice program, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), “in its current form is not sustainable,” Ms. Hobbs tweeted last week. “We need to bring an end to this out of control and unaccountable spending, and I will work tirelessly to make that happen.”
With an ESA, parents can use a portion of their child’s state education funds—typically about $8,000 a year—to pay for private-school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, online courses, home-school curricula, special-needs therapy and other expenses.
Ms. Hobbs’s declaration came in the wake of the Arizona Department of Education’s latest projection that the program, which has about 58,000 participants, will serve 100,000 students by the end of fiscal 2024 at a cost of roughly $900 million.
“Without reform, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts will bankrupt our state & our public schools,” tweeted Rep. Andrés Cano, leader of the Democratic caucus in the Arizona House. He omitted the portion of the department’s letter noting that “many of the students that are enrolling now are coming from the public school system, which in the end saves the state money.”
That $900 million is barely 2% of total Arizona state spending of $80.5 billion in 2022. Arizona public schools spend about $14,000 per pupil, or $1.4 billion for 100,000 students. If the department’s enrollment projection is reached, school choice would serve roughly 8% of Arizona’s students for 6% of the $15 billion that Arizona will spend on public schools.
A new report by the Common Sense Institute finds that “current enrollment in Arizona public district and charter schools combined is over 80,000 students below pre-pandemic projections,” producing a savings of $639 million. Arizona’s population is growing, so the vast majority of those students left for private or home schools, for which they could avail themselves of Arizona’s two private choice policies. In addition to the 58,000 students using education savings accounts, last year school tuition organizations issued more than 32,000 tax-credit scholarships.
The attacks on school choice are more than a public relations campaign. When Ms. Hobbs’s budget retained last year’s school-choice expansion, Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes used the “bankrupt the state” talking point as a pretext to threaten a lawsuit. In a public letter to Ms. Hobbs and the Legislature, Ms. Mayes decried the “catastrophic drain on state resources caused by universal Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.” She later went on television and threatened to investigate participating families for “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Ms. Hobbs lacks the legislative support to roll back school choice, as Republicans have slim majorities. But she’s signaling what she would do if she could. Arizona families should take note.
Mr. Bedrick is a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Mr. DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children.
An Arizona Democrat leader is receiving pushback for his selective cropping of a memo from the Arizona Department of Education.
On Tuesday, Christine Accurso, the Executive Director of the ESA Program for Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne’s administration, submitted “the annual estimate of the amount required to fund empowerment scholarship accounts” to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for the 2024 fiscal year.
Accurso’s estimate concluded “that the projected enrollment by the end of Fiscal Year 2024 will be at 100,000 students with roughly $900,000,000 necessary to fund them.”
Andrés Cano, the Democrat Leader in the Arizona House of Representatives, tweeted out the memo – up until the point where Accurso shared the price tag of the program. He added. “without reform, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts will bankrupt our state & our public schools.”
BREAKING: The AZ Dept. of Education is predicting that the state's GOP taxpayer-funded private school voucher program will grow to 100,000 students in '24 at a whopping $900M per year!
Without reform, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts will bankrupt our state & our public… pic.twitter.com/bn4fiuNWBk
Cano left out the last paragraph of the memo, where Accurso wrote: “We have made this projection with the help of our Chief Auditor, John Ward who conducted the analysis. It is important to note that we currently have 57,886 students in the program. For budgeting purposes, it is also important to note that many of the students that are enrolling now are coming from the public school system, which in the end saves the state money because the empowerment scholarship accounts are funded at a lower percentage than the state aid for a pupil in the public school system.”
One of the top school choice advocates in the country, Corey DeAngelis, highlighted the omission from Cano, tweeting, “hey why did you cut off the end of the letter.” DeAngelis included an image of the entire memo.
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) May 31, 2023
He also asked, “how much would those same students cost in the government schools?”
how much would those same students cost in the government schools?
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) May 31, 2023
Jason Bedrick, a Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, also weighed in, stating, “$900M is about 1% of the state’s $80.5 billion budget – and the ESA costs about half as much per pupil as the public school system. The sky isn’t falling.”
$900M is about 1% of the state’s $80.5 billion budget — and the ESA costs about half as much per pupil as the public school system.
Grant Botma, a best-selling author also shared his thoughts on Cano’s charge, posting, “The Arizona Auditor General report shows the public school system spends $10,729 per pupil. The $900,000,000 divided by 100,000 from your image is $9000 per student. That is a $1,729 savings. How would that “bankrupt our state”?
The Arizona Auditor General report shows the public school system spends $10,729 per pupil (https://t.co/xyd6BwG1dv). The $900,000,000 divided by 100,000 from your image is $9000 per student. That is a $1,729 savings. How would that "bankrupt our state"?
Members from both sides of the political aisle at the Arizona Legislature quickly piled onto Cano’s controversial tweet. On the Republican side, Representative Jacqueline Parker commented, “This is GREAT! But not enough yet. $900 million is a drop in the bucket to the other $7+BILLION spent on the useless indoctrination camps that are ‘government schools’. Until ESA’s are pulling at LEAST $5 Billion from government schools, our job is not yet finished.”
This is GREAT! But not enough yet. $900 million is a drop in the bucket to the other $7+BILLION spent on the useless indoctrination camps that are “government schools”. Until ESA’s are pulling at LEAST $5 Billion from government schools, our job is not yet finished. https://t.co/IFoomnj7A8
— Rep. Jacqueline Parker (@electjacqparker) May 31, 2023
Representative Joseph Chaplik tweeted, “Simply not true. Just like the state doesn’t fund K-12 enough. This same lie is getting old fast!”
Simply not true. Just like the state doesn’t fund K-12 enough. This same lie is getting old fast! https://t.co/UNiq7namZo
— Rep. Joseph Chaplik 🇺🇸 (@JosephChaplik) May 31, 2023
On the Democrat side, Senator Priya Sundareshan wrote, “During the last few months we were getting estimates that the cost to the state of the universal voucher program had increased to $600M, instead of the $30M originally promised when they passed it last year. Now we see it has already grown to $900M. How high will it climb??”
During the last few months we were getting estimates that the cost to the state of the universal voucher program had increased to $600M, instead of the $30M originally promised when they passed it last year.
— AZ Sen. Priya Sundareshan (@priya4az) May 31, 2023
Twitter provided a community note to provide context for Cano’s tweet: “Cano has cropped out the portion of the letter which explains how this program saves the state money. The cropped out portion directly counters his claim that this program will ‘bankrupt our state.’”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Over half of the Arizona House Democrats are pushing to repeal the state’s ban on male athletes in K-12 female sports. The bill has yet to be assigned to a committee.
Freshman State Rep. Nancy Gutierrez (D-LD18) proposed the bill, HB2068. 14 Democrats signed on, including: State Reps. Flavio Bravo, Andrés Cano, Oscar De Los Santos, Melody Hernandez, Christopher Mathis, Analise Ortiz, Mariana Sandoval, Judy Schwiebert, Keith Seaman, Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, Laura Terech, and Stacey Travers. Democratic leadership also cosponsored the bill: Assistant Minority Leader Lupe Contreras and Minority Whip Marcelino Quiñonez.
Gutierrez, a Tucson High Magnet School yoga teacher, said that transgender athletes deserve to play on the team of their choosing. GLSEN Arizona, the state branch of the national organization pushing LGBTQ+ ideologies onto minors, endorsed the effort.
All of our students deserve the opportunity to play sports. This was a bill that my students specifically asked me to create and I was happy to fulfill my promise to them. @AZHouseDems@equalityarizonahttps://t.co/sFIW5Dkbgz
— Representative Nancy Gutierrez (@nancygforAZ) January 13, 2023
Gutierrez also opposes the state’s ban on gender transition procedures for minors, and the requirement for teachers to inform parents about their communication with students regarding sexuality or identity.
So, now thanks to @DougDucey and the @AZGOP, my trans students will be worried if they will be able to continue on their gender affirming paths. I have no words to describe how crushing this law is for those kids.
— Representative Nancy Gutierrez (@nancygforAZ) March 30, 2022
When students tell me something in confidence (that isn't putting them in danger) I will not betray that trust. Our kids must have trusted adults to talk to. This law is dangerous. https://t.co/2XEZWn2tMl
— Representative Nancy Gutierrez (@nancygforAZ) May 2, 2022
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (PPAZ), the political advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood Arizona, endorsed Gutierrez. Planned Parenthood Arizona offers hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on site and via telehealth. The effects of HRT may only last from six months to three years, meaning that patients must take it for life to experience its effects.
Last September, Planned Parenthood Arizona received a $10,000 grant from Phoenix Pride for their gender transition procedures, or “Gender Affirming Care” (GAC).
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) also endorsed Gutierrez. HRC, an activist organization, denies that males have biological advantages to females.
The legislature banned males from female sports last year through SB1165. Democratic legislators spoke out in opposition to the bill, claiming that transgender athletes had no competitive edge over their non-transgendered peers. They also claimed that the bill solved a non-issue, since so few transgender athletes existed in the state.
Males who attempt to transition socially and/or physically as females retain their physical advantages to females, such as testosterone, muscle mass, height, and fat distribution. Even with a year of hormone treatments, they retain significant advantages.
However, activist organizations such as the ACLU dismiss those scientific findings as speculative.
There are 18 states that have banned students from participating in sports of the opposite sex. In addition to Arizona, these are Utah, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida.
While Democratic legislators are focused on affirming preferred identities, Republican legislators are focused on affirming biological realities and parental authority. State Sen. John Kavanaugh (R-LD03) proposed a bill to prohibit K-12 schools from referring to a minor student by a pronoun that differs from the pronouns aligning from their biological sex without parental permission. The bill, SB1001, would also prohibit a school from requiring an employee or independent contractor to refer to students by their preferred pronouns.
Kavanaugh’s bill was scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
