San Mateo County residents nearly woke up to a data center where their fairgrounds stand. A private company called Global Stack LLC proposed building a massive data center — along with a helicopter landing pad and parking structure — at the San Mateo County Event Center, a public space on county-owned land at 1346 Saratoga Drive. The proposal was part of a plan to build eight data centers across the Bay Area.

Data centers are industrial facilities that store and process data for tech companies, and they come with real costs for communities: higher electricity bills, heavy water use, and constant noise. Across the country, opposition is growing. New York recently became the first state to halt construction of large new data centers — and for good reason.

San Mateo City Council members acted quickly, calling for a temporary moratorium on new data centers while the city evaluates the impact. County Executive Mike Callagy stated the county has "zero interest" in this proposal. That's the right call — but community voices matter to make sure it stays that way.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has final say over what happens on county land. Sign this petition to tell the Board: our fairgrounds are for the community, not corporate data infrastructure.

Keep the San Mateo County Event Center public — not a data center.