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LAS CRUCES 鈥� Frustration boiled over on the dais and in the gallery Tuesday as community members pressed Do帽a Ana County commissioners for answers about a promise to hold a public meeting addressing concerns about the massive data center under construction in Santa Teresa.

The debate, extended over hours and live-streamed, displayed a raw wound in the bond between residents, elected officials and government professionals. 

The community forum had been called for by opponents of Project Jupiter and critics of the quick approval last year of $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds supporting its construction.

Commissioners Susana Chaparro and Susie Kimble backed them up, pressing for a meeting where citizens could raise questions about the process and the data center's environmental costs, to be held in the vicinity of Santa Teresa so affected residents could more easily attend. They also called for subject experts who were not involved with Project Jupiter to give input.

Eventually, a meeting was set for June 18. There was a general expectation it would follow a question-and-answer format where constituents could give input to the commissioners, but Commission Chair Manny Sanchez told the Journal there had not been an explicit commitment to a town hall format.

"The goal was to find a way to best disseminate information regarding the project," he wrote in a text message.

Last week, the date and the agenda of that meeting quietly changed. A flyer circulated online last week invited the community to a 鈥渃ommunity open house and career fair鈥� on June 17 hosted not by the county government, but by the data center鈥檚 builders and developers: Stack Infrastructure; Bloom Energy, which plans to power the facilities with fuel cell technology; and tenants Oracle and OpenAI.

Community members who had spent months pushing for the meeting took it as a slap in the face, objecting Tuesday with signs and over hours of public comment at the dais.

No representatives of those companies were in the room. Instead, the chambers became an arena in which arguments about the costs and benefits of building a hyperscale AI training facility in a low-income desert community devolved into shouts and contempt among county residents.

鈥淚 feel like a wedge is being driven into our community,鈥� a retired schoolteacher who did not identify herself said in a public comment, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 being driven because, mostly, of the policies of the commission and how fast they have fast-tracked things.鈥�

An organizer with Youth United For Climate Crisis, identifying herself as Esperanza, said, 鈥淵our board has a lot of audacity to reschedule this public meeting so last minute, to allow these companies to reframe it as a job fair and to completely disregard the community鈥檚 concerns yet again.鈥�

Opponents of the project have come to the podium at every commission meeting since last September, when commissioners approved public financing for the project in a deal that was still being negotiated and authorized a single commissioner to finalize the terms outside of open session. The lone "no" vote came from Chaparro, who objected to a process she described as rushed and opaque.

Community members have protested the location of the project in a region that has struggled historically with industrial pollution, increasingly arid conditions and insufficient water infrastructure. Some have also protested the county鈥檚 decision to welcome a project supporting the expansion of AI infrastructure out of ethical and environmental concerns about the uses of the technology.

The majority of speakers over several hours Tuesday morning opposed the project and faulted County Manager Scott Andrews for signing a non-disclosure agreement with the developers during talks last year. Some called for him to resign.

Several speakers, including representatives from labor unions and economic development organizations, framed the project as a boon to the community, promising jobs, tech career paths and high salaries.

Some praised the commissioners for being 鈥渇orward-thinking鈥� and demonstrating leadership by supporting the development. Others argued they had been sold a boondoggle and had failed to represent their constituents.

Sanchez repeatedly threatened to clear the chambers as opponents expressed exasperation from their seats and played mocking sound effects on mobile devices.  

Andrews defended Project Jupiter, claiming it was already luring other businesses to Santa Teresa and arguing that 鈥渢he same 50 people in the community鈥� who continually criticized it were not representative of the county populace as a whole.

Andrews did not answer a question from Chaparro about when and why the event was handed over to the developers. When he referred to it as 鈥渢heir event,鈥� a man shouted back from the gallery, 鈥淚t was supposed to be our event.鈥�

Sanchez defended the 鈥渙pen house鈥� format, which disperses participants among several information stations focusing on particular topics. 鈥淚t allows people to go and talk to the subject matter experts,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd, yes, it鈥檚 from the company, because they鈥檙e the ones that have the details.鈥�

He also said the town hall style was vulnerable to becoming a disorderly free-for-all. "We do want to work to get them information and show how we've placed guardrails on (the project)," Sanchez wrote the Journal. "Some have been unwilling to hear from me or allowed me to explain some of it because they were just mad at me." 

Chaparro once again pressed for the town hall-style meeting that she and community members had asked for. 鈥淛ust saying that we鈥檙e going to have one meeting that is a job fair 鈥� I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 enough for some of the members of our community, and certainly not enough for me,鈥� she said.

Commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez suggested both types of meetings were worthwhile, while Kimble said, 鈥淚t does appear to this community that we鈥檙e not listening to their questions.鈥�

At Kimble鈥檚 suggestion, Andrews agreed to design a web portal where community members could submit questions in advance as a way to manage the event. He said that could be available in a couple of weeks, while the community meeting 鈥� originally agreed to three months ago 鈥� might have to wait a few more months, suggesting the procuring of subject experts might have to go through a bidding process.

It was not clear what cost estimate was the basis for that concern. The Journal contacted the county manager鈥檚 office for clarification as Tuesday鈥檚 session continued into the late afternoon.

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.