BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Temple residents gathered Saturday to collect signatures for a charter amendment that would make it easier to recall city leaders over data center approvals.
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Dozens of neighbors gathered outside the Bell County Courthouse with signs and petitions, united in their push to slow proposed data center developments planned for Temple.
The group, Temple Stands Together, formed earlier this year after neighbors raised concerns about the environmental impact of multiple proposed data centers. On Saturday, members held a petition drive and protest, hoping to collect enough signatures to place a charter amendment on the November ballot — one that would lower the threshold needed to recall city leaders.
Joe Royer, president of Temple Stands Together, said the city council's refusal to conduct an impact study prompted the effort.
"All we asked for is an impact study. Let's, let's do an impact study. How is this major development going to affect our community and the city council said no," Royer said.
Royer said the speed at which the city moved on the data centers drove the group's push for accountability.
"The whole reason we're doing this is because the city council rushed through the data centers despite record turnout at city council," Royer said.
He added that the issue has drawn support from across the community.
"I've never seen anything unite the community the way this issue has, and that's one of the things that I'm really the most proud of is how there is no divide here," Royer said.
Volunteer Carly Bird said the movement has grown beyond the data center debate itself.
"We're putting all that aside and coming together for our natural resources, for our future children," Bird said.
Many protesters said their primary concerns center on long-term impacts to water usage, air quality, and local resources.
Protester Maddie Johnson said the stakes are clear.
"We need water more than anything else on the planet," Johnson said.
House District 55 candidate Amelia Rabroker said residents are calling for greater transparency before large-scale projects move forward.
"We don't know enough. What we do know is we have billion-dollar corporations coming to this area to extract from our communities, and we need to do reduction harm in this moment… because we can't undo these things once they're here," Rabroker said.
Temple Stands Together said it must gather roughly 3,000 verified signatures by late July for the proposed charter amendments to appear on November's ballot.
If you would like to sign the petition, you can visit here.
If you would like to view Bell County data center informational page, click here.
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