BOC MEETING SPEECH
July 14, 2026 — Paulding County Board of Commissioners

Good afternoon Chairman and members of the Board.

I am a Paulding County resident of 27 years. I'm here today because I'm fed up with the lack of transparency and the backroom deals that are destroying trust in our local government.

Last August 2025, Virginia Galloway spoke at the Republican Party monthly meeting about growth in our county. That same month the zoning board was preparing to vote on major changes and did in fact vote for them.

My question is: How long have key politicians known about the plan to ram hyper-scale data centers into our residential neighborhoods?

The proof of this secrecy is undeniable. On August 26, 2025, during the supposed "public hearing" on the technology overlay and data center rezoning — not one single resident spoke. Our County Attorney Jayson Phillips weeks later called this a public hearing.

The only person who stood up to speak during public comment was attorney Brandon Bowen, who was introduced by Ann Lippmann, the Community Development Director.

Brandon Bowen is a Cartersville resident and also the attorney for Atlas Data Center developer, which we have verified through open records requests is actively trying to purchase at least one of the parcels that is part of Project Sweetwater / Tidwell. I found this irregular as he's not a Paulding County resident as he stated in his introduction. Attorney Bowen delivered a polished sales pitch and was also called in as the expert to answer questions.

I greatly encourage all of you here today to go back and watch that meeting — it's on the County YouTube channel. The date is August 26, 2025.

I was saddened to hear Mr. Wix, who was the only member to actually ask a serious question, completely ignore the studies he was sent. He said he was sent studies concerning how data centers emit something that causes learning issues. Mr. Bowen promptly dismissed all health concerns, saying "he's never seen any valid studies." You all took his million-dollar sales pitch and voted to bring these health and environmental disasters into our residential communities. What actual impact studies did you look at?

I can assure you there are many studies showing that the low frequencies emitted by data centers and high-powered electrical lines do in fact cause seizures, migraine headaches, learning disabilities, increased leukemia in children, increased miscarriages, and sleep disturbances — which lead to many other health conditions. These are just what happens to humans.

That wasn't a public hearing — that was a private presentation with no opposition because you kept the public in the dark. Normally there would be at least two public hearings when land is rezoned. The BOC very conveniently bypassed this.

I have heard it said that what was done was legal. Legal and ethical are totally different. I think everyone here today would agree.

And one more point about this attorney: Were you aware that just one year prior to his appearance he formed an LLC named Aristotelian Property? Is it possible that this is a shell company? It is a well-documented real estate industry technique used to quietly acquire land.

There were no rezoning signs posted on any of the parcels that were spot-zoned without any due process. Absolutely no notices were sent to any of the hundreds of homeowners whose properties share boundaries with these parcels.

I find it interesting that our County chose this secret manner over the way the City of Cartersville chose when they eventually approved the 2,300-acre Switch data center located on the north side of Paulding County but on the Bartow side in 2023. They held months and months of real open hearings and meetings where the public was notified and encouraged to speak.

Fast forward to the private meetings the public was never told about. On April 10, 2026, a closed Zoom meeting titled "Jeff Matthews" with multiple commissioners and staff — no public notice, no agenda. On May 8, 2026, another private "Pre-Meeting for BBQ (Data Center Meeting)" right here in the BOC Conference Room, specifically to get "all parties on the same page" for the data center rollout. Again, zero public notice.

These meetings happened under your own rules that require four out of five commissioners for a quorum. Whether that technicality protects you or not, conducting secret sessions on massive industrial projects that impact entire neighborhoods is a blatant violation of the spirit — and very likely the letter — of Georgia's Open Meetings Act.

You cannot quietly rezone residential land for hyperscale data centers without putting up proper zoning signs on the properties. You cannot sneak "technology overlays" into our backyards and expect anything except anger, distrust, and division. Who thought keeping this secret was a good idea? Why did none of you demand basic transparency — transparency that all five of our Commissioners campaigned on?

This secrecy has sown rumors, divided our county, and shattered public trust. Whoever knew about these plans and stayed silent broke every principle of open government. This could very well be one of the biggest mistakes the Board of Commissioners has ever made, even worse than the Airport Commercialization debacle.

We are asking that this Board of Zoning and Board of Commissioners immediately institute a moratorium on data center approvals until residents actually have a real voice — instead of staged hearings where only the developer's lawyer shows up.

Paulding County is watching, and we will not be silent anymore. We deserve honest government — not secret deals that permanently industrialize our residential communities.

Thank you.