To the editor,

Maricopa is growing. The question is — growing for who? 

I have asked that question on doorsteps all across our city. Today I am asking it about something specific. Just south of town, near State Route 347, plans are moving forward for a massive industrial complex — a data center, a natural gas power plant, and a battery storage facility — spread across roughly 500 acres, right up against the Ak-Chin Indian Community. 

You may not have heard much about it yet. That is part of the problem. 

Let me explain what a data center is, because most of us are still learning. It is an enormous warehouse of computers that runs around the clock to power the internet and artificial intelligence. It needs two things in staggering amounts: water and electricity. In the middle of the Sonoran Desert, in the middle of a water crisis, that alone should give every one of us pause. 

The campus proposed near us is expected to consume hundreds of acre-feet of water every year. It will draw enormous amounts of power — and across Arizona, utilities are already warning that if every proposed data center is built, the rest of us could foot the bill through higher electric rates. Families who live near existing data centers in the Valley describe a low, constant humming that never stops. And the long-term jobs these facilities promise are few relative to their size — and may never go to the people who actually live here. 

These projects are not inevitable. A community that shows up, asks hard questions, and stands together can shape what gets built. 

Let me be clear about something. I am not against technology, and I am not against growth. Data centers will be part of our future. But there is a world of difference between growth that lifts a community up and growth that simply uses it up. Where these facilities go, how much water they take, how much noise they make, and who pays for their power — those choices matter. Right now, they are being made with very little input from the people who will live with them. 

Here is what troubles me most. Much of this is being decided at the Pinal County level, on county land, in rooms most residents never enter. For the project near us, the public still does not even know the name of the end user, exactly where its water will come from, or its full demand on our power grid. When a deal this big is kept this quiet, we are right to ask why. 

Other Arizona communities have shown that residents are not powerless. In Chandler, the city council listened to a packed room of neighbors and rejected a data center — even under heavy outside lobbying. In Tucson, the city refused to hand over its water and its blessing. These towns proved a simple truth: when neighbors stand together, they can change the outcome. 

I have lived in Maricopa for 15 years. And for more than 30 years, across many communities, I have done the unglamorous work of service — feeding families, mentoring young people, building organizations from nothing. I did not begin that work for a title, and I am not asking for your vote to chase one. I am asking because I believe Maricopa deserves leaders who will read the fine print, sit through the county meetings, and tell you the truth about what is coming over the horizon. 

If I am honored to serve on the city council, I will fight to protect our water and our wallets. That means demanding full transparency on every project. It means setting clear local standards for noise, water use, and where these facilities can be built. It means refusing to extend our city’s precious water to projects that do not serve our residents. And it means standing shoulder to shoulder with the Ak-Chin Community and our neighbors at every hearing where our future is on the table. 

Maricopa is growing. Let us make certain it grows for the families who already call it home — for our children, our seniors, our veterans, and the neighbors we have not yet met. 

That is the Maricopa worth fighting for. And I will. 

Chrystal Allen O’Jon
Maricopa City Council candidate