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Fresno City Council candidates Ariana Martinez Lott, left, and Nav Gurm.<\/p>\n
Fresno Bee File<\/p>\n
ISSUE | DATA CENTERS: The potential threat of data centers has become a hot topic at the Fresno City Council, despite no record of any projects coming to town.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 3, the City Council voted 7-0 to start the process that could ban \u201cAI\/cloud data centers\u201d<\/a> for 10 years. That viewpoint is unlikely to change when voters in District 7 chose a new leader on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n Candidates Nav Gurm and Ariana Martinez Lott are against data centers in Fresno. They are running to succeed Nelson Esparza, who is termed out.<\/p>\n Martinez Lott on data centers<\/p>\n Martinez Lott spoke at the Sept. 3 City Council meeting, praising the potential ban. But, she said going through the process would take too long. She made an alternate suggestion.<\/p>\n \u201cI urge the City Council to make an amendment to this resolution, making it an immediate temporary ban while this lengthy text amendment process takes place,\u201d Martinez Lott said.<\/p>\n Gurm on data centers<\/p>\n In a video posted to his campaign Facebook<\/a>, Gurm laid out his objections to data centers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not going to let Silicon Valley drain Fresno\u2019s water just so a few more tech giants can make more money,\u201d Gurm said.<\/p>\n Gurm supports a moratorium, and supported brining tech to Fresno, just not AI data centers. He said they consume too much water and offer too few jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the wrong trade-off for our city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This story was originally published September 18, 2026 at 12:22 PM.<\/p>\n