A citizen-led petition asking for a proposed data center in Edgerton to be voted on by the public will move forward after a Johnson County judge sided with two residents the city sued.
On Sept. 3 in Johnson County District Court, Judge Stephanie Goodenow sided with defendants Kimberly Twente and Carrie Schmidt, both Edgerton residents, in the city’s lawsuit against them, granting a motion to strike it and ruling that the lawsuit violated their rights under the Kansas Public Speech Protection Act (KPSPA).
The law prevents lawsuits meant to silence public participation.
Linus Baker, Schmidt and Twente’s attorney, called the judge’s ruling “a major victory.”
“Citizens ought to be encouraged to petition their government,” Baker told the Post, “and the legislature gave citizens the right to put something on a ballot to bypass their government if they didn’t think they were doing the right thing and put it to a vote. The city of Edgerton didn’t want to put it to a vote. What does that tell you about their idea of democracy?”
He added: “It’s a victory all the way around for not just my clients, but everybody subject to this kind of litigation tactics.”
The city filed the lawsuit against Twente, Schmidt, the civic watchdog nonprofit group Twente recently incorporated, Public Trust Collective Inc., as well as other unnamed defendants on Aug. 4, alleging their petition aimed at stopping data centers from being built in the city is “legally and factually deficient.”
The city’s lawsuit argued that the proposed ordinance would, in effect, function as a zoning restriction, making the matter “administrative” and not legislative, meaning it would not fall under the citizen petition process.
In a statement on the City of Edgerton’s website, the city said it respects the court’s decision while still questioning if the petition is legally able to move forward.
“We continue to have very serious concerns about the ordinance, especially that, as written, it exceeds the City’s authority and misstates facts over water and power, and that it exposes the City to severe legal and financial liabilities. The City is now evaluating options,” it stated.
The lawsuit concerns a proposed data center in Edgerton
Since the Edgerton City Council began discussing plans for a Dubai-based DAMAC Digital data center project at the Logistics Park Kansas City warehouse at 31800 W. 196th St. in Edgerton, Schmidt and Twente have become prominent voices against it.
In their fight against the data center project, Schmidt, Twente and Public Trust Collective Inc. circulated a petition, which garnered 208 signatures.
The city’s lawsuit was a response to their protests, Twente said in a previous interview.
“They are purposely being aggressive. They are purposely bullying us. They’re trying to silence us,” she said.
The city’s lawsuit noted that the Johnson County Election Office reviewed the petition and confirmed the validity of the signatures. It also stated that the county’s legal department reviewed the petition and determined it generally met statutory requirements.
At its July 23 meeting, the city council declined to adopt the petition, asserting that it had inaccurate statements and findings that the governing body never made, and instead opted to approve filing the lawsuit.
What’s next
It has not been determined if the city of Edgerton will put the citizen’s petition to block data center development on the November ballot.
A separate lawsuit filed by Eric Twente, Kimberly’s husband, against Edgerton City Clerk Dusti Callahan hopes to clarify that. The lawsuit argues that the city’s initial conclusion that the petition was administrative, and therefore invalid, is incorrect and seeks to put the petition on the ballot.
While a hearing on the matter is scheduled for Sept. 25, the cutoff date for it to be put on the ballot is Sept. 19.
On Sept. 4, Baker filed a motion for an expedited schedule to move up the hearing to Sept. 18, which would allow for a determination of whether the ordinance would be put on the November ballot.
As of Thursday, the hearing is still scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sept. 24 in Johnson County District Court.
Go deeper: Edgerton sues residents over petition seeking to block data centers
