'We're going to win this': Tonganoxie vows to defeat proposed Project Bluestem's hyperscale data center

TONGANOXIE, Kan. —
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About 150 people gathered in Tonganoxie Sunday with a unified message: responsible AI development matters.

Watch Ryan's 5 p.m. report in the video player below.

The community turned out to hear the latest on Project Bluestem, a proposed 1,000-acre hyperscale data center campus paired with a gas power plant, as residents continue to push back against a project they say has no place in their community.

Ryan Gamboa/KSHB

"These corporations don't care about you," Matt Beat, aka "Mr. Beat," the keynote speaker, influencer, and YouTuber, told listeners.

The feeling is mutual in Tonganoxie.

KSHB 41 News Reporter Ryan Gamboa recently covered a special meeting with Leavenworth County commissioners, where commissioners Dove and Smith were absent. In the meeting, more than 1,000 neighbors argued why Project Bluestem doesn't belong in their community.

Jake Weller/KSHB

Tyler Romans, a Tonganoxie resident, says the fight reflects something far deeper than a land use dispute.

"Tonganoxie and the fight against this data center is really a microcosm for the broader issues in American politics," Romans said. "We are David fighting Goliath. And Goliath has a million dollars and two million lawyers, and we're over here trying to scrape by."

Ryan Gamboa/KSHB

Tensions continue to flare in Leavenworth County over the county government's inaction on the Project Bluestem data center project. Romans told Gamboa he's frustrated that elected leaders are advocating for these projects. At the state level, he placed blame on state lawmakers for passing Senate Bill 98, which is home to tax breaks and data center developers.

"The failure of that state and county government and local government to protect us. We elected these people to guide our communities into prosperity, but there is no guidance. It's a sellout," Romans said.

Ryan Gamboa/KSHB

The political stakes sharpened last week when the Leavenworth County Commission voted 3-to-2 to remove Mike Stieben as commissioner chair.

The title is merely ceremonial. But it comes with a responsibility.

Commissioner Jeff Culbertson moved to make the change during the meeting.

"I'd like to bring up something that I've been asked to do for months... take a vote of the board on changing out the chair, " Jeff Culbertson, a Leavenworth County commissioner, brought up during the Sept. 30 meeting.

KSHB 41

Stieben has been a vocal opponent of the data center project, along with his constituents. Commissioners Culbertson, Dove, and Reid pointed out Stieben's actions are the cause.

"It's the Mike Stieben show," Reid pointed out.

Stieben pushed back on the commissioners' motion to oust him, claiming the motivation stems from them wanting to approve the data center development.

"You're going to saddle Tonganoxie with this project. That's what this is completely about," Commissioner Stieben said on Wednesday.

Ryan Gamboa/KSHB

Stieben told Gamboa on Sunday that the removal won't silence him and it may have backfired.

"It was an attempt to silence me, but um not gonna be silenced, I'm not gonna be silenced. I represent Tonganoxie, I represent Linwood, we're gonna continue to represent them," Stieben said.

"There's a lot more freedom not being the Chair, and maybe they should've considered that because my entire focus until January is to focus on this project for my constituents."

For Romans, the political fallout is a call to action at the ballot box.

"When we see our leadership fail us, that is when we need to start talking about voting these people out. That was a huge primary driver in the primaries that just happened, and it's going to be a huge driver in the elections in November," Romans said.

Ryan Gamboa/KSHB

Rebecca Davis, organizer for the Tongie Data Center Watchdog, says the movement is gaining ground.

"Definitely the resistance is growing. 7 out of 10 Americans don't want a data center in their community. That lines up pretty good here in Tonganoxie," Davis explained.

Davis added that the data center debate needs to go deeper than economics.

Ryan Gamboa/KSHB

"What is AI? How can it ethically fit into our society? I think it has great benefits in the medical field, but we don't need AI slop taking over everything," Davis said. "We don't need mass loss of jobs. So, ethical AI is amazing, but hitting the gas on hyper-scale data centers, just do it as fast as you can, just no."

For Romans, the stakes of the movement dying couldn't be higher, and more personal.

"We keep fighting because there is no plan B for us, because we're going to live here no matter what. I would much rather live in the town I fell in love with than an industrial hellscape," Romans said.

Ryan Gamboa/KSHB

Commissioner Stieben still has no doubt how it's all going to end.

"I believe we're going to win this," Stieben said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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