Independence councilman recalled by voters in his district after his vote for data center tax incentives

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Fewer than 2,000 voters in Independence were able to recall District 1 City Council member John Perkins Tuesday night in what is believed to be the first of 25 data center-related recall efforts nationwide to reach the ballot.

About 68% of voters voted to recall Perkins, while about 32% voted to keep him on city council.

The recall followed Perkins' vote in favor of tax incentives for the Nebius AI data center.

McKenna Cobb, who organized the recall petition, said the effort traces back to an earlier dispute over those incentives.

"The story really starts back in around March when the city decided to approve millions of dollars in tax incentives for the Nebius data center to be built here," Cobb said.

A group attempted to put those tax incentives to a public vote, but the city did not certify the referendum petition.

That decision led to legal action.

"A group here actually sued the city to get the city to certify our referendum petition," Cobb said. "They said no."

Voters in the April election voted out two at-large council members who also voted for the data center.

Cobb said the outcome of the recall was the result of a difficult fight.

"I'm very proud of our work. It was not an easy battle to get here," Cobb said.

Perkins said he has no regrets about his time on the city council.

"I'm proud of a lot of things that have taken place over the past four-and-a-half terms," Perkins said.

Perkins also questioned whether the recall process itself should be revisited.

"When you only need 8% for the total registered voters to do a recall, and you don't have to have a real cause to do a recall, just a general statement, I think that's up for a review, I believe," Perkins said.

Despite the outcome, Perkins said he hopes the community can move forward without division.

"We are in a society where we don't need to have animosity," Perkins said. "It's OK to agree to disagree."

Perkins said he plans to focus on issues facing the homeless in the Independence community.

He also said running for office again in the future is not off the table.

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