Data centers are good business but bad politics. Josh Shapiro tries to thread the needle. | Shackamaxon

In this week’s Shackamaxon, the race for City Council kicks off, SEPTA police officers step in front of the cameras, and a Big Tech reckoning comes for the Ambitious Abingtonian.

In political circles, the legislative lineage of Philadelphia’s 5th Council District is one of the city’s most esteemed and iconic. The first person to represent the residents of the 5th in City Council was Raymond Pace Alexander, the civil rights leader who was later appointed as the first African American judge on the Court of Common Pleas. The seat has also been held by Cecil B. Moore, Ethel Allen, and John Street. Few other districts can boast such an impressive list of luminaries.

Today, its occupant is someone very different, Council’s quarrelsome contrarian, Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with “good trouble” or sticking out from the crowd. Moore himself was famously pugnacious, with the former Marine once quoted as saying that “The imported Gandhi philosophy of nonviolence that still exists in the South will not be accepted in Philadelphia, where we believe in self-help and self-defense.” Allen was also a maverick, styling herself as a “B.F.R. — a Black, female Republican, an entity as rare as a Black elephant and just as smart.”

Moore and Allen, however, were quarrelsome on behalf of the people they represented, and contrarians at a time when Black Philadelphians were mostly excluded from the halls of power.

Moore successfully desegregated Girard College, paving the way for Young himself to attend decades later.

Allen broke barriers, too, becoming the first Black woman to hold a seat on City Council, and served the community directly as a physician.

Young, however, starts fights that help nobody. Worse, no one seems to understand why he’s fighting in the first place.

From delaying repairs at the Cecil B. Moore Library to blocking popular housing proposals, Young’s actions frequently bring him in conflict, rather than concert, with the community he was elected to represent.

It is unsurprising, then, to see that he’s already attracted a declared challenger for his seat, months before election season kicks off in earnest.

Jalon Alexander has a big advantage over the opponents Young (almost) faced in the past: He’s managed to successfully get onto the ballot before, during the 2023 City Council at-large election.

While he brings his own ideas to the table, Alexander is also clearly running in opposition to Young’s choices. The cybersecurity attorney grew up in Strawberry Mansion, and still lives there, but is running a campaign built to find support across the district’s geographic and political spectrum.

Kellan White, at this point a potential candidate, presents another strong alternative. White managed Rebecca Rhynhart’s 2023 mayoral campaign, which was successful across much of the 5th District. He has a deep knowledge of city politics and policy, and a Rolodex of contacts that any political journalist would be jealous of. Unlike Young, both Alexander and White are willing to answer the phone to talk to reporters, community leaders, and their constituents.

At this point, even if a dozen candidates run against him and split the opposition vote, Young may still face an uphill battle.

When I’ve criticized other Council members, I always get calls or emails from constituents who defend their choices. In nearly three years writing about Young, not a single person has offered a defense.

A few readers have asked me about film crews they’ve seen following SEPTA police around stations and transit vehicles recently. Media Relations Director Andrew Busch confirmed that the A&E Network is filming a docuseries, which will be broadcast next year.

Personally, I’m looking forward to watching it. SEPTA’s roughly 250-strong police force is charged with patrolling more than 285 train and trolley stations, and nearly 3,000 vehicles. They are also in the midst of substantial declines in serious crime, which occurred alongside a crackdown on fare evasion and a surge in enforcement for quality-of-life issues. That’s a story worth showing.

Less worthwhile would be a series focused on Kensington and the city’s drug epidemic. That’s a real part of SEPTA’s policing duties, but is often exploitative when told by outsiders.

Ever since the creation of the first computer, there have been concerns about its role in the future. It doesn’t help matters that many tech CEOs, like OpenAI’s Sam Altman, regularly express a kind of contemptuous attitude toward humanity and human needs. At one point, Altman said that artificial intelligence would “lead to the end of the world.” How inspiring!

This has put public officials in a tough position over their support of data centers.

For generations, states and cities have competed to attract investment. But these days, cash is flowing into an industry opposed by 74% of voters. Seeing an opportunity, challengers from across the political spectrum are using data centers in their political attack ads, while incumbents are scrambling to explain themselves.

This isn’t run-of-the-mill NIMBYism, either. According to one report, only 8% of data center opponents live near one.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Ambitious Abingtonian, exemplifies this conundrum. He was an early advocate for embracing data centers, but with polls tightening for his reelection efforts, he’s been forced to adapt.

Of course, there’s a certain opportunism to state Treasurer Stacy Garrity’s embrace of the techlash.

Her own party has been quite supportive of data centers. President Donald Trump has called them “tremendous.” Pennsylvania state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman has long advocated for the centers, which represent a particular opportunity for his own community, which has, in his words, “a long and storied history when it comes to the production of electricity.” U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, the highest-ranking Republican in Pennsylvania, is married to Meta executive Dina Powell McCormick. Meta is one of the four companies investing a total of $1.5 trillion in new data centers.

Pennsylvania Senate Republicans declined to pursue Shapiro’s proposed “GRID” initiative, which would have required the centers to produce their own electricity, conform to environmental standards, and make community benefits agreements in exchange for permitting assistance.

Many of the current pitchfork-wielding politicos may themselves be forced to pivot when in office. Voters may hate data centers, but they also hate tax increases and service cuts.

Loudoun County, Va., which is known as data center alley, has averted both. Local authorities have cut property tax rates by nearly 30% over the last decade, and the centers pay roughly half of the county’s property tax revenue. Given the increasing share of Pennsylvania’s budget that is paid through the extractive gambling industry, the need to invest more in schools and transportation, and the continuing structural deficit, it is no surprise politicians initially saw the AI boom as an opportunity.

Now, state leaders will have to pick their poison.

If they pursue data centers, they’ll face voter backlash. If they continue to embrace gambling, they’ll contribute to the impoverishment of their own constituents. If they stop investing in education or allow transit agencies to fail, they’ll weaken the commonwealth’s economy going forward. If they raise taxes, they’ll take the blame for that, too.

While the data center surge may seem sudden to many, it is also a response to demand. Both businesses and individuals are increasingly using AI in daily life.

Ironically, many social media posts about data centers include AI-generated text and images. It is a bit like if the Women’s Christian Temperance Union had fundraised with a booze cruise.