Residents call for recusal of city manager over Project Ruby data‑center optics

During the public‑comment portion of the Sept. 22 meeting several residents raised ethical concerns about the city's handling of a proposed hyperscale data center, referred to as Project Ruby. Andrea Atkins told council that because Tyson Begley previously worked in consulting and as CFO of companies engaged in data or broadband infrastructure, the city manager should recuse himself from matters related to hyperscale data centers to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. "For these reasons, I'm calling for the recusal of our current city manager in relation to anything involving proposed and hypothetical hyperscale data centers," Atkins said during her remarks.