Still Open for Business, Not for Sale
On January 6th, I spoke with some of our youth who had come out to protest the data center rezoning after they were thrown out of city council. I later wrote that Sioux Falls Is Open for Business, Not for Sale and I still stand by that.
WHERE I STAND ON DATA CENTERS
I watched hundreds of Sioux Falls neighbors fill the chamber. Not one kind of neighbor. All kinds. Parents. Renters. Small business owners. Retirees on fixed incomes. Environmental advocates. Young people entering civic life for the first time. Longtime residents who have never missed a vote. They came from every corner of this city with the same concern: we were not asked.
The council heard them. Then voted to approve the zoning anyway.
They did everything right. They showed up, they testified, they trusted the process. And the process failed them.
I have spent months since then at doors, at coffee shops, at the Saturday Market, in living rooms listening to those same neighbors. What I hear is not just frustration about one project. It is something harder to rebuild. It is trust. And the hardest people to lose are the ones who just found a reason to show up.
My Position Is Clear
There should be no new hyperscale data centers in Sioux Falls unless they meet real standards for our community.
Before any large-scale project moves forward, I will push for:
A mandatory, independent environmental and infrastructure impact review, completed and published before any vote
A water capacity assessment. Hyperscale data centers can consume millions of gallons a day for cooling. We need to know what any approval actually costs us before we commit.
Hard protections against discharge into the Big Sioux River
A grid impact assessment, with binding utility cost protections so Sioux Falls families are not on the hook
Clear, enforceable commitments on local hiring and workforce investment
State regulatory clarity first. When the council voted in January, HB 1005 was still being debated. The rules on 50-year tax exemptions and water rights were not settled. Approving projects before the rules are written is gambling with decades of city resources.
A real public comment process with real timelines. Not a box to check.
Any deal should be readable by a regular Sioux Falls resident, not just a lawyer.
Community buy-in is not optional. It is a requirement.
This Is Not Anti-Business
I am a small business owner. I believe in growth. I want Sioux Falls to attract investment and stay competitive.
But Responsible Growth means asking who a development actually serves before we say yes. A data center that consumes the power of thousands of homes, employs very few local people, and carries no binding promise to protect ratepayers is not a win for Sioux Falls families. It is a win for an out-of-state investor. Locking in a 50-year tax exemption before the state has even finished writing the rules is not a deal. It is a giveaway. That is not fiscally responsible. That is fiscally shortsighted. Tax exemptions are public dollars. They should serve the public.
In 2016, bridge construction near my parents' restaurant on West 12th nearly put them out of business. Nobody really talked to them about it. Decisions were made about them, without them. I heard that exact same fear from neighbors at the January meeting. Same fear. Different project.
The Real Issue
The data center debate is a symptom of a larger problem. There is a gap between City Hall and regular people. Equal Opportunity means the burdens of growth do not fall unevenly on one neighborhood while the gains go somewhere else. Vibrant Community means we protect what makes Sioux Falls worth growing — our water, our air, our quality of life — even as we welcome new investment.
We can do both. Welcome business and listen to people. But it takes leadership willing to slow down long enough to get it right.
Sioux Falls is the best little city in America. I am running to keep it that way, for every family, in every neighborhood, for generations to come.
Let's rise together. ☀️
Vince Danh,
Sioux Falls City Council At-Large | Run-Off Election June 23rd 2026