Candidates for Tallahassee Mayor faced off Tuesday in a forum hosted at WFSU Studios.
The forum was hosted by the Capitol Region News Collaborative and the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee. Candidates in the race include Tallahassee Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, former Democratic State Senator Loranne Ausley, civil rights attorney Daryl Parks and IT entrepreneur Michael Foust.
They covered several issues, including the recent trend of local moratoriums to block data center construction in North Florida.
Leon County is looking into a plan to block large-scale data centers that help to power artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, city commissioners have decided against pursuing their own moratorium.
During the forum, Commissioner Jeremy Matlow said he thinks the city should enact a ban. He was the commissioner that requested the moratorium that was voted down at Tallahassee City Hall.
“Tallahassee doesn't have enough land to dedicate to a massive AI data center. It has negative impacts on our water quality, as well as strain on our electrical grid. It doesn't make sense for a city like Tallahassee, and I think we need a proactive ban in place. Currently, any developer could come with a PUD request and move that forward to propose a data center,” he said.
Civil Rights Attorney Daryl Parks said he is opposed to a blanket ban.
“Mainly because I think when you get an issue like this, it's important to study the pros and cons of the proposed action,” he said. “I think as a mayor needs to find every possible way to help our economy when they can, so studying it in detail would be something I would do, then make a decision as to what we do or not.”
Ausley said she doesn’t think data centers should be built in Leon County. Foust said he opposes a moratorium.
Another of the dozens of topics discussed was the sale of Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare to Florida State University.
During the discussion, candidates were generally hopeful about the move, but some voiced concerns about how the deal came about. Ausley said she thinks the final decision was the right one.
“Bottom line is, this is a great opportunity for this community to bring a world-class academic medical center to Tallahassee. We, it's going to bring doctors better health care outcomes, research. It is exactly what we need. We need better health care, and we need high paying jobs,” she said.
Foust said he thinks the deal will allow more investment in local healthcare, although he thought the process to get there was mishandled.
“It was like ripping off a band aid. FSU has access to federal funds, state funds, much more than the city can get, and it's also got the medical college, the medical school that can come over and teach,” he said.
Parks is also hopeful the move will improve local healthcare offerings. But Matlow says he’s concerned about the deal and points out FSU and TMH have not yet released a full finalized agreement. He was one of the two commission votes against the sale.
The candidates will be on the ballot during the August 18th primaries. You can watch the full candidate forum here:
