Kansas City Insiders Reject Political Return Of 'Data Center Dan' Fowler

The snarky image was crafted by way of TKC prompts to AI whilst this SCATHING CRITIQUE OF A FORMER KCMO COUNCILMAN was shared with us by AWESOME INSIDERS sharing their perspective on local life across the bridge.

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Data Center Dan: Kansas City's Sellout in a Suit, Back for More Corporate Handouts 

Oh, Kansas City, what fresh hell is this? Just when you thought the Northland's political circus had packed up its tents and can't get any worse, back comes Dan Fowler—yes, that Dan Fowler—slithering back onto the ballot. The man who spent eight years on the City Council (2015–2023) peddling "economic development" like it was snake oil is now running for the 1st District At-Large seat, promising to "make Kansas City work for all who live here." Spare me the platitudes, Dan. We all know what you really mean: make it work for the billion-dollar behemoths like Meta while the rest of us foot the bill.

Let's call him what he is: Data Center Dan. Because if there's one legacy Fowler leaves behind, it's not pothole fixes or neighborhood cleanups—it's the multi-billion-dollar sweetheart deals he helped shove through for tech giants, turning our tax dollars into Zuckerberg's server farms. Remember Project Velvet? That wasn't some fairy-tale codename for a community garden. No, it was the $800 million Meta data center campus in the Northland that Fowler and his cronies rubber-stamped while he sat pretty on the Council. Approved unanimously in 2021 under his watchful eye, this boondoggle started the onslaught of data centers in Kansas City.  These deals can be up to 25-years of abatements on real property (land and buildings), no sales tax on construction materials and supplies, and a full 100% wipeout on personal property taxes for all that shiny, billion-dollar hardware inside.  Meta, the company that raked in $134 billion in profits last year alone, gets to play in our backyard for pennies on the dollar. And Fowler? He was right there, cheering it on like it was the second coming of the Royals' World Series run.

Fast-forward to August 2025: Meta's Northland beast is humming along, LEED Gold-certified and all, sucking down energy and water like a vampire at an all-you-can-drink buffet.  Fowler's fingerprints are all over it. Not content to just greenlight the tax giveaway, he and fellow Northland rep Kevin O’Neill reportedly leaned on the City Manager to shut down the Civil Rights Enforcement Office when it dared question whether contractor Turner Construction was skimping on minority hiring rules.  Diversity? Accountability? Pfft—those are for suckers. When the CREO director tried to enforce the rules, Fowler's crew cried foul and got her sidelined. Because nothing says "progressive tech hub" like bullying the watchdog to protect your corporate overlords.

But here's the real gut-punch, Kansas City: While Data Center Dan was busy high-fiving Meta execs, our local services—especially public health—were getting hollowed out like a jack-o'-lantern after Halloween. Those massive sales tax exemptions on data center equipment, they mean tech titans pay zilch on billions in gear, starving the revenue streams that fund everything from schools to roads to, yes, county health departments. And in Platte and Clay Counties—ground zero for this digital dystopia—health departments are reeling with laggard revenue growth and increased populations that need help.  Missouri's already dead last in per-person public health funding at a pathetic $7 a head.  But sure, Dan, let's keep diverting billions to server racks that create maybe 100 permanent jobs—mostly low-wage maintenance gigs—while kids go unvaccinated and outbreaks brew unchecked. 

Don't buy Fowler's comeback tour. This isn't a prodigal son returning to redeem himself; it's a sequel to the same old grift. Even as Meta's campus promises "community grants" (a measly $1 million drip-fed to nonprofits as hush money), the math doesn't lie: Schools in the Northland, like Smithville, are still waiting on that "major tax windfall" because of the incentive fine print and permitting delays Fowler's era enabled.  And now, with "Project Kestrel"—another $100 billion data center monstrosity looming in Platte County—Fowler's cronies are eyeing even more subsidies, siphoning funds that could prop up the health department, libraries, or fire districts.  Why fund actual human needs when you can virtue-signal about "tech hubs"?

Kansas City deserves better than this corporate lapdog. Data Center Dan isn't running to serve us—he's auditioning for round two of the giveaway game. Vote for anyone but him. Hell, vote for the write-in candidate who promises free tacos for all. At least that won't bankrupt our health system. Wake up, Kansas City: Fowler's not your champion. He's Meta's errand boy, and we're all paying the tab.
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