Shelbyville Mayor Caught on Camera Mocking Residents Opposed to Massive Data Center Project

Numerous media outlets have reported on this. We're choosing to use the reporting from Fox 59. You can see this video for yourself, and I would highly advise you to do that. So this is the mayor of Shelbyville caught on film. His name is Scott Ferguson, and he is caught on camera insulting his own constituents, insinuating that any of these people in the greater Shelbyville area with the no data center signs, which there are hundreds and hundreds of them now in their yards, were poor renters living in, quote. Well, I'm not going to use the word he used. It rhymes with ity. It has a couple additional words or letters, and the first two letters are sh. There you go. How about that? See, Jason insists we are all radio friendly now all the time. And so I've abided by that. No, no, no. I wanted people to know the word. They're spelling it out. It was like Wheel of Fortune. I'd like to buy a vowel, please. You know what he said. Rhymes with ity. And really, there's only one profane word that rhymes with ity, right?

Data Center Fight Continues Dividing Shelbyville Residents and Local Government

So anyway, he just grossly insulted people who are putting these no data center signs in their yards. Now, let's remind everybody, because we did a whole bunch of coverage on this when this vote went down. We had Connie Lindsey from the anti-data center group on our show talking about what exactly went down. And the city of Shelbyville is trying to turn close to, well over 400 acres, 429 acres, into an 11 building data center complex. We're not talking about like a data center on 50 acres. We're talking about, when you're talking about 430 acres, you are talking about changing the character, the look, the feel of a community forever. Forever. You're talking about 11 buildings, and more than 2000 people in the greater Shelbyville community signed a petition objecting to this. That's a lot of people. And I believe, I'm doing this from memory here, this was such a bad deal that the Shelbyville Planning Commission voted no on the project. The Shelbyville Planning Commission, which is supposed to be the rules enforcement of land use in a city, had voted no, and the City Council overrode the Planning Commission's recommendation. I mean, it got nasty. People were very angry. And people have a right. Look, we've had the conversation to death on the data centers. And I'm not going to do a deep dive on data centers today. Here's our stance on this show on data centers. We recognize the value of data centers. We are allowed to exist here on YouTube and on our other platforms until we get back on the radio, which who knows when that'll be? Who knows? I do, but until that day comes, we are being brought to you. And no matter where we end up in the future, radio, TV, whatever, we are brought to you by the power of data centers. So we're not hypocrites here. We're not anti-data center. We thank YouTube and Google and all the fine people, Apple, Spotify, everyone and the data center that is powering them. We're not anti-data center. We recognize value in data center. However, our stance has been the state of Indiana and to some extent, the federal government needs to get some framework in place that provides the data center companies the clarity that they seek, the security that they seek, so that they know when they engage in any sort of conversation with the community, what a bare minimum is. The policy also has to give communities a win financially. It has to give taxpayers some level of certainty about vital things like natural resources, things like water, things like utility bills, power, that people are going to be able to afford to turn their lights on. And it has to be a win financially for everyone. We've got to get out of the gajillion dollars of tax breaks without any sort of clear win for the communities. None of this is existing right now. It's all just one community to the next. Everything's the Wild West and it's bad for everyone. It's bad for the data centers. It's bad for the community. It's bad for the governments. It's bad for the taxpayers. And we're walking around with our heads in the sand on this, refusing to address the issue. We're refusing to address the issue. And you get stuff like this. You get communities ripped apart. Because the data center policy in our state is the Wild West. We got the governor. I realize it's asking a lot. The governor's got a lead on this. And the problem with Braun is he's in bed with a lot of the data center people. And Braun's IEDC are the ones giving away the freebies to the data center people. Look, my policy on the data centers is the same as the rich people. I'm not for taxing the rich people into oblivion. I ain't Bernie Sanders over here. You earned it. It's yours. I don't want to take it from you. What I don't want is my money, my money as a middle class person, going to the rich people. Like I don't want my money being taken and given to the rich people. I feel that way about data centers. I feel that way about football teams. I'm fine with people making as much money as they legally can. I don't want money being taken from me and my neighbors in order to make it happen. I don't think that's unreasonable. I don't think that makes me a socialist. I don't think that makes me anything other than a guy who wants you to live your life and make as much money as you can, and I'll live my life, and let's just stay out of each other's way.

Mayor’s Comments Add Fuel to Growing Opposition Over 429-Acre Development

But in the case of Shelbyville, you have seen a community that is outraged over the actions of the city government. And it doesn't make those people bad people. It doesn't necessarily. Look, I don't live in Shelbyville. I have the concerns that I just laid out about data centers as a collective. This could end up being the greatest thing ever for the city of Shelbyville. I don't know, I don't live there. But what I do know is people who are concerned about data centers and impacts on their communities have rights to do that. It doesn't make them a public nuisance. It doesn't make them criminals. It doesn't make them bad guys. It makes them concerned, engaged citizens, which they have every right to be. And I wish everybody was as engaged as the Shelbyville people on the data centers are on the data centers. I wish people were as engaged on every issue, because if we did have that level of engagement, we would have better government. And so at some public place, the mayor, Scott Ferguson. And again, there's a video of this. You can see it for yourself. Fox 59 has it. Other news media outlets have covered this. He's being filmed but seemingly doesn't know he's being filmed. Now, this guy is a moron for saying this in public. Now, this is one thing about the politicians like the Lucas people, the Jim Lucas, this guy, they're morons and they talk a lot in public. That's the one saving grace. These dumbasses can't keep their mouths shut. And this guy, this idiot. I mean, it's one thing to think it. It's another thing to say it in public. They're both bad. But the fact that he had so little self-control, he said it in public. He said, quote, he's at a table. I don't know if there's a bar or restaurant, whatever, but he's at a table speaking with women who are holding these signs. Right. Well, I'm sorry. The mayor is holding one of these anti-data center signs like they're all over Shelbyville. You drive around Shelbyville, you see them everywhere. Quote. I've seen a lot of these all over town, but I only see them at the expletive houses. So then he clearly appears to know he's talking to a woman who is supportive of the data center people because she stops him. I don't know if it's the woman doing the filming or somebody with the woman doing the filming, because she stops him and says, working class. You see them at working class houses. Then he responds by saying, well, most of them are rentals, so. He then goes on to say very, very unkempt, unkempt properties. Look, I guarantee you there are nice houses that have the no data center signs. I guarantee you there are people who keep up their properties who have the no Data center signs. 2000 people signed this petition against the data center. They don't all live in shacks and shanties. Now the mayor got approached. Got asked for comment once this video surfaced. Here's what he said. Or here's what his office said. The mayor's office issued this in a statement. Of course, he didn't have the cojones to stand in front of a camera and address it. The mayor regrets that his choice of words may have caused offense. The mayor regrets that his choice of words may have caused offense. Not I'm sorry, not hey, that was horrible of me. Not hey, this is an emotional issue. I've been worn down by it. I'm trying to do what's right for Shelbyville, and my emotions got the better of me. You know what you don't see in there? I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Which means he ain't sorry. And he did mean it. He's sorry he got caught. That's what he thinks of you. The mayor regrets that his choice of words may have caused offense. I'm not sorry I offended you. I'm sorry you're offended. His comments were intended to reference property maintenance and not the character, value or importance of any resident, homeowner or renter in our community.

Scott Ferguson Draws Criticism After Video Captures Remarks About Opponents

There's something I want to tell this guy to do, and because I have vowed to Jason, I will do radio appropriate programming, I'm not going to say it. Professional. This guy. Everyone should be outraged about this guy. There is no way that he's referencing property maintenance for 2000 people. I can assure you 2000 people who signed that petition, there are many of them that keep their properties up. And he deliberately mentioned renters, so you don't get to say now, the importance of any resident homeowner or renter in our community. You went after the renters. Look, I was a renter for years. I'm sympathetic to the renters. There's lots of people who, for a variety of reasons, rent a home, rent a condo, rent an apartment, and a lot of people who rent are richer than people that own homes. They don't want to deal with the stuff that comes into home ownership. They don't want to deal with it. This guy is an ass. He deliberately insulted these people, and the fact that he did it in public, and he did it to a woman who he probably should have known wasn't on his team, shows you how little self control these people have. It shows you how much disdain they actually have. When I talk about how much these people hate you. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about, Jim Lucas. Somebody should ask Lucas, what would he call it if it's not hating his constituents? If this guy doesn't hate constituents? What do you call it? This is the sort of disdain these people have for you. This guy just had so little self-control. He put it out in public. He put it out on full display for everyone to see.

Shelbyville Controversy Reflects Broader Distrust Between Citizens and Government Officials

But what you need to recognize with this is this isn't a one off. This is how so many of the politicians actually view the people they're elected to serve. I know. Look, I've told you guys in the Rob Kendall origin story, I was always conservative. I always viewed myself as a limited government person. But when I really changed, like when I morphed into. It'd be the moment where I was, if it was Spider-Man, I was bitten by the spider, or if it was one of these other character, the Ninja Turtles, I was dropped into a vat of ooze or whatever. Right? When I morphed into the Rob Kendall you see today is when I went to work for the state of Indiana, both as the pharmacy board director and when I worked in the state auditor's office. And I would see how these politicians and political leaders would talk behind closed doors. And they would do it openly in the sense of a closed door setting and the disdain they had for regular people, the disdain they had for taxpayers, the disdain they had for people who would speak up, who would come to meetings, who would passionately speak out. And I remember sitting in these meetings that I would be in, like, you guys don't really even know me. Like, I'm, I get this as a closed door meeting, but I'm the new guy, right? You don't know where I fall on the spectrum. And I remember basically for two years of my life going through this on a regular basis and seeing these things and thinking to myself, this, this can't be unique. This can't just be these people. This has to be the way it is almost everywhere. Because you got to remember, like at the time, I was new to politics. I'd just been elected. I didn't know how any of it worked. I'm altruistic about all this. I'm naive to it. I just gone to work for the state thinking like, hey, white hats, black hats, like all the people are wanting to do good. And then you realize, no, these people hate you. These people hate your guts. Republicans and Democrats alike. And this guy put it on full display and said it out loud. He just had so little self control that he said it out loud to a person he should have known.