For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Media/Press Contact: stopthehermantowndatacenter@gmail.com
STOP THE HERMANTOWN DATA CENTER
Recorded Ridicule by City Leadership Raises Questions About Public Trust, Prompting a Call for Discipline and Independent Investigation
Residents who step forward to participate in their local government should be able to trust that their voices will be heard, their questions and concerns taken seriously, and their participation treated with respect. Newly publicized recordings of Hermantown City staff meetings challenge that expectation. They have captured senior City personnel mocking residents, making comments involving race and individuals’ names, and discussing actions that spark doubt in the transparency and independence of the City’s decision-making process surrounding the proposed Google hyperscale data center. The ease with which these comments were made and the timing between the recordings implies this is unlikely to be separate, isolated incidences and suggests a culture of this type of behavior.
The recordings go beyond unprofessional comments. They raise concerns about scripting conversations between elected officials and developers in order to manipulate the public, shaping the presentation and public perception of a deeply unpopular project, and discussions about keeping communications outside email to avoid disclosure through public data requests. The recordings raise legitimate questions about whether City administration has remained a neutral administrator of the process or has moved into advocating for and advancing a private development project.
Residents should never have to wonder whether questions asked by their elected representatives were prepared behind the scenes, whether official conversations were intentionally kept outside normal public-record channels, or whether their participation in local government is being treated with contempt rather than consideration.
These concerns cannot credibly be resolved solely by the administration whose conduct is in question. In response, Stop the Hermantown Data Center (SHDC) is calling on the Hermantown City Council to immediately assert its statutory authority and ethical obligation to begin to restore public trust by taking the following actions:
- Disciplinary action, not excluding removal from position, for those involved in these recordings, including but not limited to, City Administrator John Mulder, Assistant City Administrator Joe Wicklund, Economic Development Director Chad Ronchetti, Community Development Director Eric Johnson, Chief of Police Jim Crace, and City Attorney Gunnar Johnson.
- Immediately pause further discretionary City action on the proposed hyperscale data center while the issues raised by the recordings are independently reviewed.
- Commission an independent investigation into the conduct documented in the recordings, including treatment of residents, the integrity and independence of the City’s decision-making process, and any attempts to circumvent requirements of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
- Publicly disclose all non-privileged scripts, prepared questions, talking points and similar materials provided to the Mayor or City Council regarding the proposed hyperscale data center, including who prepared and received them.
- Require the Mayor and City Council members to disclose whether they received or used prepared questions or talking points concerning the project during public meetings or work sessions.
- Conduct an independent review of material City actions involving the proposed hyperscale data center to determine whether any should be reconsidered because the integrity, independence, or legality of the process may have been compromised.
- Acknowledgment and an apology from the City to the residents who were personally disparaged in the recorded meeting.
The recordings speak for themselves. The question now is how City leadership will address what they reveal. It has been a week since the first article was published by the Duluth Monitor and the City of Hermantown has yet to acknowledge it. SHDC has a firm belief of the concept of “tone at the top,” meaning that leadership actions and expectations set the ethical climate, values, and behavioral standards for the entire organization. The proposed hyperscale data center carries significant and lasting implications for Hermantown, Duluth, and the surrounding region. Regardless of one’s position on the project, decisions of this magnitude require a process the public can trust.
Citizens should never become the punchline for participating in their own government. Until these serious questions about transparency, neutrality, and process integrity are independently addressed, SHDC believes further discretionary action on the proposed hyperscale data center must be paused.
Clips from the recordings of the Hermantown city staff meetings are available via The Duluth Monitor’s YouTube page:
