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That doesn’t mean, though, that the votes are there yet to defeat the plan. Mayor Regina Romero has said little about the project, which will be discussed at the council’s Wednesday study session, though on Thursday she put out a memo seeking information on a possible new set of regulations for data center developments.

City Manager Tim Thomure has appeared to be supportive of the plan in public meetings, but of course he doesn't have a vote.

Here’s what the council members have said their positions are on the proposal to initially build up to 10 data centers in an area near the Pima County Fairgrounds that must be annexed by the city in order for it to move forward. Listed in order of perceived degree of opposition:

Kevin Dahl of Ward 3 was the first member to say he is firmly against the project. In a July 17 letter to the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, he wrote, “Any project that touts ‘economic gain’ while potentially threatening our invaluable water supply, the air we breathe, or that exacerbates climate change should be rejected.â€�

Karin Uhlich of Ward 6 and Paul Cunningham of Ward 2 have both said they are essentially hard “no� votes — unless something dramatic changes or arises.

On Wednesday, Cunningham said, “Anything’s possible, but I’m a no.�

He objected to the secrecy that surrounded the project in the run-up, and to the city’s water deal.

Uhlich said, “I’m a no at this timeâ€� in a text message Thursday. Her main concern is the immense power demands of the project and the fact that ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Electric Power’s deal with the developer is unlikely to become public before the decision.

Ward 1 Council Member and Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz has said little about the project, but her track record would make her a possible “no� vote.

“I share my constituents’ concerns’ about the proposed data center’s impact — particularly its high water use and energy demands in our vulnerable desert environment,� .

Ward 3 Council Member Nikki Lee, who represents the area where the project would be built, has also expressed strong skepticism but may be more open to the project in the end.

She has put together about the project and is inputting answers as they arise. In her latest newsletter, Lee said: “I’m still doing my homework.�

Ward 5 Council Member Rocque Perez, who was appointed in May to replace Richard Fimbres until the November election, has also said he’s keeping his mind open.

However, in an ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ op-ed, he said, “Many other cities have set a stronger bar — through community benefit agreements, enforceable labor standards, and robust climate policies — before greenlighting data centers. We can, and should, do the same.â€�

A lot may ride on the position Romero eventually takes. She has also said she’s evaluating the proposal. But as it stands, there are three strong votes against, and any other vote would scotch the existing deal, meaning it would either be over or have to be renegotiated.

Grijalva, Butierez agree on data centers

The two candidates running for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 7th Congressional District seat seem to be aligned on one local issue: Project Blue.

Democrat Adelita Grijalva, on the Bill Buckmaster Show Tuesday, said if she was a Pima County supervisor she “absolutely� would be a “hard no� on the project because of its massive water and power consumption, as well as the secrecy around it.

“I think I would have voted against the project. I have major concerns for the water consumption and the resources, the electricity. … The natural resources that we need to be able to generate these data centers really far exceed the capacity in most of our communities,� she said.

But Grijalva acknowledged that even if she still was a supervisor, her “no� vote probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the county’s land sale for Project Blue. Andrés Cano, who was appointed to replace Grijalva after she announced her congressional bid, voted against selling the 290-acre parcel of county-owned land near the Pima County Fairgrounds, but the sale still passed 3-2.

Likewise, Republican congressional candidate Daniel Butierez isn’t sold on the idea of the data center industry expanding in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

“I’m for bringing the jobs to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, but I’m not for risking our water and having no guarantees for we the people. I was at the (July 23 meeting), it sounded like there were no guarantees for us. If we were going into severe drought, we would still be required to give them the water allotment,â€� he said Thursday. “Not to mention our other natural resources, the electricity, the gas. ... To be honest with you, it sounds like Adelita and I probably agree on this.â€�

Butierez also said local governments’ use of nondisclosure agreements in economic development projects feels “a little shady� to him. He said there is far too much secrecy in Project Blue, and the problem of “government transparency� should be a bipartisan issue.

Grijalva told Buckmaster she didn’t sign any nondisclosure agreements and didn’t know about Project Blue “until I read about it and started getting calls.�

That may not be completely accurate, however.

Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher, in a on Project Blue, said the current chair “and the immediate past Chair� of the board had been advised on the “impending business attraction� being facilitated by the county.

Rex Scott was tapped to serve as chair of the Board of Supervisors in January, meaning the “immediate past Chair� referenced was Grijalva.

‘Genocide’ divides CD7 candidates

Gaza is where the two congressional hopefuls are not aligned.

Following the Project Blue discussion and after a commercial break, Buckmaster asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “could be accused of genocide,� to which Grijalva responded: “Oh, absolutely.�

“As a mom, as a human being, the images that we’re seeing of starving children in Gaza are just devastating, and I don’t know how we as the United States can sit by and watch that suffering and not take action,� she said. “There’s a desperate need for limited supplies, but that’s not an excuse to open fire on unarmed children. These are children, and I just don’t know how you can be a human being, a mom, a dad, a grandparent, and not just cry at those images. It’s horrible.�

Butierez doesn’t see it that way.

“I know Israel keeps supplying them with food, and Hamas keeps stealing the food. I know it’s trying to be made out that Israel’s doing this to them, but they’re not. I mean, I’m pretty informed on that,� he said. “It makes me sick to my stomach that this war is still going on, that there’s so much, you know, hatred in the world, and the babies break my heart, what’s happening to children.�

He said he doesn’t believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza “at all.�

“I believe that Hamas’ hatred for Israel has caused all this, and Israel is just trying to defend themselves,� Butierez said. “They didn’t go after Hamas, Hamas came after them.�