{"slug": "meet-the-district-10-candidates-would-you-put-a-moratorium-on-ai-data-centers", "title": "Meet the District 10 candidates: Would you put a moratorium on AI data centers?", "summary": "San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents District 10, plans to introduce a city-wide 45-day moratorium on new and expanding data centers while their environmental impact is assessed, Mission Local reported. Every candidate running to succeed Walton in this fall's election backed a moratorium on new District 10 data centers, and Dion-Jay \"DJ\" Brookter, Walton's endorsed successor, went further by calling for data centers to be banned from the district permanently. Candidate Theo Ellington announced Monday he would seek his own District 10 moratorium pending environmental review, citing the southeast's existing pollution burden.", "body_md": "*Welcome back to our “Meet the Candidates” series, where District 10 supervisor candidates respond to questions each week in 100 words or fewer. Answers will be published every Thursday.*\n\n*District 10 includes neighborhoods in the city’s largest southeast sector, including Bayview-Hunters Point, Potrero Hill, Visitacion Valley, Dogpatch, Sunnydale, Portola, and others.*\n\n*Each candidate is first ordered alphabetically, then rotated each week.*\n\nFears surrounding AI data centers are growing — and though small, urban cities like San Francisco are spared from the large, rolling data centers seen in Tennessee and Arizona, that have caused massive blackouts and water scarcity, the city’s southeast is home to a growing number of smaller data centers.\n\n*Mission Local* [reported](https://missionlocal.org/2026/09/data-center-moratorium-sf-board-of-supervisors/) that Supervisor Shamann Walton, who currently represents southeast District 10, is planning to introduce a city-wide 45-day moratorium on new and expanding data centers while their environmental impact is assessed. \n\nTheo Ellington, a candidate in the race to succeed Walton this fall, announced on Monday that if elected, he would call for his own moratorium on new data centers in District 10 while an environmental review is performed.\n\nEach of the candidates running to succeed Walton were in agreement: The potential impact of data centers, even smaller megawatt facilities, could be disastrous for a population living in the city’s industrial hub that already sees much of San Francisco’s pollution.\n\nBut one candidate took things a step further.\n\nDion-Jay “DJ” Brookter, Walton’s pick to succeed him, argued that data centers should be banned from the district altogether — permanently.\n\nHere’s how the candidates responded.\n\n*Mission Local color codes the answers to yes/no questions. A green background means the candidate answered yes, a red background means no, and a yellow background means that the candidate dodged the question.*\n\n## Theo Ellington\n\n- **Job** : Executive director, Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House. Policy director, Brownstein, public affairs director for the Golden State Warriors and the first director of homelessness initiatives and community development for The Salvation Army San Francisco.\n- **Age** : 37\n- **Residency** : Renter and former homeowner, lifelong San Franciscan and third-generation resident, born and raised in Bayview near Third and Palou streets, has lived in the Hunters Point Shipyard in District 10 since 2016\n- **Transportation** : Driving, public transit, walking\n- **Education** : Bachelor’s degree in political science, Notre Dame de Namur University; master’s degree in urban affairs from the University of San Francisco.\n- **Languages** : English\n\nYes. I was the first candidate in this race to call for a moratorium on new data centers in District 10. We need our own regulations that include: full community input, environmental review, companies paying the full cost of the power upgrades they require, ratepayer and anti-displacement protections, and public disclosure of water and energy use.\n\nThis district already carries a disproportionate share of the city’s pollution and heavy industrial use that needs to be modernized. We need uses that promote new economic jobs centers. Within my first 30-days, I will jumpstart a community and economic development planning process.\n\n**Endorsed by:** San Francisco Democratic Party, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Congressman Kevin Mullin, Former Mayor London Breed, State Senator Scott Wiener, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, Former Mayor Willie Brown, Supervisor Matt Dorsey, read more [here](https://www.theoellington.com/endorsements).\n\n## J.R. Eppler\n\n- **Job** : Small business attorney\n- **Age** : 46\n- **Residency** : Homeowner, lived in San Francisco since 2007 and Potrero Hill since 2010\n- **Transportation** : Driving, public transit, walking, biking\n- **Education** : Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, law degree from University of California, Los Angeles, MBA from University of California, Los Angeles\n- **Languages** : English\n\nI support a moratorium on new data centers in District 10 while the City establishes clear standards for their locations and cumulative impacts. Bayview-Hunters Point already bears a disproportionate share of San Francisco’s industrial infrastructure and pollution. We can’t approve more facilities without assessing the implications on the electrical grid, our water supply, backup diesel generation, air quality, noise, and neighborhood health.\n\nCounting megawatts is not enough; several smaller facilities can impose the same burden as one large project. Future proposals must undergo rigorous environmental and community review, provide meaningful benefit, and justify why District 10 should bear the impact.\n\n*Endorsed by:* *Harvey Milk Democratic Club, SF League of Pissed Off Voters, United Educators of San Francisco, California Working Families Party*, read more* [here](https://www.jreppler.com/endorsements)*.**\n\n## Dion-Jay “DJ” Brookter\n\n- **Job** : No current job, formerly chief executive officer at Young Community Developers\n- **Age** : 43\n- **Residency** : Homeowner in Candlestick Point/Little Hollywood area since 2021, moved to San Francisco in 2014\n- **Transportation** : Driving, public transit, walking\n- **Education** : Bachelor’s degree in speech communication, Utah State University, master’s degree in business administration, University of Phoenix\n- **Languages** : English, some Spanish\n\nI would vote yes on a comprehensive moratorium on data centers, as well as an outright permanent ban, regardless of size.\n\nData centers consume enormous amounts of electricity, water, land, and infrastructure while creating relatively few permanent jobs. In a dense, built-out city like San Francisco, they can also compound environmental burdens. We have limited industrial land that should be used to create quality jobs, build community wealth, and expand opportunity — not facilitate an extractive use that places new burdens on our communities while primarily benefiting investors and technology companies.\n\nD10 residents are clear: They do not welcome data centers.\n\n**Endorsed by:** Supervisor Shamann Walton,*Former Mayor Willie Brown, Supervisor Connie Chan, Supervisor Myrna Melgar, Former Mayor Art Agnos, Former Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, Former Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Former Supervisor Dean Preston, Former Supervisor John Avalos, read more [here.](https://www.dj4d10.com/endorsements)*\n\n*This electoral season, Mission Local made the decision to only include the answers of candidates who have won a major endorsement or have publicly reported campaign contributions. That narrows down the candidates from 10 to three: Theo Ellington, Dion-Jay Brookter, and J.R. Eppler. Candidates may be added to this series if they later meet this criteria.*\n\n*Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, grammar, and to meet the word limit requirement. Do you have questions you’d like to ask the candidates? Email [marina@missionlocal.com](mailto:marina@missionlocal.com).*\n\n*You can register to vote [here](https://www.sf.gov/register-to-vote)*.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meet-the-district-10-candidates-would-you-put-a-moratorium-on-ai-data-centers", "canonical_source": "https://missionlocal.org/2026/09/meet-the-district-10-candidates-data-center-moratorium/", "published_at": "2026-09-10 18:26:50+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-10 18:36:23.511038+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Shamann Walton", "District 10", "San Francisco", "Theo Ellington", "Dion-Jay \"DJ\" Brookter", "Mission Local", "Bayview-Hunters Point", "Potrero Hill"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meet-the-district-10-candidates-would-you-put-a-moratorium-on-ai-data-centers", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meet-the-district-10-candidates-would-you-put-a-moratorium-on-ai-data-centers.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meet-the-district-10-candidates-would-you-put-a-moratorium-on-ai-data-centers.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/meet-the-district-10-candidates-would-you-put-a-moratorium-on-ai-data-centers.jsonld"}}