On second try, Independence residents say they have enough signatures for recall
Independence residents hoping to recall a longtime City Council member over his vote supporting tax breaks for an incoming artificial intelligence data center were given a second chance at a petition drive this week.
Now, organizers and neighbors seeking to remove First District Councilmember John Perkins say they’ve collected enough signatures to put Perkins’ seat up to a districtwide vote.
The recall effort was spearheaded by the Independence Action Committee, a newly formed political action group that residents formed following the Stop The AI Data Center in Independence social media campaign this spring.
Perkins was one of five current and former Independence City Council members to vote in favor of $6 billion in tax breaks for Nebius, a Dutch AI company currently constructing a $150 billion hyperscale data center in northeast Independence.
He’s led the First District on and off for 18 years, and his seat was not up for re-election in the most recent municipal election in April. That election proved an opportunity for data center opponents to take their anger to the polls, voting councilmembers Jared Fears and Bridget McCandless off the dais and declining to support McCandless’ mayoral run.
A group of residents mounted a campaign last month to recall Perkins by referendum, attempting to collect enough petition signatures to force through a districtwide recall vote. They needed about 1,100 signatures total, representing 8% of registered voters in the First District.
The recall effort initially came in hundreds of entries short, with organizers submitting 745 signatures on May 28. However, under the Independence City Charter, residents had an additional seven days to submit additional signatures or fix any errors once the Jackson County Election Board issued their first rejection.
Organizers submitted an additional 78 pages of signatures Monday, Cobb said. The Independence Action Committee previously said that they were hoping to collect 1,300 signatures total, building in a buffer in case some signatures are rejected.
In a statement issued Monday, treasurer and founding organizer McKenna Cobb thanked First District residents for their participation, which she said signals a growing interest in government accountability at the local level in Independence.
“This effort has always been about giving First District residents a voice and allowing voters to decide whether Councilman Perkins should continue representing them,” Cobb said.
Cobb previously said that residents were also frustrated by Perkins’ decision not to host public meetings about the data center project leading up to his controversial March vote.
Residents have been criticizing city officials more broadly in recent months, for their perceived lack of transparency — and perceived excessive speed — around the planning process for the data center over the last several years.
Perkins was not immediately available for comment Monday.
Though organizers believe they’ve hit the signature threshold, the Jackson County Election Board will make a final call over the next several days, Cobb said.
At a town hall meeting earlier this week organized by another data center watchdog group in Independence, organizer Elisa Breitenbach said that the First District has historically been “a dead zone” when it comes to participation in local elections or political initiatives.
“People do not vote,” Breitenbach said at the meeting. “People have lost hope.”
Recall organizers gathered signatures through a persistent door-knocking campaign, Cobb said, with more than 20 “petition circulators” taking nightly routes through the area.
Some volunteers also stood on street corners throughout the First District for hours at a time, spinning homemade signs and flagging down passing cars.
“This recall effort has demonstrated that residents are paying attention and want to be heard,” Cobb said. “No matter the outcome, we are proud of the community members who stepped up, got involved and exercised their democratic rights.”
