Cathy Johnson: From Classroom to Unexpected Lobbyist

 

 

In their relatively quiet rural community, 30 miles south of the Twin Cities, Cathy Johnson and her husband Gary enjoy a naturally beautiful neighborhood nestled among farmlands and protected park reserves. She confides that she and Farmington neighbors who have gathered around her have become unlikely activists.

As a former teacher and a master gardener, Johnson could not have predicted that in 2024 she would step into a significant leadership role, which has included testifying multiple times to the Minnesota legislature.

Johnson and her neighbors discovered plans to rezone their residential area in order to build a hyper-scale data center campus, just 250 feet from some of their homes. The mostly retired individuals mobilized for an intimidating challenge: fight back against out-of-state developers who have money to burn and had signed Farmington city officials to nondisclosure agreements.

Johnson is now chair of the nonprofit Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development. “When we had our first meeting in a park, I could see that people were concerned, even alarmed,” she says. “We had no agenda, other than to spread the word that a data center was coming our way and that the city was pushing hard to rezone. I offered my backyard and brought people together. It was in those early meetings that I realized the diversity and talent of the folks who attended. We collectively began the process of bonding into a grassroots organization.”

Johnson says her organizational and public speaking skills were honed during her years in the classroom. “As a teacher, I dealt with so many people,“ she says.

Starting a grassroots movement for statewide change can be a thankless job. The coalition is fighting an uphill and costly legal battle, which will intensify in January. “Public forums have been well attended, but we face a lot of misinformation from the developers,” she says.

Calling on her local city officials, mayor, and even state legislators and the governor for accountability has been daunting. Johnson and fellow coalition members have committed time and energy to research, persistently attend city council meetings, and do earnest community outreach.

Johnson continues to move with passion and urgency, one day at a time, while also keeping the coalition grounded in long-term goals. She has met with individual state lawmakers, speaking about harmful effects of data centers that she feels will impact the entire state. She emphasizes that her fight is not just about her backyard, neighborhood, or city.

At the end of a forum in Farmington, cohosted by the Coalition and Minnesota Women’s Press, Peter Wagenius, legislative director for the Sierra Club North Star chapter, spoke about the nationwide movement growing against hyper-scale data centers.

“Stay involved with this great organization,” he said to the audience. “You’re a model for other communities. I want to brag about Cathy and your whole team. There is opposition bubbling up around the state, but you have the most impressive grassroots operation of any.”

He said the state-minded strategy of the Coalition is important. “If you went to the Capitol and said these data centers cause water pollution and water depletion and damage our electric grid, so you should put them in a different community, that doesn’t play. Cathy’s message is persuasive. ‘We know data centers are part of the future, but it has to be done right, everywhere.’ This is how we’re going to win for Farmington and for the whole state.”

The Coalition is fundraising for its legal battle that starts in January, anticipating a need for $200,000. Support the work at datacenterresponsibility.com/donate

 

 

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