English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Hillsboro, OR

The Real Story – A Column

It has been a busy and hectic 2026 for the Hillsboro Herald and me personally. Today, I was featured on the Oregon Center for Public Policy podcast, Policy For The People. Data Centers in Oregon, and especially in Hillsboro, have been at the top of the news everywhere. This was a complete honor for me personally, as this is a group I hold in high regard, and I think many informed Oregonians agree with me. Juan Carlos Ordonez is the host and is smart, inquisitive, and thorough. Apparently, they (OCCP) have monitored the work we have done here at the Herald on this topic- 60 plus stories in the last 5 years. From the at-risk power grid to the tax giveaways, we covered it all. And one thing kept coming up – what is in it for us? When I ask that question, I get crickets or meek answers. That is not good. That is not what we need. And that is certainly not leadership.

Here is an excerpt –

“I think all of us that are learning more about this, especially with these cables, are now learning that we didn’t need to do that at all (offer 5 years or more of free property taxes). They were coming here either way. And we’ve been very foolish.And this will be a discussion that the state will have is and it’s happening right now. So, for Hillsboro, the argument is that if we didn’t give them the tax credit, they wouldn’t have come, and then we wouldn’t have these future revenues. That is false.

Right? The carrot was put out, they bit on it. They bit the bait. They’re here. I don’t think we had to do that. They were coming either way.”

I hope you enjoy the podcast and share it. And consider supporting the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

My work here continues, every day and every night.

In the past two months, I have:

Just as important, I have presented to a number of groups on the matter of Data Centers, and communicated with dozens and dozens of great minds, a great passion who live and work here in Hillsboro and Washington County. We will get equity and fair treatment for our people and our schools. People are suffering and we are going without at the same time Private Equity Firms and Billionaires continue to fleece our community. The time for that to end is now.

This is all headed to the creation of our own task force, of the people by the people, because our City and County will not create one. We will have the best people and the most passionate people. Please email me at hillsboroherald@gmail.com if you want to be involved.

The work continues, and we must all fight on for a better Oregon – and it is time for the “foolishness” to end. Oregon demands and deserves better!

Editor’s Note: As we predicted in our story this AM, Janeen Sollman has pulled her Senate Bill 1586 from the Legislative Agenda. More on this to follow. But thanks to all of the people and organizations who fought this massive and abnormal land grab here in Hillsboro and Washington County!

Voices Of The People- A Community Service of the Hillsboro Herald:

PRESS RELEASE: SALEM, Ore. — Farmers and farmworkers, grassroots conservation and smart growth organizations, local labor unions, and other local leaders are now breathing a sigh of relief: SB 1586, which would have rezoned 1,700 acres of world-class farmland for industrial development and created a new corporate tax credit, is not moving forward this session. This bill was identified as a major threat to a healthy Oregon by the Oregon Conservation Network, which represents over 40 state-level and local environmental organizations.

“Our voices, when banded together, matter. Today shows that people—not big tech—still have the power here in Oregon,” said Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai. “I am so, so proud of Oregonians, our allies in the Legislature, the over 35 groups and two dozen local, regional, state elected officials who opposed SB 1586.”

Almost 90% of nearly 900 pieces of testimony submitted on SB 1586 was in opposition, with a common concern being the sacrifice to some of Oregon’s—and the world’s—highest-quality farmland. Under the guise of bringing jobs, SB 1586 would have paved over Hillsboro’s world-class soils and put over 30 farms out of business, including Jack Bee Little Acres, owned and operated by Scott and Justine Ellis.

“We are so grateful for all the people who testified against this bill; it means so much to us and to our farm that this bill is being withdrawn,” said Scott and Justine.

Another major concern from the public testimony was the allowance of data center development. While the bill was described by its proponents as supporting advanced manufacturing, a significant loophole also allowed for this farmland to be turned into an unlimited, unregulated amount of accessory data centers.

“Destroying irreplaceable farmland for temporary data centers is not viable economic development,” said Nellie McAdams, executive director of Oregon Agricultural Trust. “We must stop bulldozing over our farms and discrediting the value, innovation, and economic power that farmers, farmworkers, and ranchers bring to our state.”

SB 1586 would have offered hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate tax breaks—including to data centers—at a time when the state is slashing budgets for basic social services, and Hillsboro’s three major industrial technology manufacturers have laid off thousands of advanced manufacturing employees in the past year. Meanwhile, data centers have been found to provide relatively few jobs; a 2025 report by Food and Water Watch found that, in Virginia, “data centers generate just 1 permanent job for every $13 million invested.”

“SB 1586 would have done nothing to address the root causes of recent layoffs in our region,” said Hillsboro City Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair. “We need data-driven decisions and binding commitments that deliver real economic security for local working families while diversifying economic opportunity—without paving over farmland.”

Over 55% of the testimony that opposed SB 1586 expressed concerns about data centers specifically. In addition to concerns about low job development, testimony also noted the impacts that data centers have on increased energy costs; reduced quality of life for residents (data centers cause noise and air pollution); and negative impacts to global climate, local ecosystems, wildlife, and watersheds.

Many streams run alongside and within the acreage that was targeted by SB 1586—including McKay, Waible, and Storey Creeks—which simultaneously benefit communities and wildlife. Vulnerable species, such as coho salmon, run through the creeks in this rural reserve and rely on cool and clean water for survival.

“When farmlands are converted to industrially zoned land, we lose valuable wildlife habitat and flood resilience as the area is paved over,” said Tualatin Riverkeepers Policy and Advocacy Director Kelsey Shaw Nakama. “The destruction of wetlands and riparian areas result in increased erosion and pollution, as well as warmer water temperatures that are particularly harmful to the sensitive Tualatin River system and the salmon that return to our waters to reproduce.”

This was just one of many attempts by the Oregon state legislature to bring these 1,700 acres into Hillsboro’s UGB over the years. Each time, strong public opposition prevailed—but the legislature’s repeated attempts at industrial development of this important farmland have harmed public trust in state and local officials.

“We’re thrilled for this positive outcome again, and we’re proud of the collective effort that brought about this victory,” said Faun Hosey, president of Save Helvetia. “History has shown us that we need to continue to keep an eye out for continued attempts to destroy farmland. We’ll be ready to fight again when necessary.”

Another element of looking towards the future is economic development; this bill claimed to be crucial to the state’s economic future, but it did not contain or reference a comprehensive, statewide look at the needs of Oregonians.

“SB 1586 skipped over a fundamental truth that we should and could be addressing together: There is a surplus of vacant land and empty buildings inside our urban growth boundaries,” said Sam Diaz, executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon. “Instead of pushing to pave over our farmers’ and farmworkers’ livelihoods and destroy some of the world’s best soils, we ask our elected officials and our business leaders to partner together to revitalize our cities and towns.”

Organizations who contributed to this press release

Founded in 1974, 1000 Friends of Oregon is Oregon’s land use policy watchdog and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. 1000 Friends partners with Oregonians, local businesses, and community organizations to enhance quality of life for all Oregonians. We accomplish this by strengthening our land use planning protections for a strong democracy, healthy working lands, shared prosperity, and vibrant cities and towns. friends.org

Oregon Agricultural Trust partners with farmers and ranchers to protect agricultural lands for the benefit of Oregon’s economy, communities, and landscapes. OAT is an agricultural land trust that works collaboratively around the state to safeguard Oregon’s farm and ranch lands and the rural communities that depend upon them. We permanently protect ag land, help it stay in production, educate our community, and help advocate for farmland preservation. oregonagtrust.org

The Oregon Conservation Network, a coalition of over 40 organizations throughout the state, comes together to pass pro-conservation priorities, protect our unique quality of life, and ensure a better Oregon for our children. OCN is coordinated by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters’ Education Fund and powered by the tens of thousands of Oregonians who belong to OCN’s member organizations. ocn.org

Since 1972, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters has been a unique and valued member of Oregon’s environmental community. We work within local and state governments to demand clean air and water, healthy forests and wildlife, and a renewable energy future for all Oregonians. Alongside our members, we take political action to stand up for Oregon’s people and places. olcv.org

Save Helvetia is a coalition of farmers, business owners, concerned citizens, neighbors, and residents of the greater Helvetia, Oregon area who are working to protect the Helvetia community and its neighboring agricultural lands from unlawful uses. savehelvetia.org

Tualatin Riverkeepers protects, restores, and expands recreational access to the Tualatin River watershed through advocacy and fostering broad community engagement. We envision a thriving Tualatin River watershed sustained by an engaged community who enjoys all of the benefits a healthy river system has to offer. tualatinriverkeepers.org

Sign up for the OAT newsletter here

Nellie McAdams | Executive Director

she | her | hers

www.oregonagtrust.org

PO Box 7359 | Salem, OR 97303

(971) 409-6806 | nellie@oregonagtrust.org

End~

The Real Story – A Column – Take Our Poll Below

Another week and another hearing on Senate Bill 1586, the Oregon Jobs Act. The sponsors of this Bill just keep twisting the language and pounding the drum… “No Stand-Alone Data Centers.” But let’s be clear, that is just a move to direct us all away from what is happening. Yes, 1586 has some aspiration and functional elements that, to the general public, appear to be designed to create more jobs. And yes, the sponsors pulled out the language expanding the Enterprise Zones from 5 years to 10 years… but that’s just an empty promise, as those same sponsors are promoting Governor Tina Kotek’s Bill 4078, which guarantees those 10-year deals that will fleece our schools of hundreds of millions in needed tax revenues. All of that is but a misdirection designed by Senator Janeen Sollman to get her donor’s land into the Urban Growth Boundary. And the good Senator made an early Monday morning change to a key definition of 1586 – the definition of Advanced Manufacturing.

The Table Is Set In Hillsboro For A Corporate Energy Takeover – Sollman Is Licking Her Chops

No matter what you hear in News soundbites, specifically fed to our news media, more concerned with scrollers and likes, do not believe them. The Herald has covered over 100 stories on our Valley and the Hillsboro Industrial and Data Center build-out. We have proven and established that:

TESTIMONY FROM AN AMAZON EXEC- SB 1586 Hearing-

“I spent my career building the exact type of infrastructure this bill contemplates. As an executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS), my teams helped enable Moderna to use cloud computing to develop its COVID vaccine. Before that, at Cray, I helped build, sell, and deliver the largest supercomputers on this planet for organizations like GE and the Department of Energy.

I’m here because my experience tells me that SB 1586 has serious structural problems.

1. The Definition Loophole is Real. The bill references ‘advanced manufacturing,’ but as of July 2025, the industry definition was updated to include AI-related data centers as advanced manufacturing. This is not hypothetical; this is how the industry already thinks and talks about this work. Under SB 1586, an AI data center qualifies as both the ‘manufacturing anchor’ and the ‘data center’ itself. The restriction effectively cancels itself out.

2. The Footprint Argument is Obsolete. Data center technology is shrinking rapidly. Power density per rack has increased 50-fold in the last five years. Facilities being built today are already being outpaced by next-generation designs. Converting 1,700 acres of prime farmland for infrastructure that may be obsolete within a decade is what we call a ‘one-way door’ decision.

3. The Threat of ‘Data Center Ghost Towns’ What is Oregon’s plan for data center ghost towns in 10, 20, or 30 years? Even campuses like Intel’s are already at risk for shrinkage. We should be planning and transitioning existing facilities, not building new ones.

The Core Question: If this land is truly for ‘advanced manufacturing,’ those facilities fit comfortably in thousands of underutilized industrial acres elsewhere. But if it is for data centers, then the bill is being falsely advertised. Therefore, I ask you to vote ‘No’ on this bill.”

Barry Bolding – Former Amazon Executive

Definitions Matter – Sollman Sets Up AI Computing Across This Expansion

Now consider all of that – hmmmm. Oregon has land everywhere for Industry. All the politicians working on this Bill are lined up with big energy and the data centers. The most critical players (Sollman, Pace, Gonsalez, Treece) have mingled with the landowners enough to take funds from them. The landowners stand to go from protected farmland to full-blown industrial, which in Hillsboro means $1,000,000 per acre based on active sales. Maybe more. That’s 1.7 billion in gains. Money- Power- Land. When will the lies end, and someone just admit what is really happening? Here is it-

The only place the Big Three want to be right now is in Hillsboro. With 1,700 acres of new land, the new Willamette Water Pipe now connected to Hillsboro, and new PGE/BPA power grid upgrades are coming; this is where they want to expand. They have established a massive Data and Energy hub here and completed dozens of projects, contractors on the ground, and all the money in the world. So now all that is needed is a pliable or gullible set of politicians and hungry landowners, and they can run the table. AI is exploding, and the gold rush is now. Nowhere can they move faster with this level of connectivity and tax breaks. This Bill and this expansion are NOT ABOUT JOBS – it is a Trojan Horse for the Big Three. And they are buying this decision. If this passes, it will be these influences and not the merits of the falsely named Oregon Jobs Act.

Given all of this, the most telling proof of the statements and facts I have posted, which confirm what Senator Sollman is really doing, can be found in the changes she made to the definition of Advanced Manufacturing. In the wee hours of the night on Sunday, she posted an amendment to Senate Bill 1586 to alter the definition of Advanced Manufacturing, the words she uses to define what jobs are coming to the 1,700 acres.

Here is what Sollman did: in what is now called the “Dash-Four” ammendment:

According to the current legislative draft, the amendment defines Advanced Manufacturing as follows:

“Advanced manufacturing” means:

By including “any activity that supports the ecosystem,” the bill effectively opens the door for:

On July 23, 2025, the Federal government issued Executive Order 14318, which officially reclassified large-scale AI data centers as ‘Industrial Infrastructure’. Senator Sollman’s -4 amendment mirrors this federal pivot perfectly. Section 2(1)(a)(A)(i) now defines ‘Advanced Manufacturing’ as activities that depend on the ‘coordination of information, computation, software, and networking’.

That is the statutory definition of a Data Center. By adopting this language, Sollman and her sponsors aren’t protecting Hillsboro from server farms; they are giving them a legal fast-track to our rural reserves. Under the new definitions of Advanced Manufacturing, it will be automatic for the same companies already using these July 2025 federal definitions to build data centers:

Three major Hillsboro players, Aligned Data Centers (BlackRock), Digital Realty (Vanguard), and STACK Infrastructure, have already filed for federal permits under the new ‘Industrial Infrastructure’ standard. They aren’t building factories for people; they are building power-hungry hubs for machines and doing so by calling it manufacturing. These facts guarantee the people of Hillsboro that the “No stand-alone data centers” language has no effect and is null and void.

If this Bill passes, we will see the biggest data centers we have ever seen, and Hillsboro will permit them as “Advanced Manufacturing”. Sollman knows this, as do any of the intelligent minds in the room, as well as all of the “experts” giving supporting testimony, which are very few and far between.

Definitions matter. When ‘Advanced Manufacturing’ is rewritten to mean ‘Data Centers,’ the law becomes a lie. Senator Sollman’s -4 amendment is the smoking gun that proves SB 1586 was never about jobs—it was about a 1,700-acre payday for private equity and a handful of wealthy landowners. We’ve mapped the centers, we’ve tracked the donors, and now we see the loophole. The question is: Will the rest of the Legislature see it too, or will they let the ‘Trojan Horse’ of the Oregon Jobs Act trample the Grand Bargain? The clock is ticking on the Tualatin Valley. It’s time to call this what it is: a corporate energy takeover, written in the ‘wee hours’ to ensure you never saw it coming.

By mirroring the federal shift to ‘Industrial Infrastructure,’ this amendment ensures that even if a project is 100% machines and 0% workers, it still qualifies for the tax breaks and land your ancestors spent a century protecting.

A Message to Senator Sollman, Mayor Pace, and others:

Many people like me want good jobs- I am sure you do too. We do NOT WANT ANY MORE DATA CENTERS. If you want to show us that you are interested in Job for Oregonians and this land is needed for those jobs, REAL JOBS, then amend SB 1586 to BAN ALL DATA CENTERS on the land you’re so desperate to bring in. Failure to do so proves your true intentions and allegiance to the Big Three, not your constituents… Do you remember us? I am waiting for your responses. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

TESTIMONY SO FAR: 738 Written Pieces of Testimony – 95% Are In Opposition – read them all here.

What Do Your Think?