Pittsburg voters will fill three City Council seats on Nov. 3, 2026, and a data center planned for the former Delta View Golf Course is the issue splitting the field. On Monday night, Oct. 19, the council voted 4-0 to bring back a proposed 45-day moratorium on future data center projects at a special meeting later this week or as soon as possible, Contra Costa News reported. Mayor Dionne Adams, who is running for re-election, recused herself. See every local race on our Bay Area Election 2026 guide.

Why it matters: phase one of the project is already approved, but phases two and three are not. The council elected in November will help decide them.

What the council did Monday

Councilmember Juan Antonio Banales laid out the plan. A moratorium would cover phases two and three and any other future data center proposals, but not phase one, which is already entitled. "The moratorium does two things, first it gives our community clarity," Banales said. "Second, it allows our advisory committee on data centers to finish its work."

Banales said the city's Data Center Advisory Committee would send recommendations to the council, which would then set rules on where data centers can and can't go and what standards they must meet on design, noise, water and energy use. He also said Pittsburg Power and developer AVAIO Digital are still negotiating the power agreement for phase one, which would come to the council if a deal is reached. Councilmember Jelani Killings said he supports the pause.

The meeting was briefly recessed for five minutes because of audience interference. Banales said some recent behavior had "crossed a line," citing personal attacks and threats. More than 20 people spoke about the data center at the Oct. 5 council meeting, Claycord reported.

The project

Phase one, approved in 2024, would sit on about 22 acres of a 76.4-acre site in the Pittsburg Technology Park along West Leland Road, the Mercury News reported. It calls for a three-story, 99-megawatt data center with 37 biodiesel backup generators and an electrical substation. It has not broken ground. Some residents said at a packed June meeting that they expected a business and technology park, not a data center.

Who is running

The Mercury News counted 11 candidates for the three seats. Incumbents Adams and Arlene Kobata are seeking new terms. The others are Alvin Nelson, Pauline Johnson, Amhari Perkins, Sonja Shephard, Iztaccuauhtli Hector Gonzalez, Wolf Croskey, Carolynne Born and C.C. Cardinalli-Macaluso. Mark Linde announced on Sept. 11 that he was withdrawing. Terms are four years.

  • For a moratorium: Perkins, an organizer of Stop Pittsburg Data Center, Nelson and Johnson. Nelson's campaign says he opposes phases two and three. Johnson wants voters, not the council, to decide future data centers through a ballot measure.
  • Adams: she voted on zoning changes and the environmental review based on "the information that was available in front of me." Since June she has pushed for more public engagement. "We're not entering into new projects while we figure out a framework for the community," she told the Mercury News.

Candidates also named business recruitment, parks and budget transparency as priorities. Nelson's campaign cites a $5 million structural budget deficit.

Other Bay Area cities are weighing the same question. Hayward has a data center moratorium vote, and Oakland approved a 45-day moratorium.