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There are many legitimate questions that need answered about Silicon Foundation's proposed data center and energy technology campus in Warwood.
How much electricity will it consume? What will the noise impact be? How much water will it use? What safeguards will protect nearby residents? How many jobs will it create? And what exactly could this development look like 10 years from now?
Ask those questions.
But if opponents demand and receive answers from Silicon Foundation representatives and then simply declare those answers to be lies?
There's no point in that.
That was on display Tuesday during a public forum organized by opponents of the project proposed for the former Centre Foundry property.
Wheeling attorney David Croft, representing Silicon Foundation, eventually addressed the issue directly.
"Guys, look, I can tell you what I know in the agreements, but just pushing back to say 'well, you're going to make it bigger' or 'you're lying,' I don't think that furthers the conversation," Croft said.
He's absolutely right.
"We're trying to establish trust here," Croft added. "And I get it -- to hold feet to the fire on whether it's sound or on what Andrii (Garanin) is asserting. But it's unfortunate that the environment is as hostile as it is."
And there's the problem -- hostility serves no one.
It's one thing to be skeptical. It's another to simply refuse to believe anything you're being told.
Being skeptical means asking Silicon Foundation to provide facts, documentation and specifics. It means questioning claims. It means checking those claims against agreements, local zoning regulations and information from utilities and government agencies. It means holding both the developer and Wheeling officials accountable for promises being made today.
That is exactly what residents should be doing.
But deciding in advance that every answer is a lie? That's something all together different.
What's worse is that this stance makes it more difficult for the rest of this community to separate legitimate concerns over data centers from speculation and fear.
Those opposed to the project have focused on more transparency and more opportunities to question both city and Silicon Foundation officials. That's entirely reasonable. But transparency cannot be a one-way street. You can't invite someone into the room to answer questions only to tell him that whatever answer he provides cannot be trusted.
That's disingenuous.
There's also this: those hosting Tuesday's meeting, instead of simply noting that some members of Wheeling City Council and the city administration invited to participate could not make it, chose to instead chastise them by placing an empty chair with a sign in front noting why that person said they could make it. That's not, as Dale Carnegie put it, how to win friends and influence people.
This community has an important decision ahead. Data centers are raising legitimate concerns in communities across the country, and Wheeling residents deserve to know precisely what Silicon Foundation intends to build in Warwood and what the consequences -- positive and negative -- could be.
As we've said before, no one should give Silicon Foundation a free pass. No one should blindly accept their every assertion. And no one should expect this city and its residents simply to fall in line because company representatives say everything will be fine, or because they want to invest more than $100 million into a site that otherwise will sit and decay.
But the reverse also holds true: Opposition cannot become an excuse to reject every answer, question every motive and label every inconvenient piece of information a lie.
That mindset is simply an attempt to validate a conclusion already reached. This city deserves better than that. Ask the difficult questions. Demand proof. Hold everyone's feet to the fire.
But come to the table prepared to listen.