Starbase Residents Vote to Become a City

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is creating its own official company town. On Saturday, residents near the Starbase launch site in South Texas voted decisively to incorporate the area as a city, also called Starbase. Cameron County election results show 212 votes for incorporation and just six against.

Musk Declares Starbase, Texas Officially a City on X

Musk announced on his social platform X that Starbase, Texas is “now a real city!”

SpaceX employees are believed to largely populate the newly formed city. On Saturday, residents also elected three unopposed candidates — Bobby Peden, Jordan Buss, and Jenna Petrzelka, all current or former SpaceX staff — to serve as Starbase’s mayor and commissioners.

The Associated Press reports that SpaceX has not disclosed many details about its reasons for wanting to incorporate the area. The company mentioned that it already oversees the roads, utilities, and services like education and healthcare. Additionally, SpaceX aims to transfer authority from the county to the new city government to facilitate the closure of nearby Boca Chica beach and state park for launches.

Musk Moves SpaceX HQ to Starbase, Texas, as Role in Government Efficiency Department Shrinks

Musk, who recently stated he would reduce his involvement with the Trump administration’s contentious Department of Government Efficiency to just “a day or two” per week, announced last year that SpaceX would relocate its headquarters from El Segundo, California, to the Starbase facility in Texas.

At the time, Musk expressed frustration with having to “dodge gangs of violent drug addicts” just to access the building, stating that the “final straw” was a California bill preventing schools from disclosing students’ sexual orientation or gender identity without consent.

Following last night’s election, a new X account for the town shared, “Becoming a city will enable us to keep building the best community possible for the men and women shaping humanity’s future in space.”

Read the original article on: Techcrunch

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