Six State College Borough Council members will vote next week on an appointment to fill the vacant seventh seat, and on Monday night they each indicated how they were leaning.
Three candidates are vying for the interim appointment to replace Richard Biever, who was elected in November and is resigning effective June 13 because he and his family are moving out of state. Because the vacancy will occur less than 18 months from the start of his term, the person appointed to the vacancy will fill the position until Dec. 31, 2023, per the borough’s home rule charter. The seat will be on the ballot in the November 2023 election and the winner will serve the balance of the term from Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2025.
The three seeking the position are:
- Nalini Krishnankutty – current chair of the Community Oversight Board; Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Program manager in Penn State’s Office of Human Resources; a chemical engineer turned writer, speaker, educator and diversity, equity and inclusion advocate; and Greentree neighborhood resident.
- Matthew Kwapis – current president of the Greentree Neighborhood Association and a senior vice president for Avenue Development.
- Katherine Yeaple – former borough council member, a registered nurse, a former transportation planner and resident of College Heights.
Krishnankutty and Kwapis both gave presentations to council at the May 31 meeting. Yeaple, who was unavailable for that meeting because of a family emergency, gave her presentation on Monday.
Yeaple was appointed the last time council had a vacancy, after Dan Murphy resigned in August 2020. She ran for election last year but finished fourth in the Democratic primary, just behind Biever.
She stressed her experience on council during “a particularly challenging time.”
“In my first three months, I passed a budget, I voted for police reforms, staffing the pilot of the co-responder model, creating the position of the [diversity, equity and inclusion] director and the creation of a citizens oversight board,” she said.
She added that she voted for a variance that allowed Out of the Cold to open a permanent shelter at the former Meetinghouse on Atherton, cited the need to address the affordable housing shortage in State College and is looking forward to further efforts toward a state-certified borough or county health department.
“My record demonstrates a true commitment to State College and to the process,” she said. “I am committed to the wider community of State College. I try to listen humbly and objectively, that is without bias, driven by any ideology, before reaching a conclusion.
“The challenges facing the borough are complex and the most appropriate responses to any given challenge will necessarily be controversial. The role of a council person in my opinion is to keep an open mind, to listen to the diverse perspectives and to choose the most appropriate action to serve the community. In my the capacity as a council person, I believe I have faithfully executed this responsibility.”
Later in the meeting, council members discussed the voting process that will take place on June 13. Much as when Yeaple was appointed, the six remaining council members’ names will be drawn at random. The first member selected will be able to nominate a candidate and council will vote. If the first candidate receives a majority of four “yes” votes, he or she will receive the appointment. If not, the nominations will continue until one candidate receives a majority vote.
A replacement must be appointed by June 16 — 45 days from the date of resignation. If no appointment is made in that time frame, it can become the decision of the Centre County Court of Common Pleas based on a petition by council or five residents of the borough.
Comments from each of the six council members suggest Krishnankutty will have a majority of the support — though nothing is certain. When Yeaple was appointed in 2020, council went through six rounds of voting largely focused on two other candidates — Jeff Kern and now-Mayor Ezra Nanes — before she emerged with a majority in the seventh.
Each of the council members said on Monday night that they were impressed with all three candidates, but Krishnankutty and Yeaple were the clear favorites. Council members Janet Engeman and Peter Marshall both expressed support for Yeaple, while Gopal Balachandran, Jesse Barlow, Deanna Behring and Divine Lipscomb (along with Nanes, who does not have a vote) indicated they favored Krishnankutty.
Here’s what each had to say.
Marshall said Yeaple’s previous experience on council made her the best candidate to fill the vacancy.
“She … did a very credible job when she was on the council,” Marshall said. “She was fair and she did her homework. I personally think she would be the best person to fill the unexpired term of Rich.”
He added that Yeaple is Asian-American and that 6% of the borough population — its second largest demographic —is Asian or Asian-American. (Balachandran pointed out that Krishnankutty, who was born and raised in India, is also Asian-American.)
Engeman also cited Yeaple’s experience.
“She was an excellent council person and she was also next in line behind Biever for the vote,” Engeman said. “I think that we should seriously consider her experience. There is no learning curve for her. She was very, very committed and did her homework. We know what we’ve got there.”
Engeman said she’s “heard lots and lots of good things” about Krishnankutty, but questioned whether she would have adequate time for council given her many existing community involvements.
Behring responded to Engeman and called it “totally inappropriate” to make a judgment on a candidate’s availability of time or how they prioritize it.
She said she was most taken with Krishnankutty’s commitment to carrying on the issues Biever had made central to his campaign and time on council.
“What really stood out to me was Nalini’s acknowledgement that she was coming into an open position left vacant by Rich Biever, who was duly elected,” Behring said. “She acknowledged that her role was to carry forward the vision that he had spelled out in his campaign. To me that really struck home and I think is a really important acknowledgement to honor an elected official’s role in the community by following the lead.”
Balachandran said each of the candidates are “compelling” and “offered something new” but that he was most impressed by Krishnankutty.
“I … was really impressed with Nalini Krishnankutty not only for the depth of her experience and her involvement in the community. I don’t think there would be any kind of learning curve for her despite the fact that she has not served on council before,” he said. “If that’s a determinant then there would be no first-time candidate that would ever be elected onto council, even myself.
“I think that the experience for her is compensated by the fact that she has been involved so heavily in the community, has been involved as part of the [Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs]. She has been involved in the COB, has been involved in the planning of the COB and I think that at any sort of community event, she’s there. So is Ms. Yeaple. Overall, if the vote was today, I would support Dr. Krishnankutty.”
Lipscomb related how he recently walked into Webster’s Bookstore Cafe where he happened upon a meeting of community members with “voices that are typically unheard.” Krishnankutty was part of the meeting.
“When you see a community member everywhere engaging with the community on different levels … and then to have them want to serve in another capacity for the community, for me I was like ‘Woah, OK, we could definitely use your expertise and just how you engage with community members,’” Lipscomb said. “Our job is, at least my perception of our job, is to represent the community. I think she brings that wholeheartedly. That level of service I think is in her blood, in her character. If I were to support anyone it would be Nalini, [followed] second by Kathy.”
Barlow said he has many interactions with Krishnankutty and “I simply think the world of her.” He added that she seems to be “closest philosophically” to Biever among the three candidates and that she has demonstrated throughout her life and career a facility for taking on new challenges and responsibilities.
“I’m not worried about her assuming the workload at all,” Barlow said. “This is a person who got a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and is now doing things that have nothing whatsoever to do with it. As someone who got a Ph.D. in a field that is absolutely useless in this job I fully appreciate that point of view and understand it.”
Krishnankutty, he said, was the first person to agree to be on the ad hoc study committee for the Community Oversight Board and was later elected chair of the COB by fellow members, “which is a very big deal and has been a lot of work.”
“I’m very enthusiastic about her candidacy,” Barlow said.
Nanes endorsed Krishnankutty as well, citing her ongoing work in the community.
“I’ve had the opportunity to know and work with her in so many different contexts in the community and she shows up incredibly well and contributes at an exceptional level in everything I’ve seen her do,” Nanes said. “She has a great tenure in the community and it’s a tenure that’s been marked by progressively greater involvement in civic life. I think she’s a very high-capacity person”
He added that her statewide connections and skills in working collaboratively would be beneficial to council.
“I think it would be great to see her working with this body,” Nanes said. “I think the ideas that Mr. Biever brings to council and has brought to council will be well carried on by her. We’re going to miss Rich but I think Nalini will carry on that spirit. I think she would be a great choice.
“Whatever choice council makes we are going to welcome that person with open arms and I know that council will find our way past having differing opinions about this.”
Council will vote on the appointment during its next meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 13, in the State College Municipal Building
