Evan Myers is ready “to get stuff done” with his fellow State College Borough Council members.
Myers, returning to the borough’s governing board after previously serving two terms from 2014-21, was elected by his peers to serve as council president on Tuesday shortly after he and four others were sworn in to take their seats on a new-look council.
While Myers is back for a third term after sitting out the borough charter-mandated two years following two consecutive terms in office, his fellow Democrats Matt Herndon, Kevin Kassab and Josh Portney took their seats on council for the first time and Nalini Krishnankutty took the oath for a two-year interim term, having won election after being appointed to fill a vacancy in 2022.
They join sitting council members Gopal Balachandran and Divine Lipscomb. Saying farewell on Tuesday were outgoing council President Jesse Barlow, Deanna Behring, Janet Engeman and Peter Marshall, each of whom were term-limited or chose not to run for reelection.
The upcoming year, Myers said, will be a busy one for council with work including the completion of the borough’s first comprehensive zoning rewrite since the 1950s, a process that has been underway for more than six years and is expected to conclude in 2024.
The zoning rewrite will help to shape the future of the borough, Portney noted.
“We need to finish our zoning rewrite so that we can look at development in our town and say where we want development and don’t want development, and controlling development in a way that’s sustainable and something that we can say in the future we’re proud of that,” Portney said.
Also on the agenda for the new year is a Responsible Contractor Ordinance for borough construction projects, which council reviewed in December but agreed to postpone to 2024.
Myers added that he expects council “to establish more and safer pedestrian and bicycle connections, work to create a more affordable and inclusionary housing option, have a good working relationship with Penn State and students, and we need to continue building that welcoming, inclusive and diverse community,” priorities that were echoed by several of his fellow council members.
“The things I ran on were making the borough a more affordable, sustainable, bikeable and inclusive community, and I think that’s what we’re going to be working on,” Herndon said.
Portney hopes to prioritize fostering “pedestrian- and bike-friendly businesses, where people can go to break bread, walk downtown, and don’t have to worry about getting hit by a car,” as well as partnering with Penn State on ways to retain talent by making the Centre Region a desirable place for new graduates to stay.”
To kick off the new year, Myers appealed to the strength of community over division. The recent contentious debate over a resolution urging the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire in Gaza was the latest example of how, over the last decade, the State College community taken on difficult challenges.
“The Sandusky scandal, the shooting of Osaze Osagie, COVID and just a few weeks ago the ceasefire resolution — through it all the thing we’ve done as a community is respect one another and work to have a dialogue,” Myers said. “In other places similar issues in other communities have torn them apart. As Mayor [Ezra] Nanes has said many times, we don’t have to agree, but we do need to communicate and work to live with one another. So far we’ve made that happen. That’s been a good thing.”
He cited how after the murder of Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 and, months later, the murder of Muslims and mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Jews and Muslims in State College came together to mourn and support each other at services at Congregation Brit Shalom and the Islamic Society of Central PA.
“These are the examples we need to follow and embrace,” Myers said. “We need healing and we need to find ways to come together in a meaningful way and establish a dialogue and understanding, and I do believe that council is part of that.”
Krishnankutty said the ceasefire resolution debate was an opportunity to strengthen the community.
“A lot of people talk about the ceasefire thing we had maybe as it was divisive, but for me it was an opportunity of common ground of experience that we all went through together where people actually spoke about what they were feeling with respect, and I truly would like an opportunity to use that and build true community where we are all engaging with each other,” she said.
Community engagement has been a hallmark of Krishnankutty’s first two years on council, she said, and community, both physical and interpersonal will help define council’s coming year.
“I think it’s paying attention to the kind of physical community we want in terms of zoning, affordable housing and transportation,” she said of council priorities. “The second one is also bringing our community together.”
OUTGOING MEMBERS SAY FAREWELL
Prior to the seating of new members and reorganization, council had one final meeting to bid farewell to outgoing members.
Behring credited Barlow, who completed two terms, including four years as council president, as a mentor to her and other council members. Barlow never complained about the long hours it takes to lead council, Behring said, and she and others agreed he is “one of the kindest most thoughtful people we know.”
“You are that rare leader that leads with humility and always centers the humanity and dignity of others,” she told Barlow.
Behring leaves council after serving one term.
“Deanna understands the institutions of our community,” Barlow said. “Her questions and wisdom about council’s work reflected that understanding. She has a very keen sense about how the message behind what council was doing was getting out there. She could always find the right words to explain council’s work and her optimism lifted all of our spirits, especially mine.”
Engeman served two terms on council.
“Janet came to council as an activist for environmental and neighborhood issues and she has remained that steadfastly throughout her eight years on council,” Barlow said.
Marshall, who was State College borough manager for 17 years until retiring in 2003, leaves council after one term.
“Peter has always had insightful questions, many of which would not have occurred to me,” Barlow said. “The answers to them were always important in our decision-making process and our budget process. He also understood the role of the Council of Governments which was a big help to me in this last year when I chaired that august body.”
