New Ferguson Township supervisor sets his sights on development, environmental issues
Newly elected Ferguson Township Supervisor Prasenjit Mitra has always been interested in public service, but he didn’t want to be a career politician. Now, the Penn State professor is making his dream a reality while trying to better the township as a whole.
A Ferguson Township resident for 16 years, Mitra, a Democrat, was elected to represent Ward 2 in the November election, after defeating Republican Janet Whitaker by taking 59.2% of the vote. He is the first person of color to serve on the board. Though still learning the inner-workings of local government, Mitra said he values transparency and will consider “what makes the most sense” for those he represents before making decisions.
Ferguson Township saw a Democratic sweep in November. In Ward 1, incumbent Laura Dinnini held onto her seat with 898 votes while Republican challenger Ralph Wheland secured 855 votes. Democrat Patty Stephens captured 547 votes against Republican Jeremie Thompson’s 276 votes in Ward 3.
“I have always wanted to do some form of public service, and I do not want to do it full-time,” he said. “I just love my job too much to do that — at least now.”
Mitra is an associate dean for research in Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. He holds a doctorate from Stanford University where he studied issues related to modeling data and the semantics of data in an information integration system. A scientist, Mitra thinks his professional experience will help him consider all sides of a situation before moving forward with township decisions.
Looking into the possibility of implementing a paid sick leave ordinance, balancing development with environmental issues and examining the necessity of township expenses are at the top of Mitra’s to-do list.
“I want to see people have sick leave,” Mitra said. “I will try to see if I can get some consensus around that, primarily because this is better done at a higher level, but the real politic of the state is that it is not going to be done really soon — statewide.”
Using Pittsburgh’s paid sick leave ordinance as an example, Mitra said he wants to make sure the ordinance would work to benefit businesses, their budgets and employees.
“I’m not talking about a lavish seven week sick leave,” he said. “It might not be lavish if you really have a serious sickness, but I understand that companies cannot pay someone for a long time without getting any work. Also, this needs to be done for slightly bigger companies, as in a certain number of employees ... I don’t want to burden a shop who is barely making ends meet.”
Though not opposed to development, Mitra wants to avoid urban sprawl, believing that there should be space designated for projects like sky scrapers and large development projects. Viewing his position as somewhat limited by state legislation, Mitra said the supervisors have the ability to negotiate and incentivize residents and developers from sacrificing nature in order to develop.
“If I had to choose between growing outwards or growing up, I would possibly choose growing up,” he said. “It’s always a balancing act, but we cannot have huge high-rises growing in the middle of nowhere.”
Mitra will also serve as a member of the Centre Region Council of Government Public Services and Environmental committee.
Wanting to collaborate with township staff and other officials, Mitra said he plans to look at possible expenses the township could afford to cut, specifically the frequency of maintenance costs like street cleaning, mowing and tree trimming.
“I want to look at our entire budget and see where we can tighten the belt, especially because I think down the line, we’ll have issues,” Mitra said, citing the possibility of having to pay township firefighters and invest in more police officers. “I do not want to pass the expense on (to residents) without looking seriously at where we can cut and make things more streamlined.”
Not afraid to admit that he doesn’t have all of the answers and recognizing that change doesn’t happen overnight, Mitra said he has a “moral responsibility” to consider the impact of his actions which will be carried out “incrementally.”
“I have to first think about what makes the most sense for the people in Ward 2 and then in Ferguson Township,” he said, adding that he also considers state, national and worldwide impacts of municipal decisions. “You sort of make some judgment calls. I’m not representing the world, but there is a certain element of morality involved.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 8:50 AM.
