State College Borough Council Member Nalini Krishnankutty to run for 2-year council term
State College Borough Council Member Nalini Krishnankutty announced Tuesday she intends to run for a two-year term on council in hopes to retain her seat.
Krishnankutty, who moved to Happy Valley in 1987, was appointed as a council member in June 2022 after Richard Biever vacated his seat due to a family move to Kansas. Because Biever left so shortly after taking office, the borough’s home-rule charter stipulates that his appointed replacement cannot finish out his full term and can only serve through 2023, meaning the 2023 municipal election will feature four open council seats with four-year terms and the Biever/Krishnankutty unexpired/open seat with a two-year term.
Krishnankutty is the first to announce her candidacy for the two-year term. So far, two others — former Councilman Evan Myers and recent Penn State graduate Josh Portney — have publicly stated their plans to run for four-year terms. (Two current council members eligible for reelection, Deanna Behring and Peter Marshall, have yet to publicly announce.)
“It has been so meaningful to serve our community, which has been my home for the last 35 years,” Krishnankutty said in a written statement. “I have especially valued the ability to work with residents and local governments to increase equitable access to resources, and to strive toward a more inclusive community where everyone feels empowered to make a difference.”
In a news release announcing her candidacy, Krishnankutty outlined her support of issues such as the region’s first Tenants’ Bill of Rights and the creation of a housing specialist position to assist renters, a Racial Equity Advisory Commission and a Regional Human Rights Commission. She also worked with Behring on a resolution to condemn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
And she was “proud” how Council approved an ordinance on short-term rentals based on residents’ input, attempting to disincentivize companies from buying homes only to operate them as hotels while still trying to avoid punishing community-minded homeowners looking to supplement their income.
“Council often needs to engage with multiple viewpoints and find an effective solution that works for the community,” she said Tuesday. “As we revise our zoning code, we are trying to center sustainability, preserve our strong neighborhoods, and support affordable housing, amidst the realities of strong market demands for student housing in our university town.”
Krishnankutty counts some of her priorities as zoning and affordable housing, ensuring a sustainable tax base, improving access to mental health services, environmental and social justice, and better facilitating town-and-gown cooperation.
The first-generation immigrant American has long served the community. She has worked on both her precinct’s election board and the board of Mid-State Literary Council, in addition becoming a founding member of PanAPIDA Circle, a local group seeking to stop anti-Asian hate. She was part of the study committee involving the borough’s Community Oversight Board, before eventually being elected the board’s chair. And she also served on former Gov. Tom Wolf’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.
She boasts a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Penn State, and she works at the university as the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Program Manager at Penn State Human Resources.
She lives with her husband in the Greentree neighborhood, where they raised their daughter.
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 2:26 PM.
