Choose Hahn, sustainability

State College borough has a high quality of life, but it also has a number of challenges.

The borough is denser than almost all other Pennsylvania municipalities. We face growth pressures from Penn State and the Centre Region, the possibility of declining funding from the federal government and frustrating constraints from Harrisburg.

I know of no one who has a better understanding of these challenges or perspective for meeting them than mayoral candidate Don Hahn.

Hahn’s perspective comes from growing up in State College, going to State High and Penn State, and practicing law in State College. His understanding comes from serving State College borough in a number of capacities. He served on Borough Council from 1996-2000 and again from 2006-2014. During his last two years, he was council president. He served on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Municipal League. He has also served on a number of borough and regional advisory boards.

Hahn’s philosophy of government chooses sustainability over growth. Here, sustainability has three important meanings. The first is preserving our beautiful neighborhoods through zoning protection, ordinance enforcement and owner-occupied housing initiatives. The second is working toward sustainable budgets through maintaining our excellent bond rating, fiscal prudence and avoiding the use of growth to address fiscal issues. The third is continuing the borough’s environmental sustainability initiatives. Hahn’s extensive service to the borough has helped all of these efforts.

I strongly encourage readers to vote for Hahn in the May 16 primary.

The writer is a State College Borough Council member.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Choose Hahn, sustainability."