Letters: Nanes has drive, vision to improve community; Vote for experienced leaders in State College

Editor’s note: The Centre Daily Times welcomes letters endorsing candidates in the May 18 primary election and will accept letters that are received by May 10. Letters are subject to editing, must be based on facts and should avoid attacks on other candidates.

Nanes has drive, vision to improve community

Community leadership matters and city mayors make a difference in the attitude, culture and quality of life for its residents. State College is inexorably linked in proximity and name to a university town, however it has much more to offer. As we wade through the final stages of the coronavirus pandemic, new beginnings and fresh ideas are important and warranted. Thus, I am endorsing Mr. Ezra Nanes for the next mayor of State College. I think Ezra has the drive and vision to make our community a better place by working with council to put the borough’s fiscal standing on solid ground, improving our infrastructure, and promoting the development and growth of small business.

I have known Ezra since 2015. We spent time together working on his Pennsylvania State Senate campaign and in recreational settings, including those with family. Ezra is sharp, detail oriented, and a problem solver. He has the ability to bring people together in an effort to work toward, and achieve, common goals. Without reservation, however, his real passion is community and family. Ezra exhibits enthusiasm and a genuine interest in our community on a very local level, with a focus on innovative and progressive solutions for all its residents.

I highly recommend Ezra as the next mayor of State College. I appreciate the opportunity to submit this letter to the Centre Daily Times and want to encourage everyone to get out and VOTE on May 18!

Group’s actions don’t deserve support

Tranquility and peace are under attack in Happy Valley. May 1 was a beautiful day with many people out and about. There were some great events that were scheduled, such as the garden walk and a membership drive for Schlow Library. Unfortunately, a group endorsed by the 3/20 Coalition called Alleghenies Abolition whose tag is “For a World Without Bosses, Landlords, Cops, or Prisons” was also present. Tranquility and peace were shattered when this group, in front of the municipal building, at the height of the activities, started shouting a profanity laced chant that included the “F” bomb. No regard for any children or people who would be offended by this type of language was even considered to promote their message of hate. What is absolutely appalling, there is a mayoral candidate, who is endorsed by and endorses these groups. Perhaps this mayoral candidate is unaware of how profane this group is. If so, then he should have exercised due diligence prior to putting a picture of the 3/20 Coalition on his Facebook page showing their “die-in” in Bellefonte that left profanity slogans on the sidewalk. Furthermore, there are three Borough Council and one Ferguson Township supervisor candidates who are directly associated with these groups. If you want to ensure that “happy” stays in Happy Valley then please vote responsible people for mayor, Jim Leous, and three solid council members with Ron Filippelli, Catherine Dauler and Katherine Yeaple.

Vote for experienced leaders in State College

State College has a problem, but it can be fixed. Events over the past two years have created a schism, based on misinformation and emotion. The result has been over reaction, dissidence, complaints that Happy Valley isn’t happy anymore and demands that the baby be thrown out with the bath water. Yes, we had a tragedy, a breakdown of the system. But it was just that, a breakdown of a system that had been working, perhaps not perfectly, but well for over a century. So now what? Wipe the slate clean, and start over? Scrap all the work that has been done, and reinvent the wheel?

The business of the borough is complex, ranging from zoning to budgeting, from public works to housing, from policing to planning. We have a wealth of experience available to manage these things, experience we need to value. Jim Leous for mayor has proven experience as a community leader. The public service records of Dauler, Filippelli and Yeaple, speak for themselves. In this period of COVID recovery, we need experienced leaders on council.

As for other candidates aspiring to be the “next generation” of community leaders, there are numerous ways to contribute now: by attending the many borough meetings, working on one of the many ABCs, or applying for a position on the newly forming civilian oversight or mental health boards.

Please vote for experience: Leous for mayor, Dauler, Filippelli and Yeaple for council, and urge the other candidates to get involved in borough activities.

Moving past ‘Raiders’

Thanks to Marley Parish for her reporting on the Bellefonte Area School District’s mascot. Parish’s April 30 story about the mascot noted that three BASD board members, during Wednesday’s meeting, expressed that they “did not see a problem with keeping the ‘Red Raider’ name. The three said they see red as only a color.” This sentiment was also shared by a good number of speakers during public comment at Tuesday’s board meeting.

For the board members and general citizens who espoused that red is only a color, I have a genuine question: Given that BASD’s colors are, and have long been, red and white, why wasn’t “white Raiders” taken up as the mascot name? Is it because “white” has been so centered in the U.S. that it would never have occurred to the mascot namers to use it? Is it because that name would have been offensive to many people in the community? Is it because it would have been too close to the truth, that settler colonialists of Caucasian descent killed and forced out Indigenous peoples who inhabited the present-day lands of the United States, including here in present-day Centre County?

I’m disappointed that “Raiders” will persist through this moment. As much as people might want to ignore or forget the history that will always contextualize that name in Bellefonte, history doesn’t work that way. Racism (not to mention violence and plunder) will remain embedded in that name as long as BASD keeps it as its mascot.