Letters: Myers shows commitment to State College; Move Penn State forward

Editor’s note: The CDT welcomes letters endorsing candidates in the May 16 primary election and will accept letters that are received by May 11.

Myers shows commitment to State College

Evan Myers has lived in State College nearly all his life. He’s a neighbor who knows the challenges and unique benefits of life in Centre County and specifically the Borough. He understands the importance of community and continues to work toward making State College a great place to thrive.

For environmental and quality of life reasons, our family has always tried to live walkable distances to our workplace and our daughters’ schools. During the 18 years we’ve lived in the Borough, Evan has shown commitment to enhancing life here with sustainable developments and support for bicycle lanes, pedestrian friendly walkways, locally owned businesses, and efforts toward more affordable housing. He has exceptional experience and knowledge and works tirelessly for the health and well-being of our diverse community.

I’m a local businesswoman who opened and ran the highly successful startup Lila Yoga Studios on Beaver Avenue. It was a beautiful and popular part of downtown life and provided work opportunities for 15 local teachers. Unfortunately along with many other downtown shops, I lost my space during COVID. Now many of us are priced out even though there are more spaces vacant now than I’ve ever seen. Evan continues to initiate and support innovative measures that would help businesses like mine to once again afford to open shop.

Evan has our full endorsement.

Move Penn State forward

Penn State is an amazing place — it was an amazing place when I went to school there two decades ago and it continues to serve thousands of students and community members every day. But there’s a lot of work to be done for Penn State to be seen as a 21st-century global leader. I’m running for Penn State’s Board of Trustees with Ali Krieger and Uma Moriarity to help us get there.

As a risk analyst at the World Economic Forum, I forecasted urgent threats from climate change to social division to economic conflict. Penn State faces similarly complex issues: budgetary strain, educational inequity, sustainability challenges and rising costs. We are a world-class institution — but the world is constantly changing. We need trustees who can tackle these challenges head-on, future-proofing Penn State for the generations to come. I’ve taught public school, worked at large international organizations, and received law and public policy degrees from Harvard. I have the experiences and skills needed to confront and manage the complex issues facing our university.

Through my years of mentoring students and young alumni, I know that students, faculty and alumni want Penn State’s leaders to prioritize academic excellence, close opportunity gaps and make our campuses safe and equitable places to work and learn. I share this vision and these values. And with Uma and Ali, I’m ready to work tirelessly to realize it. Alumni, vote to move Penn State forward today at psuforward.org/vote.

Vote for continued SCASD excellence

Our State College Area School District sets the standard for quality in public education across Pennsylvania and the nation. SCASD is among the top districts in PA for academic excellence. SCASD students matriculate to the very best universities in the land. SCASD is a treasure.

There is a group of candidates running for SCASD board positions in 2023 who promise to disrupt our district and damage the academic excellence that is its hallmark. These five have been running as a team called “United for SCASD.”

Who is “United for SCASD” and what do they want? Based on publicly available information, they want to micro-manage what SCASD teachers teach, and ban subjects and topics they don’t like. Four of the five are registered Republicans, and the fifth, who is registered Independent, says that schools need to get back to just teaching reading and math. Another, whose husband Kenneth Layng helped bring the racist Proud Boys to Penn State, sends her own children to private school. They opposed the health precautions taken by SCASD during the pandemic. This group spells trouble for SCASD.

Fortunately, there is an alternative team running, called “Slate for State.” This team includes two incumbent board members, plus three newcomers. They are Amy Bader, Gretchen Brandt, Anne Demo, Dan Kolbe and Aaron Miller. All are registered Democrats and endorsed by the Centre County Democratic Committee. Please vote for the Bader-Brandt-Demo-Kolbe-Miller team. Vote for continued academic excellence at SCASD!