Letters: Vetting school board candidates; From discussion to ‘campaign circus’

Editor’s note: The CDT welcomes letters endorsing candidates in the primary election and will accept letters that are received by May 11. Letters are subject to editing, must be based on facts and should avoid attacks on other candidates.

Vetting school board candidates

Vetting candidates is harder than ever. When it comes to the May 16 State College Area school board race, voters need to be aware of certain facts.

The group United for SCASD calls itself a nonpartisan PAC. In fact, with the exception of one independent, it has funded exclusively Republican candidates.

Public records show the group received $10,000 from the Back to School PA PAC in August 2021. The money funded Michelle Young’s campaign for school director. The PAC was formed to push back against school policies related to the pandemic; with the support of millionaire Paul Martino, it has since been transformed into a conservative super PAC fighting to “stop the liberal left.”

On March 15, United for SCASD announced five candidates, four are Republicans featured on the Centre County Republican Party website. On April 10, candidate Megan Layng, and her husband Ken Layng, unlawfully entered our high school after hours and took photos of books in the school library. The couple was escorted out of the building by security. Three days later, Layng’s name was removed from United for SCASD’s website and associated social media — and she launched her own independent site.

United for SCASD candidates declined to participate in the 2023 League of Women Voters forum, an established, reputable venue, saying they’ll hold their own event, limited to their own candidates. The importance of the LWV forum is that it allows the public to compare candidates.

Do United for SCASD candidates sound nonpartisan to you?

From discussion to ‘campaign circus’

The Centre County Board of Commissioners work session on May 2 was held to hear public comment on a proposed responsible contracting policy. Discussion was cordial, and relevant questions were raised about the policy by attendees on all sides.

Board Chair Mark Higgins noted areas where the county would investigate further, responsive to raised concerns. Commissioners also heard from several union apprentices who described how life-changing their apprenticeship programs had been, and how important responsible contracting policies are for them as young, skilled tradespeople.

Responsible contracting policies are common throughout Pennsylvania and allow county and local governments to ensure that firms bidding on public projects follow labor law and have qualified workforces capable of producing high-quality, on-time work. They’re basic good governance measures empowering government to act as responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, instead of forcing government to hire subpar contractors that undercut the bidding process.

The overall civil discussion made it disappointing that Commissioner Dershem and his running-mate, Marie Librizzi, chose to turn a government hearing into a campaign circus. Commissioner Dershem’s tirade insulted the union workers in attendance and over 7,000 members of union households in Centre County. Both he and Librizzi repeatedly made false claims about the impact of the policy, even occasioning a correction from the county administrator.

Reasonable people can disagree over policy and politics, and union workers do not expect that we will always agree with elected officials. But working people deserve courtesy and respect, and they’re owed Commissioner Dershem’s apology.

Setting the record straight

I was appalled to read a personal attack on me in the Centre Daily Times of Friday. The writer, who is the head of the History Department at Penn State, in commenting on my earlier letter to the editor written in support of Julia Rater for Centre County Judge, implies that I am anti-Asian. In my letter there was no mention by name of Julia’s opponent. My letter contrasted the experience and qualifications of the two candidates, nothing more. He claims that my letter was “a nativist attack on a judicial candidate who happens to be of South Asian descent.” In case you missed it in the clever phrasing, “nativist attack” is code for racist. This is preposterous, as any of my Asian friends and others who know me will attest. I have served many years as an elected and appointed official, and as a volunteer for a number of community nonprofits. All of my efforts were in support of all of the citizens of our community, with no consideration of race or ethnicity.