Jim Leous: Listening to entire State College community is key to rebuilding

Editor’s note: As regular readers of letters to the editor know, the Democratic primary for State College mayor has drawn much interest within the community. It has also not been without controversy, as a Friday letter to the editor and social media reaction made clear. That letter was accepted the day after the publicized deadline — as in past elections, letters that miss the deadline by a day or two are considered as space allows. After weeks of letters from readers, we offered the mayoral candidates a chance to address residents a final time prior to Tuesday’s election.

Thanks to the Centre Daily Times for this opportunity. As many of you know, I was elected to the State College school board at a time when our community needed healing. The most recent State High plan had failed and we, the school community, had to create a better plan to renew and rebuild many of our existing schools including State High. Over the next few years, working together as a board, we listened to our community and put a new design in place. In order to do this, we attended more than 140 meetings — at picnics, Scout meetings, Penn State classes, houses of worship, businesses, the CBICC, and Rotary meetings. In the end, almost three quarters of our community voted to raise their taxes for an $85 million bond. This plan succeeded because we reached out to the entire community and listened.

If elected mayor, I will bring that same philosophy to all State College. I will reach out to our communities who can’t attend Borough Council meetings. I will come to you — so you don’t have to come to us. My first 100 days will include a listening tour to hear from communities, local government doesn’t usually engage.

The pandemic has strained not only the State College economy, but also our psyche. As mayor, my immediate goal would be to help repair and remake our post-COVID economy. To do this, we must employ our federal funds wisely, work with organizations such as the Downtown Improvement District and re-imagine Downtown State College.

An attempt to drag me into a controversy concerning a letter by a person who is not a part of my campaign, just won’t work. I will continue to run my campaign positively! When I talk to people at their homes, I talk about myself, my vision, and my qualifications. I will work to make State College free of racism, anti-Semitism, and all other biases. We will continue to be a diverse, and welcoming community where hate no home.

With your support, we can make State College a more sustainable, affordable, walkable, and welcoming community.