Letters: Anderson ‘Highly Qualified’ for State College Area School Board; ‘Dubious’ Benefits of Proposed Casino

Deborah Anderson Is ‘Highly Qualified’ for State College Area School Board

As a parent with two children in the State College Area School District, I look at the Board of Directors to oversee welcoming and inclusive schools that provide a quality education, and to do it in the most fiscally responsible way. I feel like Deborah Anderson will be the right person for that job in the upcoming election.

I was fortunate to have worked with Deborah on the PTO board at our kids’ elementary school and on the MNMS Boys’ Soccer Boosters. Deborah is a keen listener who appreciates hearing all perspectives on matters. She’s incredibly organized and always willing to lend a hand. These qualities, combined with her background in economics, make her a highly qualified candidate for this position. Deborah has been attending both board and committee meetings for a year and a half to better understand what the job entails. She believes in learning how and why things are done to be more educated and informed on matters.

The current SCASD Board of Directors has worked incredibly hard during the past 19 months, and has done more than what was asked of them when they were elected. I know that Deborah will be able to provide the same amount of hard work and dedication if elected, which is why I plan on voting for her on Nov. 2.

Marisa Ferger,
Ferguson Township

‘Dubious’ Benefits from Proposed Casino

The proposed casino at the Nittany Mall has dubious financial benefits for this community, in addition to seriously detracting from its academic and sporting values. I see no positive outcome possible for this venture, which is imposed from Harrisburg on us. 

When decisions that directly affect the community are taken by a branch of government that does not live nor develop its activities locally, the whole effort is suspect with regards to any beneficial outcome that its adoption might entail.

Horacio Perez-Blanco,
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering, Penn State
State College

Voice Opposition to Casino Now

Our choices are simple at this point of the Nittany Casino license application approval process. If you want to see that brand-new casino in College Township, just do nothing and then watch for that grand opening ceremony after it gets approved and construction is completed.

The casino will be at the Nittany Mall forever. So will the chaos it will bring to Happy Valley. You will be able to look back and remember these last three months of 2021 when we still had the chance to send our strong opposition directly to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) prior to their vote to approve or deny the license.

Please do not miss this opportunity to stop the Nittany Casino’s license approval in Harrisburg. We need to continue to keep up the pressure every month all the way until the PGCB votes on the license. We cannot allow our casino opposition to be just a brief two-month public reaction that followed the PGCB’s August 16th public input hearing at the Penn Stater. If you have not done so already, please email the PGCB decision-makers today at [email protected]. We can choose to drive past and see those flashing casino lights forever or we can choose to stop the casino before that license approval vote in Harrisburg takes place. Continual casino opposition is our only option now. Please help to deny the casino’s grand opening ceremony or you can look forward to watching it happen.

Daniel Materna,
Howard