Three candidates, each with a history of civic service, are vying for a soon-to-be-open State College Borough Council position.
Matthew Kwapis, Nalini Krishnankutty and Katherine Yeaple have submitted their names for consideration to fill the position being vacated by current Councilman Richard Biever.
Kwapis and Krishnankutty gave presentations during a borough council work session on Tuesday night. Yeaple had a family emergency, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said, and council agreed to hear her presentation at the next meeting on Monday. Council members, except for Biever, may begin discussing the appointment on Monday and vote on a replacement at the June 13 meeting.
Biever, who was elected to his first term in November, announced in March that he would be resigning because his family is moving to Kansas. Council formally accepted his resignation at its May 2 meeting and Biever’s final day in office will be June 13.
Because the vacancy will occur less than 18 months from the start of his term, the person appointed to the vacancy will fill the position until Dec. 31, 2023, per the borough’s home rule charter. The seat will be on the ballot in the November 2023 election and the winner will serve the balance of the term from Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2025.
A replacement must be appointed by June 16 — 45 days from the date of resignation. If no appointment is made in that time frame, it can become the decision of the Centre County Court of Common Pleas based on a petition by council or five residents of the borough.
Applicants had until May 12 to submit letters of interest and supporting documents.
Here’s a look at each of the three candidates.
Kwapis has resided in State College since 2018 and is president of the Greentree Neighborhood Association. A senior vice president for Avenue Development, he and his wife have two young children.
“This is where my kids are going to grow up,” he said. “This is where they are going to have childhood memories of going and playing with friends. And this is where they’ll always call home. This will always be their hometown. That truly inspires me to get involved and help shape and make this the best community it can be not only for them but for their friends, family and everyone else that lives within the borough.”
Kwapis said his time as Greentree association president and as a representative to the Coalition of State College Neighborhood Associations has helped him to get to know fellow residents and their concerns, which are frequently the same regardless of neighborhood.
He detailed his goals and priorities if appointed, with three areas of focus: social issues, environmental stewardship and economic development. Each, he said, is centered on “municipal sustainability.”
His social goals include continuing to support and expand diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“I would make it one of my top priorities to continue to support and ensure the Department of Equity and Inclusion has the resources it needs to make State College a welcoming place for all,” Kwapis said. “These individuals and families come from many different backgrounds and we need to make sure that we are doing what we can to make all of these individuals feel welcome when they choose to live within the borough.”
The social goals also include Increasing community engagement and addressing the need for affordable housing.
“There are plenty of people that I’ve talked to that would love to live within the borough but simply cannot afford to do so,” he said. “As we think about equity and inclusion, a diverse mix of homeowners is essential to building an inclusive community.”
For environmental stewardship, Kwapis said he wants to help reduce the borough’s environmental impact through efforts such as expanded electrical vehicle charging options, promoting use of CATA services and incentivizing individuals to use alternatives to cars for their daily commutes.
He also wants to expand the reach and influence of what he called “an amazing” State College and Centre Region park system, and advocate for incorporating environmental considerations into future borough infrastructure plans.
On the economic development front, Kwapis said he would like to help the borough seek alternative revenue streams that don’t involve raising property and income tax rates, such as working with state elected officials to garner approval for municipalities to implement pour taxes or hospitality taxes.
Sustaining and growing the downtown are also among his priorities. Kwapis said he wants to help small local businesses that give the downtown its charm survive and thrive.
He also wants to work toward attracting new businesses to the borough.
“We have a highly educated and highly skilled labor force here within the borough and we need to champion that and we need to attract new businesses to take advantage of what we have to offer within the borough,” he said.
While he recognized many of his goals will take a longer term than the interim council position, Kwapis said he is ready to help begin moving them forward.
“I know some of this would be very hard to accomplish in the short time term we have available,” he said. “What I would say is I’m willing to take that on. I think the pursuit is worth it and I welcome the opportunity, if so fortunate to fill the open seat, to work with you and others to make these things come to life.”
Krishnankutty is a 35-year State College resident who currently chairs the inaugural Community Oversight Board for the borough police department. An engineer turned writer, speaker, educator and diversity, equity and inclusion advocate, she works in Penn State’s Office of Human Resources as the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Program manager.
“I would consider it obligatory on my part to work toward some of the goals that [Biever] had that were endorsed by voters,” Krishnankutty said. “That includes a safe, sustainable and equitable community where residents can have access to affordable housing, among others.
“To this I would add a vision that I would work for for State College, which is of a thriving, healthy and connected community where everyone belongs — and more importantly where they feel collectively empowered and engaged to make a difference.”
She outlined a vision for an empowered and engaged, diverse and inclusive community with a “collaborative, proactive, transparent, accountable government.”
“When we support diverse and inclusive neighborhoods and foster collaborations between local governments, town and gown, governments and local communities, we begin to reduce duplication of effort and leverage resources collectively,” Krishnankutty said.
She cited her experiences as a volunteer, advocate and educator and the skills she has built from those that she would bring to borough council.
“The experience of living as a resident in the Greentree neighborhood since 1992 and of being a parent gave me the opportunities to appreciate the quality of life in State College and also to engage in grassroots advocacy,” Krishnankutty said.
Her volunteer efforts began soon after she arrived at Penn State as a student from India in 1987, working in the Office of International Students, for efforts to increase the number of women in STEM fields and at the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, now Centre Safe.
She worked on grassroots efforts to retain Corl Street Elementary School and keep State College Area High School in the borough. She served on the election board for her local precinct from 2013-19, and was a member of the Osaze Osagie Scholarship Committee.
“These experiences make me committed to engage residents and get feedback regarding important decisions,” she said. “…If appointed to council I will bring this deep knowledge of my community and ability to work across ideological divides to work toward common goals.”
Krishnankutty has been deeply involved in efforts locally and statewide to foster diversity, inclusion and unity, from school and community events to providing educational resources. After developing fact-based workshops on the history of immigration for teachers and librarians and delivering a TEDx talk on how immigrants shaped the United States, she has been invited to talk about immigrant experience and inclusion efforts across the nation.
In 2019, she was appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, working on projects at the state and local level to support and elevate the voices of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American community. Krishnankutty said the experiences motivate her to “remain accessible and engage with community members, meeting them where they are,” if she is appointed to council.
“When residents feel like they belong, they stay and contribute to the community,” she said.
Krishnankutty served on the Community Oversight Board study committee and was selected as a member of the COB when it was implemented by council last fall. She was elected chair at the COB’s first meeting in December.
“Leading this inaugural board, which was created through grassroots and action by council, has shown me opportunities in oversight, too,” she said. “In addition to accountability and transparency, there are now new mechanisms for connection and engagement between diverse groups. As chair of the COB, I’m also constructively engaging groups with divergent viewpoints to work toward a common goal. This is a skill I will bring if appointed to council.”
Serving on council, Krishnankutty said she would work to “enact thoughtful policies toward a safe and equitable community for all residents that can meet the sustainability challenges of the future.”
Yeaple has yet to give her presentation but is certainly no stranger to the third floor of the Municipal Building. The longtime College Heights resident is a former State College Borough Council member who was appointed to fill the last vacancy, when Dan Murphy resigned in 2020. She ran for reelection in 2021 but did not advance out of the primary.
A registered nurse, Yeaple also has a master’s degree in urban planning and previously worked in planning for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Amtrak. She serves on the executive board of the State College Community Land Trust and is a volunteer for Remote Area Medical and the Palmer Museum of Art.
In her letter of interest, Yeaple wrote that she is “a dedicated volunteer for affordable housing and the arts,” studies and works on community and public art and is an advocate for public spaces and walking and biking paths.
“My track records shows that if you appoint me, you get a dedicated public servant who will serve all residents of our great community with fairness and integrity,” she wrote. “I have a background in transportation planning. I look for practical solutions that are timely and cost-effective.”
Yeaple also cited her votes in favor of creating the Community Oversight Board and the Department of Equity and Inclusion.
“We must aspire towards a just and equitable world,” she wrote. “… I also fully support health and mental health initiatives in our community. I stand by my record.”
