Meet the New Mayor of State College, Ezra Nanes
STATE COLLEGE/CENTRE COUNTY, Pa — Earlier today, Ezra Nanes was sworn in as the new Mayor of State College, succeeding Ron Filippelli.
Nanes says his first objective is to show the power of a diverse community.
“It’s very important that we have a welcoming and inclusive community," he said. "That means thatevery person who comes here, studies, who lives here feels valued, protected, empowered by our community.”
Along with Nanes, three new Borough Council members also took their positions today.
Nanes says he intends to take on a number of tasks, one of them being police reform.
“The police play an essential role in our community and we have to recognize that if we want to make change, it isit might be evolutionary, it might be revolutionary but it cannot be abrupt and shocking and cause us to have other problems that we didn’t anticipate," he shared. "So, we need to make changes and a lot of the change, to be honest, is in our mindset about policing.”
Nanes and SCPD Chief John Gardner have expressed excitement in working together to do just that.
In addition, Nanes says he looks forward to working with Penn State.
“I’ve spoken with the incoming President Dr. (Neeli) Bendapudi and we had a wonderful conversation," he said. "I believe she will be an excellent partner to the Borough, so my focus will be on building and sustaining productive relationships with Dr. Bendapudiand her administration but we need to communicate with one another and listen to one another and really focus on aligning our priorities so that we can take action together.”
He also touched on the University’s decision to return students back to campus for the upcoming spring semester despite the circumstances surrounding COVID.
“We’re always excited for the students to come back. Along with the students returning this time around because of the situation with COVID, and Centre County being in a high state of transmission with a very contagious Omicron variant, there is trepidationand I trust that the University will take everymeasure possible to prevent the spread of COVID.”
Nanes voiced his support for a local vaccine mandate, and says he may explore whether it is within the powers vested in his position.
“Vaccine mandates may or may not be possible at the local level but if they were, I would support them because for some situations, it’s important that we are vaccinated," he opined. "For example, usingwidely trafficked public facilities. If we have a vaccine mandate, if you want to eat in a restaurant for example, then when you go to that restaurant, you can be sure that your risks are much lower and the incidence of spread will be much reduced.”
He added that spending money on parking infrastructure and bike safety are also in his plans.
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