Four vie for Centre County Commissioner
- Amber Concepcion
- Steve Dershem
- Mark Higgins
- Marie Librizzi

Amber Concepcion
Amber Concepcion (D)
Amber Concepcion is a Democratic candidate for the Centre County Commissioners and is one of four candidates.
Concepcion is the newest member of the Board of Commissioners, having replaced then-chair Michael Pipe in early 2023. She is a native of Centre County, returning to the area in 2007 to raise her family.
She earned a graduate degree in government from Georgetown University.
Prior to being appointed to the board, Concepcion served 11 years on the State College Area School District Board of Directors, with most of that time spent as board president.

Steve Dershem
Below are a few questions Concepcion answered during a C-NET interview by Anne Danahy, a WPSU reporter. Some of Concepcion’s answers have been edited for length, but the full interview can be viewed on C-NET’s website.
Q: Can you start by just telling us about yourself and why you’re running for reelection?
A: I actually grew up in Centre County. I went to high school here and went to Penn State. (I) Graduated from Penn State and moved away and went to grad school in the D.C. area but moved back here when we had our second child, and we wanted to be in someplace that had a smaller town community feel to raise our kids. Since 2011, I was serving on the State College Area School Board of Directors and served as Board President from 2014 until 2023 — earlier this year — when I was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of commissioners by the president judge when there was a vacancy.
Q: Are there certain issues that you would see as the priority if you are reelected?
A: Sure, so I think economic revitalization and development throughout the entire county is something that the county commissioners will need to continue to be involved in. We’ve really prioritized a great deal of support for small businesses, for entrepreneurs and including supporting business incubators and regional economic development organizations in different regions of Centre County. So that will need to continue to be a focus. We know with Penn State in our county that is by far the largest employer, but it would be good to be able to diversify the jobs available in the county so that we’re not only reliant on Penn State as the largest employer.

Mark Higgins
Q: The state general assembly is looking at possibly changing Pennsylvania’s primary date and moving the primary earlier from April 23 to April 2 either as just this upcoming presidential primary or possibly a long term thing and there have been a number of logistical questions raised about that, but there’s also the question of having Pennsylvania having more say in the primary process. Putting aside the logistical questions, where do you come down on that? What are your thoughts on having an earlier primary? And do you have any thoughts on if that’s still doable for the upcoming year?
A: I think it’s a good idea because often I’ve found that by the time I’m voting in a presidential primary that there aren’t very many choices if any choices are left. I think moving our primary earlier will give Pennsylvanians more voice in who the candidates are. I think they’ve already established the petition period will start Jan. 2, as long as we can plan on already knowing when the petition period will be, then we’ll be able to be prepared for the Primary elections. One of the issues is people who work at the polls are used to the dates that these elections normally fall on. So it may take some extra effort to recruit enough community members to work at the polls. And we may need to also work pretty hard to make sure that our locations are available at a different time — earlier in the year. So there is going to be a lot of logistical work to get this going, but I think we can do it.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say to voters?
A: I’ve really enjoyed serving in this office as a county commissioner. It’s been an honor to serve the people of Centre County. I feel like I do bring a wealth of experience to this office because I’ve had over 10 years of experience running a large local government organization with all of the pressures of needing to pass balanced budgets and meet the needs of constituents. I think another thing I’d really like to bring to this office is an understanding of the need for a lot of community engagement around the kinds of decisions we have in local government. I will spend my time seeking community input and a lot of time going out to the community, meeting with people throughout the community to understand what the needs are that they have that the county government might be able to address in some way.
To hear all of the questions and Concepcion’s answers, visit videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4810/media/830065?fullscreen=false

Marie Librizzi
Steve Dershem (R)
Steven Dershem is a Republican candidate for the Centre County Commissioners. He is one of four candidates.
Dershem was first elected to serve in 2003, serving 20 years on the board. During his time on the board, the county has designed and rebuilt a modern county-wide 911 system, constructed a state-of-the-art emergency responder training site and developed mental health and substance abuse programs that have been modeled across the state.
Derhsem is a graduate of Bellefonte Area High School and earned a Bachelors in Labor Studies at Penn State University.
Below are a couple of questions Dershem answered during a C-NET interview by Anne Danahy, a WPSU reporter. Some of Dershem’s answers have been edited for length, but the full interview can be viewed on C-NET’s website.
Q: For people who don’t know you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you’re running for reelection?
A: I am currently a county commissioner, I’ve had a number of years of service. I’m a lifelong resident of Centre County, very dedicated to the community. I love Centre County — Eagle Scout Troop 35 in Bellefonte — my roots go deep here. I really appreciate and enjoy everything about our area. I got into this business thinking I could make it a little better and hopefully I’ve done that, and hopefully I have the opportunity to continue.
Q: Are there any issues in particular that you think will rise to the top of the list for the Board of Commissioners in the upcoming year?
A: I think the real big issue for Centre County coming up — I say this kind of in a macro picture — is growth. Back around 2020 they had this vision 2020 study and they kept talking about how things were going to grow back then, and we’re actually seeing that now. We’re seeing a lot of the townships particularly in the Centre region and the Bellefonte intervalley area, even into Penns Valley and Bald Eagle Area — we’re growing, and we’re one of the few counties in the state that are growing. With that comes some challenges. Whether it’s affordable housing, or whether you’re talking about transportation or providing human services. We kind of get involved in all those things and that’s a big bulk of what we spend our time dealing with. I think the next term that will continue in spades.
Q: The general assembly is looking at possibly changing Pennsylvania’s primary election date for 2024, right now it’s set to be April 23 for the presidential primary, and it could possibly be moved either to March or April 2. Putting aside the logistical challenges, what are your thoughts on that of having an earlier primary in Pennsylvania?
A: No. Okay, imagine planning a wedding. And you’re working on planning your wedding, and someone says ‘hey we need to have that wedding two months in advance.’ There’s a lot of moving parts that go into an election process. You want to talk about confidence and making sure that things are right? Crossing your Ts and dotting your Is through that process is what brings confidence from people. If we would have been having this conversation back in the spring, maybe. But you can’t go into November and December and say ‘guess what? In three months we’re going to have another election.’ It takes a lot of rebuilding to go from one election cycle to the next and presidential election cycles in Centre County particularly with all the students, that’s a lift. Getting people trained, getting people up for it, that’s huge. I’m not a fan.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say to voters?
A: First of all, thank you Anne and C-NET for the opportunity to be here. I think this is important that people kind of get a flair for who people are, what they do and what they feel. We a have $106+ million budget, it’s not small potatoes. We touch a lot of lives. I think it’s important that people have the opportunity to view the commissioner candidates particularly and alight to understand where they’re coming from and I really appreciate the opportunity. I’d appreciate your vote and support come Nov. 7.
To hear all of the questions and Dershem’s answers, visit videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4810/media/830072?fullscreen=false
Mark Higgins (D)
Mark Higgins is a Democratic Candidate for the Centre County Commissioners and is one of four candidates.
Higgins has served on the Centre County Board of Commissioners since being elected in 2015. He’s performed in leadership roles with the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, Workforce Development Committee and is a graduate of Leadership Centre County. Higgins also volunteers with the Cub Scouts, Park District League as a boys soccer coach, State College Cycling and Community Theater. For 30 years, he’s worked as a turnaround specialist in industry and, over that time, saved and created hundreds of jobs at seven different businesses. Higgins also volunteers time to mentor four Penn State student startups. Three of them have won local awards and two have also won national awards.
Below are a couple of questions Higgins answered during a C-NET interview by Anne Danahy, a WPSU reporter. Some of Higgins’ answers have been edited for length, but the full interview can be viewed on C-NET’s website.
Q: Can you start by just telling us a little bit about yourself and why you’re running for reelection?
A: I’m running now for a third term. I have a long background in turning around failing businesses. It’s a difficult field, usually taking over businesses when they’re a couple weeks away from not being able to make payroll and are bankrupt. In that field 50/50 is a good save percentage. I’ve actually only had one of seven or eight go out from under me. But it was very interesting because on my first day as county commissioner it was during the state budget crisis back in 2015-16 and so on the first day on the job we borrowed $10 million to make payroll and pay suppliers. It was kind of like old times. I feel that there’s still a lot left to do with the county. We have major projects underway, like the remodeling of Centre Crest. We’ve got a broad variety of human services projects we have underway. We’ve been doing a lot of work in criminal justice. So there’s still a lot of work left to do.
Q: Are there any particular issues that you see at the top of the list if you’re reelected for the upcoming term?
A: It would obviously depend on what areas commissioners actually have some influence in. There’s lots and lots of different things that the 160,000 or so residents of Centre County would like to see addressed. But I would say probably the most difficult one at the moment where the commissioners could actually bring some resources to bear is going to be housing people can afford, affordable housing, attainable housing, whatever term you want to use for it. This is a wonderful place to live, we have some of the best school districts in the commonwealth, we have portions of State College and State College Metro that are ranking sometimes in the top 10 nationally out of hundreds or thousands of places. So there’s a lot of people who want to live here, and there’s just not enough housing. That’s an issue in most places nationally, but it’s also an acute issue here.
Q: The general assembly is looking at moving the election date up. There’s a couple of options — April 2, March 19. What do you think about that idea of moving up the date?
A: Conceptually, I understand why they’re doing it. And conceptually, it is probably a good idea. But the logistics are going to be daunting for the county. First of all, roughly the average age of our poll workers/volunteers — we don’t pay them a lot so I kind of use both terms — is like 72. A lot of them are snowbirds. They usually time their return to Centre County to arrive a week or two before the primary. They’re not going to want to come back in March — even April is pushing it. We have 89 polling places in the county, it’s like running 89 pop-up stores staffed mostly by absolutely fabulous senior citizens. What if 100 of them decide ‘I’m not coming back to Centre County in March, it’s too early?’ We’ve got to find an additional 100 volunteers/poll workers for that election. Some of these polling places are in schools, they are fabulous and always schedule in-service for the teachers on Election Day. Well, we just switched it. Their calendars are fixed now so we may actually have to relocate a dozen, two dozen polling places.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say to voters?
A: I would just like to thank the voters of Centre County. I’m humbled to have served you for two terms, hoping to serve you for a third term. Commissioner Concepcion and I, along with Commissioner Dershem, have worked diligently to ensure the health of our downtowns, to support our small businesses — we awarded 10 and a half million dollars to small businesses in the county with federal funds that the county had control over. Most other counties our size in the state gave away one or two million in grants. I think you can see we’re a very robust economy now, we work closely with the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau to also strengthen tourism, bring more events to the county and we’ve done a lot to strengthen the communities here. We’ll also defend democracy and count every valid ballot from every single valid voter.
To hear all of the questions and Higgins’ answers, visit videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4810/media/830081?fullscreen=false
Marie Librizzi (R)
Marie Librizzi, a Republican, is one of four candidates looking to earn a seat on the Centre County Board of Commissioners.
Librizzi has been a longtime member of the Centre Region community since 1978. She retired in December after 42 years of co-owning Old Main Frame Shop & Gallery. Librizzi’s other ventures include previous ownership of the Boalsburg Pump Station Cafe, Sadie’s Gourmet Waffles and The Gathering Restaurant. She also previously served as president of the Downtown State College Improvement District. In addition to her business experience, Librizzi has served 14 years — and held several leadership positions — in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the civilian arm of the U.S. Coast Guard. She is a member of the State College Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and American Legion Post 245.
Below are a couple of questions Librizzi answered during a C-NET interview by Anne Danahy, a WPSU reporter.
Some of Librizzi’s answers have been edited for length, but the full interview can be viewed on C-NET’s website.
Q: For people who don’t know you, could you just tell us a little bit about yourself and why you’re running?
A: I’ve been in business in town here, I’ve had multiple businesses. Old Main Frame Shop & Gallery was my business for 38 years, we were downtown for 35 of those and then three years ago we moved. In addition to that I’ve also had other multiple businesses. I’ve had Pump Station Cafe, Sadie’s Waffles and then Dec. 31 I retired, after all those years in business. I found that I needed to do something I felt that was worthwhile for the community. My business experience I think is outstanding for running. I look at the county as a business. In addition to that I also am in the military. I’m still active in the Coast Guard, I am FEMA certified, I’m Incident Command certified, I am Team Coordination certified and I am also Commander of our unit. I’m the only woman. It has been an honor for me to be part of the military. It is extremely important to me, I’m very patriotic. All these things put together, I feel the experiences I’ve had with my business and with the military are absolutely the things that are needed to run the county in a business fashion. I’m passionate about serving as commissioner. I have been all over this county twice — this is my 227 day of campaigning. I’ve been through Philipsburg, to Snow Shoe to Rebersburg to knock on doors. I’ve been to every small business I could find. That’s a big deal to me, to support small businesses. They have a lot of hoops to go through, a lot of regulations, and it’s hard right now. Economically it’s hard for the businesses, and it’s also hard for our residents.
Q: Are there certain issues that you think will be the next board’s priority or should be the board’s priority?
A: I think economically we need to keep taxes low. I am dissatisfied with a lot of things, one is the EMS program. Our EMS system I think is criminal. I believe that everybody should be able to pick up that phone and have someone qualified on the end of it. I’ve talked to almost every EMS — the fire companies, the volunteers — they’re begging for help from the county. That’s a big deal. They’re making $10 an hour, you can make $17 an hour at Sheetz. I am obviously very, very sensitive to veteran issues. I remember going to one of the VFWs and you see these veterans that are so proud that they’re veterans and they don’t know the services that we offer. Transparency is huge to me. I want to be out there. Homelessness is an issue. I know people don’t think there is an issue with homelessness but there is, in Bellefonte and State College and the surrounding areas. We need to definitely work on that. My plan, if I’m elected, is to take the first four weeks to find out every service that the county offers. Because without a doubt, people think they have no voice in the rural area, but they don’t realize how they’re connected to the county.
Q: The general assembly is looking at possibly changing next year’s presidential primary date from April 23 to April 2 or March 19, putting aside the logistical question of that for a moment, would you support that idea of Pennsylvania having an earlier primary? Some would argue that would give Pennsylvania voters more of a say in the election.
A: I really don’t know, to be honest with you. It doesn’t sound like it’s that big of a deal date wise. I’ll be honest with you Anne, if people would just vote — I mean seriously that’s all I’ve heard, ‘oh I’m not registered to vote’ — I don’t know if that’s as much of an issue as just getting people to vote. I’m amazed that people do not vote. I don’t think that that’s really that big of a deal if we just get people to vote the way it is right now.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say to voters out there?
A: I think the big thing is that I’d like to emphasize the fact that it is an incredible right to be able to vote. If you want change, then vote. You can’t talk about change if you’re not putting the right people in, but more importantly I’d love people to look at character rather than party. I think that’s been something that’s lost in our elections. Let’s just look at character, what they’ve done and what they can bring to the table. To me that’s super important. Without a doubt I’m ready day one. My experience is overwhelming to get into, and I’m a doer. I’m going from morning to night – you put this little Italian body in there and I’m going. That’s pretty much it, I would just like people to get out and vote.
To hear all of the questions and Librizzi’s answers, visit videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4810/media/830092?fullscreen=false