Get to know Harpreet Sandhu...

Here's some background on Mr. Sandhu, as told by John Geluardi:

Human Relations Commissioner Harpreet Sandhu, appointed Tuesday night, will finish out the two years remaining on new Mayor Gayle McLaughlin's council term. He will take a seat behind the dais immediately after he is sworn in Tuesday.

An immigrant from India, Sandhu will be the first Asian to serve on the council. He is one of a handful of Sikhs to hold public office in the United States, and members of Richmond's Sikh community heralded Sandhu as an excellent choice who will work well with other council members.

"Harpreet has served the Sikh community in very important ways," said Jaideep Singh, co-founder and managing director of the Sikh American Legal and Defense Fund based in Washington, D.C. "He has been a liaison between Sikh immigrants and government agencies, and he has been a particularly strong advocate for Sikh taxi drivers who have been the frequent victims of robbery and homicide."

The council appointed Sandhu with the minimum five votes, with McLaughlin and Councilmen Nat Bates and Tom Butt abstaining. The council voted on one other person, longtime activist and perennial council candidate Cortland "Corky" Boozé, who received support from three council members.

Sandhu said the most critical issue facing the City Council is Richmond's chronic violence. He said violence has many causes and that a solution will come from numerous sources, including better education, more cooperation among law enforcement agencies and increased services to Richmond residents who live below the poverty level.

"Education is a critical component to ending violence, and we have to work together to help children overcome hardships like not having breakfast before going to school in the morning," he said. "How are we going to attract industry and jobs to Richmond if we can't solve the problem of violence?"

While raising a family and working full time for the U. S. Postal Service, Sandhu has compiled an impressive public service résumé during the past 20 years.

He is currently chairman of the multilingual District Advisory Committee and a member of the district's Academic Committee. He is also a member of the California Developmental Disabilities Board for Area 5 and of the county Democratic Central Committee. For the past five years, he has served on the Richmond Human Rights Commission.

Sandhu is probably best known as a strong advocate for creating safer working conditions for West County taxi drivers. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, taxi drivers in West County -- 90 percent of whom are Sikh -- increasingly became victims of attacks. One driver was killed in 2003, and one was shot in the face in what appeared to be hate crimes, Sandhu said.

Sandhu, then president of the Gurdwara Sikh Temple in El Sobrante, worked with U.S. Rep George Miller, D-Martinez, county Supervisor John Gioia and Richmond Vice Mayor Maria Viramontes to raise money to equip taxis with safety glass and surveillance cameras.

"Many of the drivers are new immigrants, and there is a language barrier. There was a feeling that nothing was going to happen unless someone spoke up for them," Sandhu said. "We were able to raise $30,000, which was not sufficient to cover all the taxis, but it was a start."

Before voting on the appointment, the council heard comments from 25 members of the public. Of those, 18 asked the council to appoint Boozé, who fell short of being elected to the council Nov. 7 by 482 votes.

By not selecting Boozé, the council has violated basic democratic principles, said the Rev. Andre Shumake.

"Now I know what it feels like to have my vote discounted," he said. "I am ashamed to be a registered Democrat after watching five elected Democrats step over more than 7,000 voters."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Tazer sees Mr. Sandhu as someone who is quite capable of serving the citizens of Richmond as a councilperson. With no offense to Mr. Sandhu, we do wonder about the process of how he was appointed, particularly after hearing many citizens speak from our front row seat at last night's city council meeting.

Interesting note: With all of the action surrounding the City Charter process for filling seats, which by all accounts doesn't give any consideration to the will of the voters, The Tazer notices that no council members moved to make a motion last night to amend this portion of the city charter...something to ponder.