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Incensed by what he feels is the incumbent mayor's anti-immigrant fervour, Punjab-born Jasbinder Singh, 62, is running for mayor in Herndon, Virginia, which was thrust into the national spotlight two years ago as the immigration debate grew deeply contentious.
Singh is challenging Mayor Steve J DeBenedittis, 40, who is running for re-election after being elected in 2006 when the voters on the western Fairfax County's town unseated his predecessor Michael O'Reilly.
O'Reilly had supported a bitterly debated day-labour centre for immigrant workers, in what was seen as almost a mini referendum on the controversial national issue of illegal immigration.
Immediately following his election, DeBenedittis closed down the day-labour centre that had been sustained by public funds and was located in a residential neighbourhood. In this, he had the backing of most members of the Town Council.
Joining Singh in challenging DeBenedittis is Harlon Reece, a Town Council member who was the lone incumbent re-elected although he was for retaining the day-labour centre.
Singh, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, who immigrated to the United States in 1968 to pursue graduate studies, told rediff.com that if he got the immigrant community's vote, he could win.
"However, with my message of efficient government and lower taxes and inclusivity, I am confident of getting about 30 per cent of the regular vote. So, my winning depends on getting the Indian, Muslim, Hispanic and Asian vote."
The election is scheduled for May 6 and is non-partisan -- the candidates don't claim allegiance to either Republican or Democratic parties. "But I suspect the (current) mayor has conservative Republican leanings, when one considers his anti-immigrant, anti-foreign attitude," Singh said, acknowledging that he could understand the people of Herndon being very upset (the last time around) especially with illegal immigrants, because they don't like people getting free government services.
He believed that DeBenedittis, during his tenure, had fuelled anti-immigrant sentiments against legal immigrants, and this was why he was intent on defeating him in a town where 42 percent of the population is foreign-born.
'Without the active participation of the immigrant community, Herndon cannot become a vibrant town -- a town where residents would want to stay for the long run and not use as a stopover -- raise their children, enjoy the diversity of world cultures, have stable jobs, and participate in making Herndon a place-to-be in the Washington, DC area,' Singh said in his voter appeal.
'Of the three candidates, I am the only one who has the experience in engineering, economics and public policy to quickly and effectively address a variety of issues including Herndon's fair share of real estate taxes and metro rail costs or fairness of real estate property valuations.'
Singh, who has a master's degree in civil engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, in 1991, purchased the historic Medical Center Building in Hemdon, where he and his wife Susan set up their business. Over the past 17 years they had renovated and restored the property.
Singh said in 2001, he had designed and built a Victorian-style home. "The two buildings have given us ample opportunities to deal with the town staff, give testimony before the Town Council, the Planning Commission, the Historic Preservation Board and the Architectural Review Board and observe how our government does or does not work."
Clearly, Singh was not very impressed. He said that while Herndon is a small town, it is being run like a big bureaucratic town. Institutions that have developed as the population grew from 4,301 in 1970 to 21,900 in 2006 need to be re-evaluated, he said, arguing that there were too many boards, commissions and departments. As a result, the public was often absent from hearings, and approving even simple projects took considerable cost, time, effort and energy. Herndon had thus has lost its advantage of being small, nimble and efficient, he said.
He told India Abroad he has fuelled his campaign with personal funds; accounting for his time away from his consulting firm on public policy matters, he says he has spent about $35,000.
One of Singh's staunch supporters, Mahadeva Mani, a senior director at Booz Allen Hamilton, told India Abroad that Singh was an immigrant success story, and hoped he would vanquish DeBenedittis, who has been "promoting a strong anti-immigrant agenda."
Mani said Herndon had many Indian and Pakistani residents, many of whom were scared by the mayor's anti-immigrant rhetoric. "Given the environment in Herndon, Jasbinder's decision to run for mayor is courageous, to say the least."
He said if Singh wins, he "would be the first Indian American mayor in any town in the local Washington, DC, area. It is time we have educated persons such as Jasbinder represent our community and helping Indian Americans play a more prominent role in local government."