Harry S. Sidhu, P.E. Sworn as Mayor

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NRI Harry S. Sidhu, P.E. Sworn Into Office
Historic Inauguration of First Sikh Indian American
As 46th Mayor of City of Anaheim, California

Los Angeles, December 08, 2018
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh

History was made on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, when Harry S. Sidhu, P.E. was sworn into office as the first Sikh Indian American Mayor of the City of Anaheim – the tenth most populous city in California.


The inaugural event took place at River Arena next to Anaheim City Hall which was filled to capacity. Joining Mayor Sidhu on stage for administration of the oath of office by Orange County Superior Court Judge Megan Wagner were his wife Gin, son Rohan, and Sikh Priest Jaswant Singh Jiera of the Riverside Gurdwara - Sikh Temple Riverside, holding the revered Guru Granth Sahib scripture, upon which Mayor Sidhu took the oath.

In attendance were Mayor Sidhu’s immediate and extended family members; his daughter Sohina was unable to attend due to graduate studies at the Yale School of Drama in Connecticut.


Also attending were hundreds of longtime Indian American community supporters who upon completion of the oath administration shouted out the Sikh slogan of victory and exultation, “Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!” Mayor Sidhu dedicated his service as Mayor to the memory of his beloved mother-in-law, Manjeet Kaur, who recently passed away, and thanked his parents for the gift they gave to their children in bringing them to America almost 50 years ago to ensure that they would have a bright future filled with opportunity.


Mayor Sidhu opened his inaugural speech by announcing “Anaheim is open for business!” He went on to state that, “I immigrated to this great country 44 years ago from India, with little more to my name than the hopes and dreams I brought with me. To now be sworn into office as the 46th Mayor of this large, vibrant city is proof the American Dream is alive and well in Anaheim. As your Mayor, it will be my mission to enact policies to ensure that Anaheim is the ‘City of the American Dream,’” said Sidhu


“In Anaheim, the doors of opportunity will always be open for everyone to participate in the American Dream! Funding the investments our neighborhoods need and deserve depends on a rising tide of economic growth and tax revenues. By using the revenues generated by these assets and applying them into putting our residents and neighborhoods first – we can make Anaheim the City of the American Dream.”


As his first order of business as Mayor Sidhu called a Special Council Meeting within 48 hours of his inauguration, on Thursday, December 6, 2018, during which Anaheim’s City Council approved moving forward with an interim emergency homeless shelter to help people out of homelessness during the critical winter months and address growing impacts on the city’s parks and neighborhoods. It is expected to come online by the end of December and operate for up to 90 days, closing once two planned temporary shelters open in January and February. The interim emergency shelter is the result of a public-private partnership to benefit neighborhoods and the homeless between Anaheim and Visit Anaheim Cares, the nonprofit arm of Visit Anaheim, which promotes tourism and represents the city’s visitor industry.


“Homelessness is both a humanitarian and civic crisis,” Mayor Harry Sidhu said. “Our streets and parks were never meant to be places for people to live, and we have seen the toll it has taken on our residents, businesses and neighborhoods. At the same time, we have the urgent need to help those living in homelessness with the cold and wet weather of winter upon us.”
		"Hârry sidhu made us indian community proud finally," Harbajan Singh Samra told NRIpress. "I have been with him since he started in politics to run for the city council about 15 years back" He further said: No matter what we did for him but the most credit goes to Hârry sidhu for his hard work and dedication.we r proud of him The other thing he did most impressive that he went to harmandir sahib to get biessings of guru Right after getting oath of the Mr sidhu brought the issue of homelessness in the city of Anaheim to deal with it on the priority basis I wish him good luck and my full support and Want him to go little further to know about the reasons of homelessness. I wish him the best in his next endeavor, and we are hoping that as the new mayor of the greatest city in the world also sees all the jobs, revenue, tourism, education and community work that is happening and growing in his county.
Harbajan Singh Samra, Okra King with Harry Sidhu