Our Bhalla?

Word has passed through the grapevine that a Sikh candidate is up for election as council member-at-large in the upcoming Hoboken City Council race. Meet Ravinder (“Ravi”) Bhalla, a New Jersey native and attorney currently serving as a committee member for his district. A Democrat, Bhalla is running on a platform that centers around limiting property taxes and “increasing fiscal responsibility” in addition to focusing on transparency and modernization of public archives/resources:

Hoboken is a great city, but as many people feel these days, we can do much better.  Property taxes and spending are out of control.  Too many important decisions are made in the shadows of City Hall and without the knowledge or involvement of ordinary citizens. [link]

Bhalla is running in an overwhelmingly white suburb of NYC that currently has only one non-white city councilmember. In exploring his own background as a practicing Sikh and as an attorney, some of his work has featured relatively prominently around civil rights issues and freedom of religion:

“When guards at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center demanded last September that a Newark lawyer let them search his turban before being admitted to visit a client, they may have not have known much about the traditions of his Sikh faith.” [link]

“Mr. Bhalla, 29, is also the lawyer handling a lawsuit brought by a Sikh graduate of the New York City Police Academy who was denied permanent employment as a policeman because he refused to shave his beard and cut his hair.” [link]

“Mr. Bhalla brought a successful discrimination lawsuit against Fleet National Bank… to recognize and respect the religious rights of Sikh American employees and customers.” [link]

It seems like the race will be interesting. For our readers in New Jersey, please do chime in and let us know what you think of the race, the candidate, and anything else you think might be interesting to the story.