IAPAC, SIMA Fundraiser for Parker Draws Out Many Motel Owners

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: With election season coming into the final six-week stretch, the Indo American Political Action Committee and the Small Independent Motel Owner’s Association (which includes 175 motel owners, mostly Indian, across the city) held a fundraiser for Mayor Anisse Parker who is seeking re-election to her last term. Close to 100 people gathered at the Hilton Southwest last Sunday evening, September 22 to meet Parker and hear her speak on the issues of importance to Indo Americans and participate in a dialogue on items of concern.

The event drew in elected officials like Judge Ravi Sandill and former Sugar Land Councilman Tom Abraham as well as City Council hopeful Rogene Calvert. Jagat Kamdar, a long time IAPAC member, opened the event, noting Parker as a friend of the community. He had Parker on his radio program, Open Forum, earlier in the day. SIMA Board members Jin Laxmidas encouraged people to counter voter apathy by registering to vote (some did so that evening) and voting early. SIMA President Hasu Patel introduced Parker noting that “thanks to her, Houston is the top city to live, work and raise a family”.

Parker noted that her relationship with SIMA went back for years and appreciated what it did to engage the community as in giving away free rooms during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. She said that though most citizens in Houston supported her, many may chose to stay home instead of coming out to vote. She thanked the Indo Americans in the audience who had volunteered to be on one of the 150 citywide Boards and Commissions, like Hasu Patel on the Houston First Corp. and Karun Sreerama on the Downtown Management District and encouraged others to volunteer by sending in their resumes.

As she has done in many of her other campaign appearances, Parker spoke about her record in building the local economy, comparing her first term as being in a leaky boat that needed repair. She said she had been around the world to market Houston; used the Consular Corps help in bringing more investment here; promoted Houston First to hire more local firms and help small businesses; increased the police force and gave them more and better tools and started to rebuild the city’s infrastructure through the new Drainage Fee and other programs. She said that all this work needed to be done in a fiscally responsible manner.

She thanked SIMA for its strong response after the recent firefighter’s deaths and their strong support for their families and those who came to attend the funerals by giving away 500 free room nights. Responding to a question about the proposed revisions to the fire code which would require retrofitting old buildings with fire suppression sprinklers, she said she would get input from the stakeholders before going forward with the final requirements. She noted that more detailed inspections might have averted that deadly motel fire on Hwy 59.

Other questions dealt with the incomprehensible prohibitions to left-turns at Gessner and Beechnut in either direction; HPD shrugging off control over a rash of break-ins in Clear Lake; an accolade on Houston’s image as America’s “coolest city”; the city’s response to disseminating information of the impending Obama Care law; and the lack of legibility on the large Terminal signs at the Intercontinental Airport. Parker promised to have her staff look into these items.

After the speech, IAPAC’s incoming President Karun Sreerama and SIMA’s President Hasu Patel handed over to Parker checks of support from their members, totaling over $7,500 from SIMA alone. The IAPAC members contributed another $13,861. The audience had a chance to meet Parker individually and have their picture taken with her. Snacks for the event were catered by Uddipi Café whose owner Satish Rao was also in attendance.