Surinder Sharma left one country to forge his life in another, an immigrant’s journey that is fueling his bid for Princeton Council.
Sharma is running in the Democratic Primary on June 5, when Princeton Democrats will choose from Sharma and four other candidates for the two council seats that are available this year. The two winners in the primary will advance to the general election in November.
Campaigning door to door in a community he has called home since 1995, Sharma went to hear what was on the mind of voters.
“One of the biggest issues is taxes,” he said during an interview. “Taxes (are) not only hurting everybody, even upper echelon, and people are leaving, but hurting … low income and middle income.”
He said people ask why, if they are paying so much, government services “are not any better than the adjoining town.”
He is campaigning on lowering taxes by 5 percent, in advocating approaching the school district, the county and other municipalities on consolidating services and operations. He said, for instance, the town could charge the school district rent to park its buses at a garage the municipality plans to build, a move that would mean the district would not need to construct a facility of its own.
To help meet Princeton’s affordable housing obligation, Sharma has proposed making the parking lot by the Witherspoon Hall municipal building the site of a residential development to accommodate anywhere from 150 to 200 housing units. He suggested leasing the land to a builder for a nominal fee, thus cutting out the costly expense of buying property. Such a step, he argued, would mean a developer could build more affordable housing.
At the moment, Princeton requires developers to provide one affordable housing unit for every four market rate units, which is a “total mistake,” in Sharma’s words.
“So instead of building 20 percent (affordable units), which is what they are assuming, I can make it between 50 to 70 percent affordable housing because you eliminate the cost of the purchase,” he said.
He has proposed creating a trust fund to pay for local infrastructure projects, although he said he has not flushed out the idea fully. He also called on the municipality to spend an additional $2 million to $3 million a year on its infrastructure.
Sharma, 70, grew up in India, moved to Canada in 1972 and then moved to the United States in 1978. He would eventually settle in Princeton, in 1995, with his wife and two children.
He holds a doctorate from Northcentral University, an online school, a master’s in applied sciences from the University of Toronto and an undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College in India.
Though he no longer works full-time, Sharma has his own company, Global Aerospace, that provides consulting services to aerospace firms. He has never held elected office before.
In explaining why he is running for council, he referenced the immigrant journey his family took to get to Canada going back to 1906.
“When you hear their stories, it makes you cry,” he said. “But they worked very hard and they made it.”
He has said he wants to give back to the community and pledged to accept an annual salary of $1 if elected to serve on the governing body, instead of the regular $10,000.
Sharma has talked of speeding up the time it takes for a business to open in town, and said Princeton University should be contributing more financially to the municipality. Nassau Hall is giving a little more than $3 million this year, as part of a seven-year agreement the town reached with the university in 2014.
Sharma said he believes the annual contribution should be “at least double, if not more” than what Princeton gives today, in pointing to increased work for the town that will come from campus growth.
