Globalization is not a new concept. World has long been a global village – and I am not referring to the business definition here but to the cultural exchange that has been the most constant in the world – not only via internet or media but also through the physical migration of communities. Hardly any society today is monolithic and America is for sure one of the least.
America is distinguished because of its history. It is a land of hard working people. Not a traditional “King Queen” realm like England, Subcontinent or Middle East enjoyed and later found hard to let go. In terms of time, this country overcame many social issues much sooner than other nations. It recovered from the frenzy of “privileged” and came out as a nation that believed in “hard work pays off”. It opened its doors to people and welcomed them along with their diversity. America is a land of opportunity – it is a universal fact. I have been in the US for almost 20 years and the thinking, approach and openness of people still amazes me and I continue to be impressed by the way most of the America embraces others.
This tradition of America to welcome people from all over the world benefits both the parties. The country ends up acquiring some of the best resources of the world and that includes the most intangible one – talent. When welcomed and provided with opportunities, the intelligence of the world is attracted here thus making it a center of the brain-drain of the world. This results in a very amiable reciprocity between America and its immigrants. The more the environment is conducive the more the progressive immigrants find their way here and contribute to the economy of the country. Among many other cities, Frisco is currently a fitting example of this exchange where the US and its modern settlers are scratching each other’s backs. Frisco is fastest growing city with racial diversity increasing by the hour. Professional and educated community is filling it up and have made it a great suburban city.
In a city like this, with environment like this, a diverse political landscape is all but inevitable. Last weekend when my husband and I walked into the Frisco candidate forum, the amazing racial spread among the candidates was a very happy sight! We were there to support K.D. Warach. He is competing for a Frisco City Council, Place 6. This being first time for my husband and I to vote, we wanted to familiarize ourselves with the system of general elections.
Our confidence in K.D. only increased after attending the forum. While all the candidates were occasionally impressive, there were very many attributes that set K.D. apart from them. He is an educated immigrant and a civil engineer. What else can a city like Frisco with diverse and congested population need?
K.D. is a Muslim, first generation immigrant from Pakistan. He is married to his beautiful wife of 14 years, Amna. Warachs are young family with three school going kids. Like typical Frisco family, they moved to the city to enjoy the richness of diversity and prosperity 4 years ago, after they had been in Texas for 3 years. Like all of us families, they also fell in love with it and made it home. Now the family thinks it is time to give back the city they want their children to grow in and K.D. along with tireless help from Amna, took the difficult task of running for the council.
In many ways, the growth of Frisco is abnormal since it was too quick and rapid and till date continues to attract many professionals, and higher ratio of the individuals that make their way here are multi-ethnic. Merely few decades ago, Frisco was a small town with majority of White American population. Currently more than half the city constitutes a complex racial mix. In my narrow vision that sometimes we immigrants unfortunately and unknowingly carry, I was expecting K.D.’s support to be primarily demographic-specific (including us and our friends) but what a great surprise it was to see that those standing by him (at meet and greets and in the forums we have recently attended) were from wide variety of ethnic backgrounds!! Caucasians, Indians, Mexicans, Far-Easterns – so many people were part of his campaign and later came to the table to support him. But then America continues to amaze me with its awesome people and their acceptance of diversity! This burgeoning multiethnic population is a harbinger to the current political scene where most of the candidates vying for city seats have diverse background.
With growth of a city comes prosperity but so does a lengthy list of issues: schools, education, housing, safety – among many others. K.D. is abreast with all the current and anticipated issues like affordable lifestyle (for families, young graduates, singles, low income population), drug-free environment, parks and recreation, accommodation for homeless. Problems in traffic and congestion is another front that K.D. is well-versed in. As a seasoned and accomplished civil engineer, he has served in public (State of CA and State of NV) and private sector; he brings transferable experience of working with the Federal, State and local agencies and officials. In Texas, he has been an instrumental part of high profile projects around the Metroplex such as LBJ Express in Dallas – an awarded Global Best Project in the Road/Highway category by Engineering News Record (ENR) and PGBT Western Extension in Grand Prairie. With him in the seat, we the Frisco folks will literally have free civil engineering services along with an expert voice and a strong advocacy for viable and practical public transportation in Frisco. He has the proactive and problem solving approach that is inherent to engineers (believe me I can vouch for this, being married to an engineer myself!). His makes a perfect profile to represent the city population at a time when we need immediate solutions for traffic and a much-needed plan for future.
It is my hope that K.D. will become the significant voice for the Frisco residents. Choosing a council like him will impact Frisco and its residents positively. He brings to table the diversity that is appreciated and helpful in the prevailing scene. He understands the demands of a growing city and will be a strong voice in the council for the city’s current and increasing ethnic mix. If you have not voted already – early voting started on April 24th. If you need to know more about K.D. and his ideas, go to his website to see what he stands for and why is he your best candidate. A good candidate should become the very reason to go out and vote!
