Gujarat-born public finance expert says as the daughter of immigrants, she was taught to always share.
Officially launching her campaign for New York City Comptroller, Reshma Patel says as immigrants from India, she and her family had to build a new life from the ground up and make every dollar work for them.
She is running for Comptroller’s office, says Patel, “because right now our City needs to be able to stretch a dollar far like her parents taught her and to make sure that, as we rebuild, all New Yorkers are part of the solution.”
A graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Patel was “an advisor to the NYC Comptroller’s office for almost a decade, including during one of the City’s darkest moments, 9/11,” notes her campaign website and video launched on Feb. 15
“Today, her beloved City is going through another crisis,” it says claiming, “This past year has laid bare a failure of government on many levels and highlighted that our City is not serving all of its people equally.”
“My decisions as Comptroller will be grounded in my technical skills, but driven by my desire to create equity for all,” says Patel in a press release.
“As the daughter of immigrants, I was taught to always share, to stretch a penny far and that when we rise, we should bring others up with us.”
Born in a village in Gujarat, India, Patel who immigrated with her parents to the US as a young child says her father was fortunate to have the opportunity to come to the US to attend graduate school.
“He worked on a factory floor and they lived in affordable housing until he could find a job as a chemical engineer,” the campaign website says.
“Once her parents got a foothold in the US, they made sure to bring their friends and families up with them by housing them until they could afford a home of their own.”
“Patel “has experienced the importance of paying people a living wage, the website says noting, “Her mother had a union job at a book manufacturer.”
“As a child, she watched her walk the picket line. As the union declined, she left that job because the cost of child care and transportation was greater than her post-tax wages.”
Currently, Patel is president of the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club and Vice-Chair of the Manhattan Community Board 6 Budget Committee,
She was co-chair of the board at Chhaya Community Development Corporation, an organization founded to address the housing and economic needs for low-income South Asian and Indo-Caribbean New Yorkers.
The primaries for the Comptroller’s race are scheduled for June 22, and there are at least 10 candidates running as of now. New York being largely Democratic, whoever wins the Democratic primary is likely to win the election come Nov. 2.
A Comptroller is elected for a four-year term with a two term limit.
Patel is pitted against some strong opponents, among them City Councilmen David Weprin and Brad Lander; and New York State Senator Kevin Parker.