CAMBRIDGE CITY (TIP): Hari I. Pillai an Indian American announced his candidacy for the Cambridge City Council’s elections on November 7. The engineer lived in Cambridge for the last 5 years, and currently lives at Alewife.

He was born/raised in the Mississippi Delta to Indian immigrants who migrated here during the ‘60s.  After completing his BS in Engineering at Mississippi State University, Hari moved to Troy, New York, for MS in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in ’97. While at RPI, he became a Graduate Student Senator, taught the non-traditional Navy students Differential Equations/Calculus in RPI’s Extension Program in Malta, New York, and volunteered at Zoller Elementary School in Schenectady.

Right after completing his Master’s Degree in Engineering, Hari worked at GE Power Systems as a Process and Quality Engineer, and eventually moved to the Boston Area. Over the years, his career would meander more or less to other areas, including being a tutor, health and wellness coach at the Oak Square YMCA, and in the last few years, he has been an Account Manager in the Technology Sector.

“Outside my career, I’ve involved myself in many campaigns for local, state, and federal elections, and did a lot of volunteer work as a Massachusetts Service Alliance grant reviewer, mentoring young kids, and volunteer at Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Shirley to promote mindfulness and to cultivate spiritual practices using Buddhism as a vehicle. At my work, I’m a member of African American Business Leaders for Excellence (ABLE), Asian American Professional Group, and Pride in addition to mentoring and coaching junior employees”, he wrote on his website.

Hari said his top priorities are:

1. Maintaining Cambridge’s uniqueness and not selling-out on our values just for more economic growth. I strongly believe that, holistically, we can have strong economic growth and a healthy budget and still be true to our values in a way that preserves our unique characteristics.
2. The Trump Administration’s vision of hate has no place here. I offer my candidacy to be a counterpoint to the values of this administration.
3. Lack of shared parking in Alewife and other parts of Cambridge. Shared parking is a more efficient parking schema, can reduce greenhouse emissions, and optimize the traffic flow through the parking lot.
4. Address our dismal internet services in Cambridge. Why is Cambridge’s estimates for community broadband much more expensive than other cities? My experience as an account manager with Project Management and negotiating experiences would ensure that I could add value to the Broadband Commission that we have set up.
5. Volpe Redevelopment Project – I’m against MITIMCO’s current proposals of this.
6. Increased Voter Turnout – For Cambridge’s municipal elections, like the one we’re about to have on November 7th, the turnout is only ~25%. Just a few decades ago, the rate was more than 70% (see chart below). We must do something to increase this. I’d like to see us having municipal elections on even years, and this would increase the number of voters by 40%. Democracy works best when all voices are heard.