SUGAR LAND, TX (TIP): Harish Jajoo, a licensed professional engineer and small business owner, has served on the city council since 2011.An Indian-American engineer is seeking re-election for the post of the mayor of a city in Texas that has 35 per cent Asian population. Harish Jajoo, a City Councilman in Texas, lost out in his quest to become the mayor of Sugar Land city to Joe Zimmerman last year, pledged to the city’s residents to remain an independent voice for the Indian Americans there.

“I have lived in Sugar Land for 32 years. It is where I raised my family, built my life and came to admire its people and to value their friendship,” Jajoo was quoted as saying by the Fort Bend Star newspaper.

“As a member of city council, I have always worked to be a clear voice for conservative principles and fiscal responsibility,” he added.

“My single goal for Sugar Land has been to see that progress and tradition receive equal attention as we build our city together,” Jajoo said. “Our community’s values are my values and as Texans we all know that family and community come first in our lives. That has been my guiding principle on council.”

Jajoo, a licensed professional engineer and small business owner, has served on the city council since 2011.

Founded as a sugar plantation in the mid 1800s and incorporated in 1959, Sugar Land is located in Fort Bend county, some 30 kilometers southwest of Houston.

The county’s Asian population has grown more quickly than any other group, according to a 2013 report by Stephen Klineberg, sociology professor at Rice University and his colleague Jie Wu.