39th Mayor Ravinder S. Bhalla of Hoboken, New Jersey

9/16/2019

Mayor Ravinder S. Bhalla

c/o Office of the Mayor

City Hall

94 Washington Street

Hoboken, NJ  07030

Dear Mayor Bhalla,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan with a strong interest in learning history with social justice. In these subjects, I like to learn the need for Civil Rights to be stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, and many others. Mayor Bhalla, the main reason I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work as 39^th Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey to be very inspiring to me.

In January 2018,   I was amazed on how you made history by becoming the fist Sikh to become Mayor of Hoboken New Jersey. On Civil Rights, I truly appreciate on how you are a strong supporter of Civil Rights by advocating for people with disabilities’ rights,  working with city council to push for laws to expand on combating against hate-crime to help protect minorities including people who are different, and supporting funds to help minorities including women businesses to help them compete in the economy.   Pushing to expand on job-training programs to help train youth including workers to develop work-skills and advocating for the need to raise the minimum wage to help minimum wage workers afford to live is common sense to improve the economy. On education, I like on how you support funds to improve special education to help students with disabilities get the educational resources they need to learn, push for more after school programs to provide students with help on their assignments from tutors, and working to expand more arts, history, and diversity classes to make education diverse.  To protect then environment, I like on how you support renewable energy projects to help reduce addiction to oil with gas an working to improve city services to help clean parks including water resources to make them safe for people to use.  On social justice I really like on how you signed an executive order to help welcome immigrants to your city including create a safe haven for immigrants to be protected from oppression, support drug treatment programs to help drug-users get the care they need to reduce drug-abuse, and push for community policing for law enforcement officers to get engage with the community to reduce tensions between law enforcement with the community. Another thing that I really like about your work as Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey is how you push for ethics reform like put a ban on gifts to public officials from lobbyist to reduce corruption, advocate for the need to reduce gun violence, and work to hire more women, minorities, and people with disabilities to work for city services.     Besides your work as mayor, I really like on how you are a strong advocate for Asian American rights including Asian Americans with disabilities’ rights and express the need for more educational awareness to help teach people about Asian American culture.   

Mayor Bhalla, I have autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different advance subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased. Your commitment to be a strong supporter of  Civil Rights including people with disabilities’ rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability. Also I enjoy watching “Ravi Bhalla, Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey’s First Sikh Mayor NBC Asian America” on Youtube because I enjoy learning about how diversity is important to society,  share about your experience on overcoming your struggles on dealing with hate,  and express the importance of  not losing your identity.  Also being an Asian American with a disability is difficult for me because some Asians including some Asian Americans tease me or get judgmental about me having a disability or not meeting their standards. Your role as an Asian American and a strong advocate for Asian American rights helps me be confident about being an Asian American with a disability.  Your role as Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey gives me motivation to continue to learn history with social justice. My future goal is to someday work in these areas to help emphasize the need to make Civil Rights stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, have immigration reform to help protect immigrants including refugees from being oppressed, and many others.

I strongly believe that you are making a great impact on society. I’m very proud on how you are working hard to support Civil Rights, improve social justice, and protect the environment. You have inspired me to work hard on my disability, learn more about your work as Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, work really hard to try to be confident about being an Asian American when I struggle,  and be motivated to continue to learn history with social justice.   Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make a great difference, and inspiring me. I wish you the best to continue to push for common sense ideas.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick    

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