By Alex Davidson
Members of the Sikh Cultural Society at 95-30 118th St. in Richmond Hill have installed a new slate of governing officials who were elected in a competitive three-way race Dec. 8.
About 26 offices were up for grabs in the contest, which featured three full slates of candidates vying to be elected to the two-year terms. Only registered members of the society could vote in the election.
“It is a religious and cultural society,” said the body’s new president, Harpreet Singh Toor. “Our intent is to interact with people and let people know who we are and what we believe in.”
Candidates ran for positions on the society’s 15-member executive committee and 11 other at-large positions, including the presidency, vice presidency and two secretary positions. To be eligible to seek office, Toor said, a candidate had to have the support of 15 other members or the endorsement of two already elected trustees.
The Sikh society was established by 18 families in 1971 and was the first and largest Sikh Gurdawara in the tristate area. It is no longer the only Gurdawara, but it is still the largest with members traveling more than 200 miles to attend religious services at the temple, Toor said.
“You name it, we do it,” he said about the society’s community outreach, which includes the teaching of a Sikh religion class at Columbia University, sponsoring students to travel to India to study Punjabi, and teaching children English.
Toor said his duties require overseeing the everyday operations of the society, including the implementation of financial, religious and programming decisions. He said the organization is divided between the president and the executive committee, made up of 12 trustees and three election commissioners.
The following were elected to offices: Vice President, Darbara Singh; General Secretary, Jagir Singh; Assistant Secretary, Raghbir Singh; Treasurer, Rajinder Singh; Assistant Treasurer, Surjeet Singh; Chairman Langar, Charan Singh; Assistant Chairman Langar, Balbir Singh Multani; Education Chair, Parminder Singh; Building Chair, Harjinder P. Singh; Public Relations Chair, Harjinder Singh Pelia.
The three election commissioners are now Hardev Singh Bawa, Harjinder Singh and Maninder Singh Brar.
Members elected as trustees are: Sulakhan Singh, Gurmeet Kaur, Piara Singh, Baldev Singh, Ragvinder S. Ghotra, Sohan Singh, Amrik Singh, Balwinder Singh, Jaswinder S. Padda, Norang S. Gothera, Amrik Singh and Inderjit Singh.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 156
