Township Clerk
Basati, 52, to contest for Township Clerks post
in Palantine Township
By Bhavna Kaul
Thakar Singh Basati, 52, a community activist, will
contest for the Township Clerk position in Palantine
Township, near Chicago, on a democratic ticket. The
election will be held on April 5.
There has been no representation of Asian
Americans in the township. A lot of money is being
spent, but none comes to the Asians, Basati,
who has been a community activist for a long time,
told News India-Times. If he gets elected it will
be a four-year term.
He decided to contest this post after he coordinated
the activities of Asian American senior citizens and
realized the kind of
problems they were having. It should be
ascertained where the money ($6 million)
the township collects goes. Diversity is another issue,
if other communities are paying taxes they should
also have adequate
representation, said Basati.
One of the duties of a clerk is to do the disbursement
of the capital accumulated.
Basati claims the township has been a
bastion for the Republicans for over 150 years. His
involvement in social and cultural activities made
the democratic party approach him for the clerks
position.
He was the founder president of Punjabi Cultural Society
in Palantine. He is also the founder of the Asian
Americans Seniors Association in his township.
Basati moved to the U.S. from Chandigarh in India
in 1976. He did B.A. and B.Sc from Punjab University.
After moving here, he worked as a CT technician in
various hospitals till 1995.
Since then he has been a full-time realtor although
he still does part-time CT
work.
Basati lives in Palantine with his wife who is a nurse.
He has two daughters and a son.