Harish Jajoo will:
ELECT
• Run the City of Sugar Land more like a business • Focus on the bottom line, streamline services, become more efficient, and improve customer service for Sugar Land residents • Enhance city services through innovation, technology, and a dose of common sense in government
JajooForSugarLand.com f facebook.com/HarishJajoo t @harishjajoo VOL 9 No. 14
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
Students quiz Sugar Land mayoral candidates
2016 Sugar Land mayoral candidates Harish Jajoo, left, Joe Kyle Stanley and Sarwar Khan. By SESHADRI KUMAR included maintaining SugStudents at the Harmony ar Land as the safest city in School of Science in Sugar America, investment in inLand conducted the first may- frastructure, responsible city oral debate on March 29, thus government including fiscal enhancing their debating skills management,economic develand polishing their civic les- opment and quality of life. sons. The students researched Hancock said he was a busithe issues and met one on one nessman and not a career poliwith the candidates to prepare tician. He was concerned about their questions and they were the direction the city of Sugar coached by their speech/debate/ Land was taking where taxes English teacher Amanda Trost. were increasing, and city’s debt The mayoral candidates Har- was growing. He was also conish Jajoo, Joe Zimmerman, cerned about the general growth Myatt Hancock, Kyle Stanley and opposes apartments as a and Sarwar Khan outlined their proponent of the petiton drive platforms in their opening state- launched by Sugar Land Votes ments. group. Hancock also opposed Jajoo’s points were to lower all the seven propositions on the taxes, preserve and enhance charter amendment. the quality of life and manage Stanley stood for quality land growth responsibly. use, economic development, fisZimmerman’s platform cal conservatism, public safety,
Zimmerman, Myatt Hancock, Ninth grade students of Harmony School of Science in Sugar Land Amal Waqialla, left, Kenneth Quinton, Paige Martin, Noor Purghol and Syeda Fatima were the panelists in the open and transparent govern- Sugar Land mayoral debate. ment, and a working relationship between City Council, the city’s boards and commissions and other government entities. Stanley wants to focus on making Sugar Land a “suburb of choice” for the millennial generation, and restore Sugar Land voters’ trust in their government in response to the recent charter amendments controversy. “Voters are tired of hearing promises…They want answers from their elected officials,” he said. Khan’s main mission is to help establish an independent, full-fledged University of Sugar Land so that Sugar Land residents can get quality higher education at affordable prices closer to home. The panel asked how each of the candidate would be similar
to or different from the current Mayor Jimmy Thompson. The candidates again roped in their campaign platform in their responses. Jajoo said he wants to help the fixed income group of people by lowering taxes, without sacrificing services and projects. His campaign is based on listening to the leaders in the community, he said. Zimmerman said Mayor Thompson had done a phenomenal job in maintaining one of the lowest tax rates in Texas. The city has expanded the homestead exemption to residents which was equivalent to a 2.5 cents tax cut, Zimmer-
man said. The commercial sector subsidized the tax rate. The city should adopt the tax rate that is needed to “maintain the lifestyle we all enjoy,” he said. If we lower the taxes, what services would we cut, Zimmerman asked. The city council holds several workshop sessions and conducts a deliberate budget and finance planning, looking into the budget line by line and the city’s policies have been successful, Zimmerman said. Hancock said the city should keep its tax rate in line with inflation and the increase should be in direct proportion to inflation. There is no reason why the
city can’t live within its budget, “just as all of us do at our homes,” Hancock said. Stanley said he would like to bring an “outside edge” to city hall. The city management could be more savvy and technology focused and be run by the millennial instead of the older generation, Stanley said. He would strive to get the best for the comparable price, Stanley said. Khan suggested that the city should annex more areas and enhance the revenue stream. He also felt the city’s general aviation airport should be converted See MAYOR, Page 3
Rosenberg man sentenced to 40 years in prostitution case
Raymond Mark Gonzales was sentenced to 40 years in prison March 18, by a 268th District Court jury after they convicted him of Trafficking of Persons for Prostitution. The 45 year-old Rosenberg man was charged after an investigation by the Rosenberg Police Department. This is believed to be the first human trafficking trial in Fort Bend County. According to Assistant District Attorney Robert Clopton, Gonzales met his victim in late 2012 and moved in with her – telling her that he loved her and was going to marry her. The defendant’s family members began spending a lot of time at the woman’s apartment, which also caused her electric bill to spiral out of control. Due to the number of people at the apartment and her inability to pay the rising electric bill, the woman was evicted.
Gonzales’s family then drove his victim to an apartment in Houston, and a few months later, to a hotel in Rosenberg. While staying at the hotel in Rosenberg, the defendant began forcing the woman to prostitute herself. When she refused, the defendant would beat her. During this time, the woman would have little contact with her family. She feared calling the police or seeking help because Gonzales threatened to burn down her house and kill her family. In February 2014, a concerned neighbor called 911 when she observed the victim being assaulted outside of the hotel room where she and the defendant were living. Shortly thereafter, the Rosenberg Police Department began an investigation into Raymond Gonzales for trafficking his victim for prostitution which ultimately resulted in charges being
filed. “Raymond Gonzales thought he had the perfect victim, someone no one would listen to or believe,” said lead prosecutor Robert Clopton. “But the men and women of Fort Bend County heard this victim’s plea for justice and saw that justice was done.” Gonzales was tried before Presiding Judge Brady Elliott. Human Trafficking is a seconddegree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. The defendant was not eligible for probation because of a prior felony conviction, which also enhanced his punishment range to the first-degree level of 5 to 99 years or life in prison. Assistant District Attorneys Robert Clopton and Tonika Davis prosecuted the case. James Stevens represented the defendant.