Municipalities throughout Shelby County will be filling positions for aldermen, mayor and school board members on Nov. 8, and Germantown is no different.
While Mayor Mike Palazzolo and Pos. 2 Alderman Mary Anne Gibson are running unopposed, there are two candidates vying for the Pos. 1 Alderman seat and four candidates competing for the Pos. 2 and Pos. 4 School Board seats.
Early voting begins on Oct. 19 and election day is Nov. 8.
Manjit Kaur and incumbent Scott Sanders are the candidates for Germantown Alderman, Pos. 1.
Both candidates were recently asked to complete an election questionnaire supplied by the Germantown News – Shelby Sun Times.
Manjit Kaur
Age: 53
Current Occupation:
A lifelong educator and learner
Former Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Cancer Research Scientist, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts Worcester
Former Healthcare Administrative Resident University of TN Medical Group
Former Owner and Director of Global Franchise Business, Learning centers for children in Collierville and Germantown.
I work part time at the Madonna Learning Center with their adult program, and now am a substitute supervisor. I freelance as a language interpreter specialist for Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and English languages for medical, legal, student exchange program, and immigration services. Part Time Culinary Instructor.
This provides me with diverse experience of learning, and better understand my community.
Education: PhD, MBA
Other trainings: Leadership Germantown Graduate Class of 2019, First Degree Black Belt Martial Arts 2014, Covid-19 Contact Tracer 2020, Community Emergency Response Training and certified 2017
Family:
Married to Dr. Sridhar Shankar for 24 years (Radiologist), daughter at the UT-Knoxville, son at the United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, Conn.
Organizations/Groups/Activities:
My volunteer experience is very expansive, not only in Germantown but in the entire Mid-South area from over a decade (not mentioning Boston Mass. working with communities for over a decade there)
- Vice-Chair, Germantown Forward 2035 Steering Committee (involved in putting the strategic plan for Germantown)
- Secretary, Board of Directors Leadership Germantown. Help with fundraisers, recruiting new members for LG and support all their year around events/activities
- Vice-Chair, Germantown Public Safety Education Commission: I have chaired “Safety City Event” for kids. I steered this event and enjoyed working with 4-5 years old, ready to go to school. I chaired Lock it or Lose it” Campaign during the pandemic, which is to educate and bring awareness to all residents that they should lock their vehicles all time when not in use. I took the initiative to conduct an educational/safety workshop for high school kids “Don’t Drive Drowsy”. Year around, I provide help to our police department and the “DEA in National Prescription Drug Take Back and also work with Fire Department as the support staff for different safety related events and activities.
- Commission Member, Germantown Education Commission (Co-chair Battle of the Brains and Big Read). Help and support all commission events/activities
- Chairperson “Caring for America” Republican Women of Purpose (focusing on Philanthropy and working for our homeless veterans)
- Chairperson, India Association of Memphis
- Director, India Fest-Memphis for several years that attracts 10,000 people at agricenter (fun-family event)
- Team Captain, Walk Across TN, Healthy Germantown Initiative and volunteered at several events of Germantown Parks and Recreation
- Board of Directors, Germantown Education Foundation (Co-chair Germantown Municipal School District Teachers Grant). It’s fun to read all wonderful and creative ideas that benefit our GMSD, schools and teachers. I also enjoy supporting the GMSD 5K Color Run with all possible resources I have, whether its raising money for schools or recruiting volunteers
- Board of Directors, Devonshire Gardens Home Owners Association
Conducted events for kids and for neighbors in the past - Member, Germantown Women’s Club and actively involved in their community events and activities supporting various nonprofit organizations
- Active volunteer at Germantown Charity Horse show and Germantown festival over the last several years
- Active volunteer at Riverdale and Dogwood school clinics when our kids went to these schools
- Served on Germantown Forward 2030 Education Task Force
- Volunteer Emergency Room, Germantown Methodist Hospital
- Germantown Flood Relief Efforts 2018: Helped clean debris, cooked meals, and organized a musical concert to raise funds to help the flood victims
Covid-19 Relief: Volunteer and Fundraising efforts in Germantown and Memphis - COVID-19 vaccination site efforts: Meal preparation & distribution for Frontline workers.
Logged over 200 hours of volunteering in both phases of the vaccination effort at the
Germantown Baptist Church Vax Site. - Took the initiative and raised over $20,000 for the University of Memphis, International Students Covid-19 Emergency Funds during early pandemic days.
- Supported and raised funds for Mid-South Food Bank over many years. During the time of pandemic, took the initiative of fundraiser and donated over $3k to MS Food Bank to help people affected with Covid-19. This provided over 9,300 nutritious meals.
Community Service Award by the City of Memphis: I have been recognized with the outstanding and meritorious community service award by the City of Memphis Mayor in 2014
In 2019, The Germantown Fall magazine featured as Faces of Germantown, and 2021 the City of Germantown featured volunteer spotlight and “Renaissance Women of Volunteering”
Madonna Learning Center
Active volunteer for the last 5 years. Raised funds and supported special needs education. I am also their part time/substitute supervisor
Diversity programs at the Germantown Public Library and the GMSD Schools - In an effort to promote cultural diversity, conducted dance and literary events for kids though India Fest initiatives and Big Read program
- Judge for diversity poster competition at HMS
- Organized International Day at the Dogwood Elementary School
GPAC, Great Hall, Pickering Center, Athletic Center - Supported these facilities continuously over the last 10 years, providing business by conducting non-profit events, Bollywood concerts, or festivals
I have accomplished several projects at the Greater Memphis Area, Boston MA and other countries mostly India.
• 1. List three significant issues in this election
- Public safety is a major concern and we must do every possible effort to keep our neighborhoods safe. The pressure of crime from adjacent cities continues to invade into our city boundaries. We have to be very proactive to provide a safe environment to all residents.
- School Facility Capacity and providing Funding to our public schools: As the city continues to evolve and grow with new developments, it attracts new families with school going kids. We need to ensure that the quality of education is maintained and we need to continue to work on creating innovative ways to bring more funding resources and grants for our schools and provide right tools of learning to our teachers and students.
- Aging Infrastructure, parks & recreation facility upgrades: This includes our drainage system and to deal with flooding issues
• 2. Specifically, how do you plan to deal with each of these issues, if elected?
Here is my plan to deal with these issues:
Public Safety: I have been serving on the Germantown Public Safety Education commission for over eight years now and have had the opportunity to work very closely with police and fire department. I promise to be our City’s alderman, a strong advocate for public safety and fully supporting our first responders. My public safety priorities are listed below:
- Add an additional police precinct over the next 4 years, a total of 8 commissioned officers and a lieutenant to give more coverage and better response time.
- Add an additional 2 K9 units, as we have learned this coverage protects our officers and successfully detains criminals.
- Add to our Drone Unit by acquiring 3 more drones, one for each shift and a reserve drone. Drones are a critical tool for apprehension and protecting our residents and officers.
- Increase our police budget and resources for training, and equipment upgrades.
- Add additional license plate reading cameras to further provide a “Geo-fence” layer of protection around our City.
- Enhance public safety & security measures at all Public meetings and at public gathering places such The Grove
- Bring awareness to safety related topics for our residents in the form of seminars and workshops. Citizen Police Academy is good way to teach our residents and I am a graduate of Citizen Police Academy Class of 2016. I have taken a lead on projects such as Safety City for kids for many years, and most recently “Lock it or Lose it” and “Don’t Drive Drowsy” safety awareness campaigns.
- I will immediately call for a task force to research creating a text alert system for our City to provide critical information to our residents in times of emergency.
- Increase police presence in areas of high traffic and public crowds.
- School Facility Capacity, providing Funding to our public schools and striving for excellence in quality of public Education: We have to continue to work on getting our heritage schools, 3Gs. Our city has a solid reputation and is known for a long term, strategic planning and we need additional land for school campuses for our city in the next 15-20 years.
I am passionate about education and thankful for the opportunity to serve on the Germantown Education Commission and take an active lead on all events. I have been fortunate and privileged to serve on the Germantown Forward 2030 Education Task Force and serve on the Board of Directors of Germantown Education Foundation and as Chair of the GEF grants. I help the board mobilize community resources to support educational programs of GMSD and support our teachers through our main initiatives such as GEF grants and fundraising. As next alderman, I look forward to continue working with our school district, and the school board, bring funding resources, and help making it the best school district in the state.
Together with parents, teachers, and school administrators, we can work towards a sustainable, long term goal to improve upon our successes in our schools and to bring more funding resources through creative methods.
3.Focus on Infrastructure: Economic development is the backbone of any city. Germantown is a wonderful city with vast green parks, state of the art facilities, plentiful dining and shopping options, and much more. We are only one of four cities nationwide to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality award. I would love to see Germantown prosper even more by continuous improvements on our facilities, parks and recreation. I will continue to work alongside of our public works department to improve our aging infrastructure, storm water issues, floods and drainage problems, and providing safe streets and roads for all residents. I completely support the City’s initiatives on Capital Improvement Program (CIP) that provides a systematic framework of all financing and acquisition of public improvements. I also fully appreciate our City’s work towards Cameron Brown Ballfields upgrades, Miller Farm Ditch, Duntreath Ditch, English Meadow Drainage project, and Wolf River Blvd/Germantown Rd intersections improvements projects.
I love green spaces, so parks development, and adding calisthenics/outdoor fitness stations would be on my listing. It has also been brought to my attention that Germantown needs more Pickleball courts. I have been hearing that more and more people are playing this sport. As I mentioned, I am a life long learner and I would love to try this sport after my election is over.
• 3. What do you think is the biggest concern facing our community at this time, and why?
Public Safety as I mentioned above because of the rising crime from surrounding areas and fear of unknown (see details above in Public Safety Section)
• 4. What specifically makes you best qualified for the position you are seeking?
Over a decade, I have been serving on various boards, commissions and non-profit organizations with passion and commitment. Even though I have not been in an elected position, I have accomplished several projects successfully. I have always stepped up and helped the community whenever in need whether it’s the floods or during the unprecedented times of COVID 19, handling vaccination site, raising funds and helping our first responder’s continuously. I am action orientated, team player with great organizational skills meeting the needs of our community.
I am running for this position because I love my city and believe in the people of Germantown. “I am a candidate for the people.”
I want to make a bigger impact through my years of community service, vast leadership experience, knowledge, qualifications, and advocacy for the areas of Public safety supporting our first responders & funding them; excellent education, quality of life; youth empowerment; crisis management and leadership; and to support diversity in all forms.
Scott Sanders
Age: 59
Current Occupation: Germantown Alderman, Retired, US Marshals Service
Education: Bachelor’s in criminology from Arkansas State University
Family: Wife Brenda for 23 years. Four grown children who are products of our municipal schools and three grandchildren.
Organizations/Groups/Activities: Member Germantown Church of Christ, Germantown First Responders Scholarship Fund Board of Directors, Leadership Germantown Alumni Association, Liaison to Beautification Commission, Tree Board, Public Safety Education Commission, and ADA Access Review Board. In my spare time I love to collect coins, hunt and fish and enjoy the outdoors.
• 1. List three significant issues in this election.
Public Safety/Crime, Aging Infrastructure, and keeping property taxes low
• 2. Specifically, how do you plan to deal with each of these issues, if elected?
1) Public Safety/Crime – I will continue to advocate for our fire and police. To give them the funding they need to attract and retain the best and brightest employees, allowing them to have the tools and equipment they need to accomplish their mission and keep us safe. As for crime, I will work with Administration, the Chief of Police, and our City Judges and prosecutors to see how we best accomplish the task of stopping crime in its tracks in Germantown.
I support our continued practice of sending our police officers into Memphis to execute arrest and search warrants for individuals who have committed crimes in Germantown. This will send a huge message to those outside our community that if you commit crime in Germantown, we will come looking for you.
2) Aging Infrastructure- I encouraged the city to utilize all of its American Rescue Funding, nearly 11 million dollars, to fix our drainage laterals. I also voted to issue nearly 2 million in bonds to go toward this effort.
In addition, I voted to approve a contract to complete the City Master Drainage Plan. Once this plan is complete, I will use this to help prioritize funding to fix aging and crumbling Infrastructure. Water and Streets are also considered infrastructure. My efforts’ my first four years led to a contract with a company to maintain and repair our water wells. I also voted for a much-needed water tower giving us redundancy and a resilient water system. As for streets, I will fight for funding to get back to paving 10 miles of our streets each year. I supported a new pilot program for a rejuvenation process to extend the life of our streets 7-10 years potentially saving millions of dollars.
3) Providing the premium services Germantown Residents deserve is no small task.
I think a three-pronged approach is warranted so I will closely monitor our budget and spending to ensure we continue to provide the services to our residents, and watch our budget to keep from having to continually raise our property taxes.
In addition, fully funding our public safety and schools keeps residents’ property values high, making Germantown a community of choice. Recruiting specialty retail and restaurants brings sales tax revenue to the city negating the need to raise property tax.
• 3. What do you think is the biggest concern facing our community at this time, and why? As I have been knocking doors in Germantown, I’ve quickly found that increasing crime is a hot topic.
Most likely due to recent events in Shelby County over the last month or so. I do think some of the crime we are starting to see in the suburb’s has become more violent.
We need to be proactive, address it head on and look at the multitude of ways to try to put a stop to it. First, we must engage the community. We need to listen and learn from our residents to increase our mutual understanding, to collaborate and improve public safety. We need to continue our crime prevention efforts. Our “Lock it or Lose it” campaign has helped to slow down vehicle burglaries, promoting and fostering Germantown Watch (neighborhood watch) should continue, and the use of Flock Cameras around out city has been very effective in curbing and solving crime.
Finally, enforcement is a key. We need to continue to work with our federal, state and local partners to combat crime. This also includes working with our prosecutors and judges to develop a short and long-term plan to address crime in our community.
• 4. What specifically makes you best qualified for the position you are seeking? I have been serving as Alderman, Position 1 for the last four years, I know what it takes to get the job done. Prior to that I was a police officer and US Marshal, so I’ve been in public service my entire adult life.
I’ve managed budgets, supervised a group of men and women who protected billions of dollars of National Assets in the United States, and fostered tremendous working relationships in every position I’ve ever held. When I retired, I couldn’t just sit on my hands, I wanted to continue to serve my community. I understand what servant leadership is. I’m in touch with the people, understand and know the needs of the community, and will do what is best for our residents at every turn.
With my knowledge and experience, the relationships I’ve built, and my vision for making Germantown the best city in Tennessee, I know I will continue to an effective leader in the city. I’m asking for the people’s vote Nov. 8.
