Eighteen polling places in Collin County will be open starting Monday, April 20, for the general election on Saturday, May 2.

Four candidates are running for Place 4 on the Princeton City Council and include Sharad Ramani, Janice Goria, Jaisen Rutledge and Hassan Abdulkareem.

Voting locations include the Training Room of the Princeton Municipal Center, 2000 E. Princeton Drive.

However, registered voters may cast early ballots at any of the 17 other locations open before Election Day.

The early voting centers will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, April 20; Wednesday, April 22; Thursday, April 23; Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25.

They will also be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, April 27 and Tuesday, April 28.

Election Day balloting is also 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 2.

The following candidates have submitted a brief biography to The Princeton Herald. We will add biographies for Goria and Abdulkareem as soon as they are received.

Sharad Ramani

Residential homeowners carry too heavy a share of Princeton’s financial requirements, says Sharad Ramani, a candidate for Place 4 on the City Council. Citing economic diversification as the city’s most pressing issue, Ramani said Princeton must broaden the tax base by creating a policy environment that aggressively attracts commercial and medical developments.

“To do this, the council must provide clear strategic direction to city staff and ensure our zoning and infrastructure plans are ‘business-ready,’” he said.

Ramani said residents deserve a council member who prioritizes results over bureaucracy.

“I don’t just want to talk about ‘oversight issues’ — I want to apply my 30 years of strategic leadership to solve them,” he said.

Ramani said he brings “a rare combination of technical and fiscal expertise,” with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA in supply chain.

“Unlike generalized management, my background is in strategic procurement and operations — fields where accuracy, contract negotiation and multi-million-dollar budget oversight are daily requirements,” he said.

Ramani said he advocated successfully for winter quarterly averaging of wastewater billing “by presenting logical, well-researched arguments that helped the council make an informed decision for the community.”

He said his biggest contribution would be in operational and fiduciary oversight. “While others may focus on internal organizational structure, my focus is on the bottom line,” Ramani said.

Jaisen Rutledge

Galloping growth is not necessarily the most pressing issue facing Princeston, City Council candidate Jaisen Rutledge says. “I would challenge that we have a process and oversight issue — there is opportunity to clearly outline how things are handled in the city,” Rutledge said.

He said the city needs a framework showing lines of communication to determine who is responsible and who signs off on issues, both big and small.

“Once that is established appropriately, issues like WQA [winter quarter averaging of wastewater billing] and development problems will have clear owners and it will be easier to address gaps, whether it is process or people,” Rutledge said.

A former chair of the Princeton Community Development Corporation, Rutledge said decisions made by council will have lasting impact.

“We won’t get many opportunities to get some of these things right,” he said. “I have been involved in serving in Princeton long enough to have had line of sight to both successes and to some of its crucial opportunities.”

Rutledge said he is vice president of a Fortune 100 company and earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and a master’s in business administration.

“I believe that my experience puts me in a unique position to address those issues in a way that will include integrity, transparency and build bridges where some may create more division,” he said.

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