Preet Dibal is the next Sikh after Hoboken and first Sikh lady to be mayor of Yuba city.

As news from KCRA-TV and NBC affiliated television station reported soon on Dec.5 vice Mayor Preet Didbal will sworn as Yuba City’s Mayor, making her first Sikh woman to hold the highest elected office in an American City.

Yuba City of California will Sikh Indian- American as Mayor in Preet Didbal , she was elected to Yuba City council in 2014 and is currently vice mayor.  The community of Sikh religion was founded 500 years ago in India’s Punjab region and has been in California for more than a century. The Sikh coalition estimates around 500,000 people who follow the Sikh faith live in the United States. There are other Sikh mayors across the US — Ravi Bhalla was elected earlier this month as mayor in Hoboken, New Jersey. The Sutter Yuba region is home to the largest Sikh communities in the country. Each year, upward of 100,000 people fill Yuba City for the annual Sikh Parade formally known as kirtan.

While Sikh coalition Jaydeep Singh said “Seeing someone that looks like you that comes from the same faith as you, to be elected in a public office in this country is inspiring and exciting. And it’s definitely moving, When Ravi Bhalla was elected in New Jersey, that was the first time I saw someone who looked like me, who was in a public office in the United States of America,” The Sutter-Yuba region is home to one of the largest Sikh communities in the US. On November 8, Mr. Bhalla became the first Sikh mayor of New Jersey’s Hoboken city after a stiff competition that turned ugly when he was labeled a terrorist in slanderous flyers.The Sikh Coalition estimates some five lakh people who follow the Sikh faith live in the United States.

Didbal said that she born in conservative community of Sikh and moved to US, was first in her family to be graduate. Didbal is a graduate of Yuba City High School and Sacramento State and earned an MPA with a concentration in health administration from University of San Francisco. She works as a process improvement adviser for the State Compensation Insurance Fund. Whileher priorities as mayor will involve youth education, homelessness, completing the Fifth Street Bridge project and bridging the gap between the region’s growth and economic development.

As City council members rotate into the mayor and vice mayor positions every year based on vote count, outgoing mayor Stanley Cleveland Jr. said. Didbal also became the first Sikh woman elected to a U.S. city council in 2014 following eight years on the Yuba City Planning Commission and two years on the Sutter County Planning Commission. Cleveland Said “I like it when people think issues through and do their research and she do that. She’s very thoughtful; she’s just a good person to work with. Congressman John Garamendi named Didbal one of his district’s Women of the Year in 2015 for her efforts to improve Sutter County’s youth programs and women’s health offerings.

Shon Harris, the Yuba City California Highway Patrol office’s commander, is expected to replace Didbal as vice mayor, Cleveland said.

Source from Sacramento Bee news KCRA3