India Post News Service
FREMONT. CA: Vinay Kruttiventi, entrepreneur and community leader, is running for Congress in Alameda County’s District 14. In conversation with Ritu Maheshwari from India Post, Vinay Kruttiventi shares his background and campaign message:
Ritu: Please tell us about your journey so far, your motivation to get into public service and your policy initiatives. What made you get involved in public service?
Vinay: Like many others, my grandfather had a profound influence on me, a freedom fighter who worked beside Gandhi. He later served with two presidents as their advisor. My family always believed in giving back and was heavily involved in helping the community. My father was a Journalist in India; he instilled in him a deep sense of hard work, courage and the need to give back. This instilled in me a deep sense of hard work, gratitude, courage and conviction, and the need to give back, and that’s why I’m running for Congress.
While this is my first time running for elected office, it isn’t the first time I have committed myself to service for the betterment of our community. I founded the Vinay Kruttiventi Foundation with a mission to build better communities together right here in The Greater Bay Area to help other non-profits, support our small businesses and support organizations doing good for the community, by way of financial support, mentoring, improving their business operations etc.
With community collaboration and a deep sense of purpose, I’m proud of the difference we’ve made in our community. So far, we have worked with over 40 cultural and non-profit organizations, helping bring people together and building better communities.
The work is far from done, and that’s one of the reasons I’m running for Congress so that I can directly represent and help a larger group of people, and build on the work we’ve started at the foundation.
It not enough to open a door for yourself and walk through it alone. We should all aspire to walk through that door- then hold that door open for others behind us.
This is why I’m running for Congress – I want to ensure the same opportunities I’ve had you’ve had are the same ones our children and neighbors will have. We must ensure that the opportunities that California offered yesterday are still available in California tomorrow.
We all need to find collective solutions for Affordable housing, Homelessness, Public Safety, Fentanyl, and other illegal drugs epidemic.
Ritu: What are your top policy priorities?
Vinay: My priorities as your Congressman will be to Improve education, Implement policies to ease inflation, Strengthen our national security, Border Security, Improve our quality of water, bring sustaining energy policies while protecting California’s natural beauty, Immigration Reform, Supporting Small Businesses and Improve Job Creation, Prioritizing care for our aging population
I will work tirelessly to bring innovative water and energy solutions to the table. I will focus on desalination efforts to ensure we no longer suffer droughts and that we make use of the water that surrounds California. I will also maintain as a top priority of mine to avoid rolling power outages that we’ve all experienced. I will advocate for nuclear power and champion keeping our power plants open and fully operational.
Ritu: Some of the ongoing challenges in Bay Area are homelessness, growing hate crimes, thefts and robberies. How do you plan to address them?
Vinay: As for Homelessness, It’s a humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes. Tents lining our streets, families living in despair. This isn’t just an eyesore, it’s a stain on our conscience. As your Congressman, I will work tirelessly to provide a hand-up, not a handout. We need to have compassionate enforcement: No more handouts that enable addiction and despair. We need to enforce the law while offering pathways to rehabilitation and reintegration. Encourage more Public-Private Partnerships. We have to leverage the power of businesses and non-profits, to create shelters, job training programs and mental health services. We need more Local Control. One-size-fits-all solutions from Sacramento don’t work. We need to empower local communities to develop tailored solutions that address their unique needs.
California has the most military bases in the US, and our Alameda County has two military bases. California also has the largest veteran population at 1.6 million, yet we have 31% of California’s national veteran homeless population per Biden’s HUD department. The Veterans Hospital in Livermore is closing, and our veterans must go to either Sacramento or Palo Alto for treatment.
I will fight tirelessly as your congressman to make sure we fix the homeless problem.
The recent spike in hate crimes against our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities is sickening and unacceptable. We must send a clear message: bigotry and violence will not be tolerated in our district. We need stricter sentencing for repeat offenders and tougher penalties for theft and robbery. We need to be hard on crime. Federal government subsidizes policing to the states by proving grants. We have to make sure that the grants are used properly for policing and corrections. Not fall into defunding the police rhetoric and propaganda.
This is not just a Republican or Democrat issue. This is a human issue. It’s a Bay Area issue, it’s a California issue. I believe in a strong, compassionate and fiscally responsible government that works for all its citizens. I will fight to ensure that our communities are safe, our streets are clean and our families are secure.
Ritu: How can people connect with you and support your campaign?
Vinay: I encourage all people who want a positive change to volunteer and donate to our campaign. Donations can be made online on vin4congress.com
They can also contact us at 925.232.1248 or email us at campaign@vin4congress.com
Ritu: How community organizations such as Americans4Hindus can help you?
Vinay: Americans4Hindus is a very well-respected organization amongst all of Bay Area, cutting across communities of different faith and demographics. By spreading the word and encouraging the supporters to volunteer and donate, we can bring a very meaningful and positive change to our communities and country.
I want to thank India Post for inviting me to speak and allowing me to spread our campaign message.
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