Influencing the Desi Vote

by | May 6, 2024 | Angelia Pelham, Elections, Gopal Ponangi, John Keating, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics

Diversity refers to the presence of a variety of people, cultures, races, religions, and more that make up a local community. Growing up in another country we traveled to many destinations and that allowed us to learn about diversity and different cultures in our early developmental years. It was eye-opening and breathtaking, and little did we know it was exposing us to the diversity in those local communities.  My dad loved talking to the locals, eating local foods, and doing what the locals did.  Those are some of the best memories that I carry with me today.

Now as a dad and granddad, I try to expose them to the same blessings bestowed upon me by my father.  A few years ago, my grandkids said, Papa can we go to the event where they throw colors all around and get dirty?  I explained to them that Holi or the Festival of Colors, was a religious Hindu event to mark spring’s arrival and the triumph of good over evil.  I explained to them it was rooted in ancient traditions, and that it is one of the most prominent Hindu celebrations next to Diwali, the Festival of Lights.  The kids were excited to learn more and understand it better and now we take them every year.  By attending the event they had fun, made new friends, and learned that diversity in a community is a great thing.  

Frisco is growing so much that in 2017, Mayor Cheney created an ad hoc committee on fostering communication between the city’s Asian Indian community and city leadership.  The Frisco Indian Affairs Committee defined its mission through four pillars: community outreach, civic engagement, philanthropy, and events.  At the time it was created, the Indian community was made up of about 35,000 residents and that has only increased with rapid growth in our region. With the rapid growth of the Indian American community comes a significant political constituency.  An online survey conducted in September 2020 showed that while holding relatively liberal views when it comes to US politics, Indian Americans are conservative when it comes to issues back in India. 

Over the last few months, we have received several emails from different followers living in our Indian American community here in Frisco.  Surprisingly, they shared the same sentiment of concern over whether their community understands the effect of their voting power and how to choose the candidate who will best represent or include their community.  They explained that the “leaders” of the community with a substantial presence generally “guide others” on who to vote for.  They are concerned some leaders have ulterior motives and may not be doing what is best for the community, but what is best for them.  So, we decided to investigate one.

One leader in the Indian American Community is Gopal Ponangi who currently sits on the Frisco Independent School Board.  We pulled up his campaign finance reports for the period covering 01/01/2021 to 06/30/2021, expecting to see lots of donors but there were only three and each one donated $5000.00.  The donors were Venu Bhagyanagar, Anand Chillappa, and Pavan Nellutla. Then one more donation for $500 from Dustin Paschal. 

We pulled up his second campaign finance report from 07/01/2021 to 12/31/2021 and has a $200 donation from Angelia Pelham (current councilwoman), and $1000 from John Keating (current councilman).  Under pledged contributions, you have Venu Bhagyanagar, Anand Chillappa, and Pavan Nellutla for $5000 each.  Then there are several more from other individuals ranging from $50 to $1500.

Then we looked at his more recent campaign finance report for the period 7/1/22 through 12/31/22.  We saw the same three names under pledged contributions: Venu Bhagyanagar, Anand Chillappa, Pavan Nellutla and each gave $5000 dollars.

 At first glance, we notice several of his donations are from current or former members of city boards and commissions including Chinasatyam Veernapu – Parks and Recreation Board, Venu Bhagyanagar – Former Frisco Parks Recreation Board 2021, Pavan Raj Nellutla – Urban Forestry Board, Hitesh Naidu – Board of Adjustments / Construction Board of Appeals, and Venkat Mulukutla – Social Services & Housing Board.  The other concern is the donations from Angelia Pelham and $1000 from John Keating. 

Gopal appears to have a very vested interest in who he supports. Our question is, did Gopal Ponangi encourage his community to vote for the best candidates or the ones who donated to him? It also makes you wonder if his largest contributors sit on City boards and commissions, could that influence who he supports?  Could it be a conflict if he wanted to endorse another candidate instead of the current sitting council members?   Obviously, Gopal is not going to bite the hand that feeds his campaign contributions list.

Gopal was out at the polls on election day with Keating and he kept pulling people over and telling them how to vote.  Then he had them take pictures with Mayor Cheney, which he later posted on his social media pages.  We will talk more about that in another blog.  More importantly, do these leaders show up throughout the year, or only annual events, and during election season?