CUPERTINO, Calif. (Diya TV) — Savita Vaidhyanathan will serve as Cupertino’s mayor for 2017, and in doing so, she becomes the first Indian-American female mayor in U.S. history.
Additionally, she becomes the first female mayor to serve Cupertino since Kris Wang served in 2010.
“This is definitely a very momentous moment in my life,” Vaidhyanathan told a packed house during her swearing in. “I have several people to thank for this, and many of them are in this room, and my father, who is not here but is watching from heaven above. He instilled in me the confidence that I could do anything I set my heart to as along as I put the hard work in.”
She also paid special thanks to her mother, who made the trek from India to attend the ceremony, as well as her daughter and husband.
“I’ve had several congratulatory messages saying that I’m the first woman mayor of Indian origin,” she said. “Yes, I do take a lot of pride and prestige in that, but I do want to thank the residents of the city of Cupertino that voted me in not looking at ethnicity at all. Thank you for your trust in me, and maybe we did break that silicon ceiling and put a few more cracks in that glass ceiling.”
Newly re-elected councilman Rod Sinks took a moment at the meeting to congratulate the new mayor.
“I’m thrilled that you are mayor, and you’ve already demonstrated here, assuming the role of these meetings when Barry’s been gone and also at some of our ceremonial events, that you are eloquent, thoughtful, passionate, but you know how to run a calm meeting and make progress,” he said. “So from my heart to yours, we will enjoy having you chair this body. I think you bring some unique perspectives and characteristics and ways of doing things that the rest of us don’t.”
For Gilbert Wong, Vaidhyanathan’s swearing-in marked his last meeting after serving for nine years on the council.
“I feel pretty damn sure that’s she’s going to make a really great mayor,” he said. “I’m really proud to have our first South Asian mayor, our first woman Indian mayor, and that’s something we should celebrate.”