April 22, 2005

New commissioner Japneet Kaur hails from Evergreen

Evergreen resident Japneet Kaur has been appointed as a commissioner to the Consumer Affairs Advisory Commission of Santa Clara County.

Japneet Kaur

Kaur is one of 11 members, appointed by the Board of Supervisors, with a term of three years.

Established in 1974, the commission assists and advises the director of Consumer Affairs related to the interests of consumers. It also consults and cooperates with various agencies to prevent duplication of efforts in the field of consumer protection and receives complaints and inquiries from consumers regarding deceptive or unfair trade practices in the county.

“I decided to be a part of this because consumer issues affect each and every one of us, and I would like to do my part to help out,” said Kaur, who works as a marketing analyst at HSBC Bank.

Early community involvement
Kaur graduated last year at the age of 20 from UC Berkeley, where she was active in both the city’s and the university’s communities. She served on the board of directors for the Telegraph Area Association, one of the prime community development organizations there. She also founded and directed a safety task force, where she lobbied for more than $50,000 in safety services.

As an appointed cabinet member of UC Berkeley’s student government, Kaur collaborated with student government and other student organizations to assist them with their needs. She also created a student organization to lobby for the Punjabi Language program, which helped to convince the chair of UC Berkeley’s South East Asian Department to continue the $1.5 million program.

While in high school, when the Gujarat earthquake occurred, she independently raised more than $2,000 to help those who suffered and donated the money to American Red Cross.

Local efforts
Kaur now looks forward to helping the people of Santa Clara County.

She is currently working with Evergreen community members to create a Dove Hill Neighborhood Association to ensure that residents who live around Dove Hill Elementary School are heard.

“The main reason I wanted to create a neighborhood area association is because after attending a community meeting, I realized that the residents have many various concerns, and a neighborhood area association will definitely help give them a greater voice,” said Kaur. “I am currently working with the Neighborhood Development Center and Councilmember Dave Cortese’s office to plan for this. The first meeting should take place in May.”

Kaur also participated on the youth committee for the recent “Carry the Vision” community conference recently held in Evergreen.

Any Santa Clara County residents with questions or concerns about consumer affairs may contact Japneet Kaur at consumeraffairs_jk@yahoo.com. If anyone would like to attend a Consumer Affairs Advisory Commission meeting, they are held on the fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the County Government Center.

For more information, go to the Web site: http://sccgov.org.