44  MAY 2014

COMMUNITY
Part-Time HP Resident Leads Paris Full-Time
By Dan Koller

People Newspapers

C O U R T E SY O F R O B B I E G U N N / I N PA R I S T E X A S . C O M

Arjumand A.J. Hashmi won a 4-3 vote for Paris mayor among his City Council colleagues in 2011,
when he was first elected. In 2012 and 2013, no one else was nominated for the position.

H E D R E W FA R M O R E VO T E R S T O P O L LS
Each member of the Paris City Council has been through one
contested election. Here are tallies of the votes they and
their opponents received in their respective districts.
District

Council Member

For

Against

District 1
District 2

Aaron Jenkins
Billie Sue Lancaster

36
35

27
17

District 3
District 4

John Wright
Richard Grossnickle

61
63

34
40 and 17

District 5
District 6

Matt Frierson
Cleonne Holmes Drake

82
209

24
128

District 7

Arjumand Hashmi

416

289

If his name seems familiar, perhaps thats because hes

made headlines for hosting
his friend and patient Pervez
Musharraf, Pakistans former
president, at his homes in Highland Park and Paris. Its their relationship that led to the mayor

denying rumors about his plans

for developing land around Paris Lake Crook.
The president of Pakistan
is buying the lake or coming to
live in Paris, Texas: WRONG,
Hashmi said as he narrated a
PowerPoint presentation at that

March meeting. There is some

sort of a secret plan being hidden by the council: WRONG.
As you might expect, Hashmi is one of the few natives of
Pakistan if not the only one
among Paris 25,000 residents.
So he gets attention at Walmart,
where people stop to ask if hes
the mayor theyve heard so
much about. But Hashmi, who
goes by A.J. there, likes to joke
about his unique status.
Its very unusual to have a
Pakistani-born, Muslim, smalltown mayor whos a Republican, he said. Most of them end
up as Democrats.
The councils chambers
were packed for that late March
meeting, with the mayors
Lake Crook presentation being the main attraction; half of
the crowd left after he was finished discussing it. But another
hot-button topic on the agenda
that evening was an ordinance

OICE RUNN
E
CH

RU

P 2011

PEOPLES

When the Highland Park

Town Council met on the fourth
Monday in March, Mayor Joel
Williams had to take care of
some routine business: calling a
pair of public hearings, receiving a couple of financial reports,
and congratulating the towns
librarian on winning an award.
He did not have to deny that
one of his initiatives was a conspiracy designed to benefit the
president of Pakistan. But on
the same night, about 100 miles
to the northeast, one of Williams neighbors did that very
thing.
Arjumand Hashmi, who
owns a house just three blocks
from the Williams home, also
owns property in Paris, Texas,
where he has served as mayor
for three years. Although Hashmi also works full-time as a cardiologist at Paris Regional Medical Center, his wife and sons
reside in Highland Park.
Hashmi accepted a job offer
from the Paris hospital in 2005,
months before he left his previous position in Tampa, Fla. So
his wife, Rizma, and the boys
came to Texas before he did,
to avoid moving halfway across
the country in the middle of a
school year. Seeking the best
education Texas had to offer,
they rented a house in Highland
Park. By the time Dr. Hashmi
was ready to move to Paris, his
family was entrenched.
They loved it, Rizma said of
her boys life in Highland Park.
They said, We are not moving.
So, the Hashmis came to an
arrangement. Arjumand lives
and works in Paris during the
week, but sees his family in
Highland Park on weekends.

Meredyth Petree

TCNP #4970
mpetree67@sbcglobal.net
Office: 214.942.5111
Cell: 214.534.8052
ptreegardenconcepts.com

Billi Bonze is proud to

announce that Judy Yates our
pet portrait artist has a new
artistic endeavor. The Old
Masters type background with
your best friend incorporated.

www.billibonze.com
4225 W. Lovers Lane
Phone: 214-350-2963

Consultation
Landscape Installation
Landscape Design
Full-Service Maintenance

that banned smoking in hotels,

restaurants, and other public
places. One man drew laughs
from the council and the crowd
when he spoke against the ban.
Im not saying Im smart for
smoking, he said to Hashmi
before realizing whom he was
addressing. Oh, Im sorry
youre my doctor.
Hashmi practiced cardiology
in Paris for five years before he
decided to run for office. He felt
there was a disconnect between
the council and its constituents,
with the elected officials too entangled in personal agendas to
address important issues.
I was in an ideal position
as a complete foreigner, he
said. I didnt grow up in Paris. I didnt go to school in Paris. And I wasnt related to anyone in Paris. So my views were
based entirely on merits rather
than relationships.
Ralph Taylor, the pastor of
Bethel Temple Church, was eating breakfast at McKees, a diner
with an ashtray on every table,
the morning after the smoking
ban was approved. The lifelong
Paris resident has never met
Hashmi, but hes read enough
about to him know the mayor is
on top of every issue.
He seems to be civic-minded, Taylor said. Hes open; you
can talk to him. He takes into
consideration what you say, and
if what you say is not better than
what he thought, he stays with
his own opinion.
Hashmi did not become mayor by a popular vote. Paris is
one of the few Texas cities that
chooses its mayor by a consensus of the council, rather than
a poll of the people. But he was
put into office by far more voters than any of his colleagues
(see chart), and no one opposed
him when he was up for re-election a year ago.
The beauty of me getting
elected is, however you complain about prejudice, the bottom line is that the average
American doesnt think of it
that way, Hashmi said in an
interview at his Highland Park
home, where photos of him with
Musharraf, George W. Bush,
and Barack Obama hang not far
from pictures of his sons playing football for the Scots. My
election is the perfect example
of how broad-minded American
people are.
Email dan.koller@
peoplenewspapers.com