Psychiatrist Dr. Aakash Ahuja has announced his run for a seat on the Santa Clarita City Council in 2020.
With two seats on the Santa Clarita City Council up for grabs in 2020, Ahuja joins a field of four other candidates that have officially filed: current City Mayor Cameron Smyth, Jason Gibbs, Chris Werthe, and Jonathan Ahmadi.
“With God’s grace and blessings from my elders, I have decided to run for Santa Clarita City Council,” Ahuja said.
Ahuja, his wife and their two children have been Santa Clarita residents for over five years, and works as a psychiatrist for a state prison in Lancaster.
“We have been very blessed to be in Santa Clarita,” Ahuja said. “We have a lot of good things going for us and have met many great people through the community.”
The doctor chose to run for City Council after joining local business leaders on the 2019 KHTS Sacramento Road Trip, and helped show him how important the community is. Ahuja has always been interested in local issues and now feels the call to duty.
“We are no longer a city of 100,000 people, we are larger and a new vision is required,” Ahuja said. “I believe based on my team building skills and optimism, I don’t just focus on issues and challenges, I focus on logical and reasonable solutions.”
Some of Ahuja’s goals for the City are to create a drug-free community, increase childrens’ safety, and to improve small business opportunities, among others.
Ahuja strongly advocates for an improvement in mental health access, having been a board-certified psychiatrist for more than a decade, dealing with with psych issues and helping those with substance use. Ahuja believes there is a direct correlation between stable mental health and one’s welfare.
“I believe for any community to become stronger, good physical and mental health care is needed,” Ahuja said. “Regarding mental health, it impacts us all, our children, others around us, (and) homlessness. There are transients who have issues and diagnoses, if we can increase resources, including task forces, we can make a change.”
Currently, Ahuja serves on a mental health subcommittee for Assemblywoman Christy Smith, shaping initiatives. If elected, Ahuja would recuse himself from the subcommittee.
Ahuja also works with College of the Canyons’ Student Health And Wellness Center. Along with Larry Schallert, the Center’s Assistant Director, Dr. Ahuja hold forums, where students and parents can openly ask questions regarding mental health.
“What separates me from other candidates,” Ahuja said, “I believe working on the City Council is a duty for anyone who’s elected. If I get to serve, I will donate all of my salary to local charities, benefiting seniors, veterans, differently-abled, students and first responders.”
For more information regarding Dr. Ahuja, visit his official site.
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Oh yea just what we need another smart fool to go along with Governor Nuanced
I don’t know him but did some google and research on his social media pages. He seems to be determined and smart guy .I also asked him some question on child safely and he responded back quickly on what he thinks the solution may be.
I have known Dr Ahuja for a few years now… He will be an excellent addition to the city council of Santa Clarita… he is excellent leader, determined, and tries to resolve issues whole heartedly…. wishing him all the best!!
Dr Ahuja will prove to a welcome addition to the city council with his vibrant energy and fresh ideas. I know him to be focused and diligent in getting thing done. That’s is what the city needs. Worth giving him a chance. Give him you vote and watch him make thing better.
Dr. Gill
Chief Psychiatrist
CDCR
Known Akashi Abuja for years
He is one of the most work evasive, gossip oriented, talk behind your back kind of guy, during meeting eating with bare hands and lick his fingers in front of an entire room, he is disgusting.. He does minimal amount of work just to show he has done the work to superiors and create a good impression, I apologize for this factual but negative review but it’s strictly my personal opinion and I may be completely wrong.
Also by the way Dr Ahuja will maintain his 40 hour per week day job at Lancaster State Prison as a Stata Psychiatrist making approx 35000 dollars a month or more including benefits. Where will he have time to give to Sant Clarita City Improvement? Also his giving away his Santa Clarita City Council Salary of 2100 dollars a month which should be his full time job dedicated to the city and its people. This is just another brazen example of misleading people to appear great that he will give away all his pay while “not being there most of the time” and making 35000 dollars or more as a State Psychiatrist and I guarantee you he works less than 10 hours knowing his work habits and gossiping nature, past behavior predicts future response
Again my apologies I feel the people should known the truth about this man and my apologies again as this is my opinion only and hope I am wrong as I don’t want to spoil anyone’s reputation unnecessarily
1) How many city counsel meetings have you attended in the last five years? How many have you spoken at and what did you say?
2) What committees have you been a member of for the city and what was your role and stance? What about education meetings?
3)As a parent, have you been elected to a site council? Advisory committee?
4) How many times have you spoken to Representative Barger regarding our community and it’s shut down?
5)How have you been advocating for small business owners who are barely hanging on in this valley and even our neighbors?
6) What specifically have you presented to police or the city regarding drug abuse? I’m hoping to find out how you are going to make change.
Above are the questions posted to Dr .Aakash Ahuja by a resident of Sant Clarita, which he is ignoring. Please enlighten us what you did for our city before running for the city council .
Can you please take this opportunity and let us know about your past service for the community you are planning to serve. We would be more interested to know on what you did than just promises you make to be elected.
I too would like to know the answers to the questions that John posted above as well as the items I have included.
John’s questions:
1) How many city counsel meetings have you attended in the last five years? How many have you spoken at and what did you say?
2) What committees have you been a member of for the city and what was your role and stance? What about education meetings?
3)As a parent, have you been elected to a site council? Advisory committee?
4) How many times have you spoken to Representative Barger regarding our community and it’s shut down?
5)How have you been advocating for small business owners who are barely hanging on in this valley and even our neighbors?
6) What specifically have you presented to police or the city regarding drug abuse? I’m hoping to find out how you are going to make change.
I would also like to know:
7) Your stance on the 2nd amendment.
8) Where you stand in regards to Law Enforcement.
9) How you plan to address our city’s overcrowding and the traffic issues that go along with it.
10) As a Saugus High alum with a granddaughter who is a current Saugus High student and a grandson who will be attending Saugus next year, do you have a plan for keeping our children safer and how do you plan to implement said plan, or will you simply rely on stricter gun laws that have proven not to work? It’s already illegal to bring a weapon to school and illegal to commit murder, since those laws were ignored, what is your solution OTHER THAN more gun laws?