Fil-Am businessman runs for Houston City Council seat

Philippine-born Fil-Am businessman Nelvin Joseph Adriatico is running for a Houston City Council seat. TWITTER

HOUSTON, Texas – A Filipino American businessman is running for Houston District J’s seat on the City Council in the Nov. 5, 2019 general election.

Nelvin Joseph Adriatico, 45, is running as a non-partisan candidate and hopes to be the first Fil-Am in the City Council. Adriatico is the president and founder of brokerage firm Core Realty LLC, has served as the president of the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce Texas and Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for the Office of the New Americans and Immigrant Communities.

Adriatico, an openly gay candidate married to Avinash Thadhani, has a son A.J., a University of Houston poli/sci sophomore A.J., and is executive producer and talk show host of Chit Chat Houston on KUBE57, according to OutSmart magazine.

The Philippine-born Sharpstown-area resident is involved in numerous nonprofits and professional organizations, including as chairman of La Rosa Multicultural Family Services, chairman of the Filipino American Caucus for Empowerment (FACE), board member of the HISD Asian Advisory Council, president of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Association (APAHA) and the Houston Royal Oaks Lions Club Foundation (HROLCF), and president-elect of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA).

Houston’s District J City Council was drawn in 2011 as a Hispanic opportunity district. The area is 61 percent Hispanic, with a large black and Asian population as well. The term-limited Mike Laster was the first representative of the new district. Neither an immigrant nor Hispanic, Laster is the first openly gay man to serve on Houston City Council. So being openly gay should not be a problem for Adriatico, reports OutSmart.

Adriatico wants to improve the public infrastructure, police protection and fire safety. Apartment fires are frequent in complexes in the area mostly inhabited by immigrants and minimum-wage workers. He also believes that with the right leadership, the district can become a destination spot for the entire city due to its cultural and culinary diversity.

“I came to this country with 20 dollars in my pocket. Immigrants are not a liability—we want to pay rent, we want to work, and we want to give back to this country. We are assets to our communities,” he told OutSmart.