Vice Mayor Preet Didbal will be sworn in as Yuba City’s mayor at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, making her the first Sikh woman to hold the highest elected office in an American city.

City council members rotate into the mayor and vice mayor positions every year based on vote count, outgoing mayor Stanley Cleveland Jr. said. Didbal also became the first Sikh woman elected to a U.S. city council in 2014 following eight years on the Yuba City Planning Commission and two years on the Sutter County Planning Commission.

“I like it when people think issues through and do their research, and she does that. She’s very thoughtful,” Cleveland said. “She’s just a good person to work with.”

Thousands of Sikhs have settled in Yuba City due in part to the surrounding region’s fertile soil. Last year’s Sikh Parade Festival was the largest gathering of the religion’s members outside of India.

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