Émigré from Iran becomes US mayor

The highest-ranking Iranian-American in the US expresses his patriotism and outlines his priorities for Beverly Hills.

from the March 29, 2007 edition

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"Ethnicity was not an issue, as I saw it," says Bert Serden, a 32-year Beverly Hills resident. "For voters here, it was the individual who was important. [Delshad] comes across as being very straightforward and without any bias or ax to grind, and that's what really attracted people to him. People find him very direct and wanting to help."

That assessment of ethnicity-blind voting is music to the ears of Iranian-American political activists who see the selection of Delshad as Beverly Hills's mayor as a turning point for Iranian participation in American politics.

"This is very significant. It is the first time an Iranian-American has risen to this high a level," says Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council in Washington. "It proves there has been a political maturing of a community that has become extremely wealthy and successful in many areas of American life, but has still been [a community] that has marginalized itself by taking a very low profile as long ago as the hostage crisis of 1979 and as recently as 9/11."

Nationwide, census figures show about 350,000 Iranians in the US, but the number may be three times that because there is a lack of ways to easily identify them on census forms, Mr. Parsi says. Many identify themselves in other ways, from Jewish to Christian Armenian.

"We are seeing greater participation by Iranians in elections across the country, but more importantly in making their views known to elected officials from Congress to statehouses," says Parsi. "This will have a symbolic effect on increasing that."

In interviews, Delshad says he wants to put Beverly Hills on the national map as the "safest and smartest" community in America. At the outset that means placing surveillance cameras on various neighborhood streets to report to local police activities that range from traffic violations to theft to injury. After traveling to Israel, London, and Paris, he says that a new, intelligent "forensic and analytical" software is available that can detect if a person has fallen down, or whether a package has been left unattended.

"These cameras will make us an example for homeland security for cities across America," he says.

To deal with one of the city's thorniest quality-of-life issues, he wants to install new, mini-parking meters that accept dollar bills and credit cards and allow people to use their cellphones to reserve additional time.

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