Upset victory ushers in a first for Beverly Hills council. (Politics).THIS month's elections marked a major breakthrough in the City of Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. : for the first time, an Iranian-American has been elected to the City Council. In an election upset, Jimmy Delshad Jamshid "Jimmy" Delshad (Persian: جیمی دلشاد) is an Iranian-American politician from the state of California. , an entrepreneur who came to the area 44 years ago and founded a computer data storage company, edged out incumbent Councilwoman and current Mayor MeraLee Goldman by 289 votes to capture one of two open seats on the City Council. (Beverly Hills has at-large elections for its five-member council.) When Delshad takes office this week, he will also become what is widely believed to be the first Iranian-American elected official in L.A. County. Delshad's victory marks a coming of age for the Iranian-American community in Beverly Hills. Although no U.S. Census figures are available, it's estimated that Iranian-Americans number 8,000 out of Beverly Hill's 33,000 residents. While Iranians started coming to Beverly Hills following the overthrow of the Shah Shah is a Persian term for a monarch (ruler) that has been adopted in many other languages. This term is a Post Islamic Revolution term for monarchs in Iran which is replaced by valie faghih or Supreme Leader. in 1979, it's only in the last five to 10 years that they have become politically active. A number of Iranian-Americans have been appointed to city commissions; according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. city spokeswoman Donna Reyes, four out of the city's 48 commissioners are Iranian-American. Until this month, no Iranian-American had won a city election, although one had ran for a council seat in 1997 and another made an unsuccessful bid for a school board seat in 1998. Delshad said one key to his victory was getting several hundred Iranian-Americans to register to vote. "In past elections, only about 500 Iranian-Americans would go to the polls. They stayed away because they came from a country where voting was a scary scar·y adj. scar·i·er, scar·i·est 1. Causing fright or alarm. 2. Easily scared; very timid. scar thing to do," he said. Delshad said one of his major goals would be to increase civic involvement from the Iranian-American community. "We need to see more Iranian-Americans at fundraisers and other city functions." He added that he also wanted to convince Iranian-Americans to patronize pa·tron·ize tr.v. pa·tron·ized, pa·tron·iz·ing, pa·tron·iz·es 1. To act as a patron to; support or sponsor. 2. To go to as a customer, especially on a regular basis. 3. more businesses within the city. Staff reporter Howard Fine Howard Fine (November 28, 1958) is an American acting teacher, the founder of the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, CA, and also a theatre director. Early Life Howard Fine was born on November 28, 1958 in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the youngest of 5 children. can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or by e-mail at hfine@labusinessjournal.com. |
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