I asked Mayor Jimmy Delshad at the end of our interview one question:

“How do you want people to remember you at the end of your Mayorship one year from now?”

“I hope people say the year was a blessing,” said Delshad. “I want to make my life matter, I want to have contributed something to the world.”

In fact, Delshad has already done that many times over. He was the first Iranian-American president of a non-Persian Jewish Temple in America in 2000; he was the first elected Iranian-American City Councilman; first elected Iranian-American Mayor and named one of the top 10 Most Influential Jewish Leaders in America by Forward Magazine.

He serves as an international cultural ambassador for immigrants around the world and as a civic ambassador for the people of Beverly Hills. He’s lobbied on behalf of their quality of life since he was first elected in 2003.

This includes turning his tenure on the council into the “Era of the Smart City,” by converting the City into the most forward technology thinking city in the U.S. and quite possibly the world. The technology he’s implemented has not only saved thousands, it’s secured the safety of Beverly Hills in a time of national turbulence.


Asking Delshad if he thought this was all possible when he was a child in Iran, he says: “My childhood as an Iranian Jew was not happy. It was always my dream to make something of myself so that those who were looking down on me, would one day look up at me.”

It started at 6-years-old when he fought to be the best student in the class, then the best student in the school.

When he immigrated to America in the late 1950s, he wanted to make high honors at his school Cal State Northridge. He wanted to be the best in the Electronic and Computer Science Department at CSUN.

As a junior engineer at his first job out of college, he was surpassing the expectations of his senior peers which helped lead him open his Electronic and Computer storage business.

His wife Lonnie, whom he met taking graduate classes at UCLA, encouraged him to start volunteering. His long civic career began by getting involved in his two children’s schools in the BHUSD.

“My family has had to sacrifice so much, but they are always so encouraging,” he says.

As he was installed a second time as the City’s mayor, his family once again was by his side . This time around he was joined by  a new addition: his grandson, who was born last year.

For his second term, Delshad is looking forward to shifting his attention to elevate and expand the brand of Beverly Hills. This starts with expanding the mindset of people who think Beverly Hills is only “glitz and glamour.” It’s also smart, green and it’s a friendly City, he said..

“I am tired of people seeing Pretty Woman and thinking businesses are snobbish. Beverly Hills is not like that.”

To showcase the City, Delshad has grand scale festivities in the works, including a three-day “Taste of Beverly Hills,” showcasing all of the restaurants in Beverly Hills and celebrating Sept. 2, 2010 as “90210 Day.” He will create a committee dedicated to these events, calling it the Friendly City Committee and another will form another committee to help”green” the City.

Going green, a priority of his and Vice-Mayor Barry Brucker, starts with his initiative to offer loans to people who install solar panels and utility saving devices in their homes.

Going green, being smart, celebrating Beverly Hills are all ways to elevate the City’s brand.

This is in hopes that more shoppers will come to Beverly Hills, stay in the City’s fine hotels and dine in the City’s exquisite restaurants.

“In order to put residents first, we have to help businesses generate revenue so the residents don’t have to pay more taxes to maintain services. We have to bring the right kind of business to Beverly Hills. The businesses that will bring visitors who stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores and leave with a good feeling.”

His efforts to attract good business will be crucial this year as forecasters are predicting another budget shortfall.

This year, Delshad will give more authority to the Citizens Budget Committee, chaired by Treasurer Eliot Finkel. The committee, formed last year, will have community members input on cuts before it arrives at the City Council’s desk for approval.

As we ended our interview that morning, I asked Delshad: “You have been dubbed by the media as a sense of pride for immigrants around the world, what do you see your role as?”

“I am bridge maker, I try to make bridges between different communities because I believe synergy between two is much stronger. I don’t want to be just remembered as a good Persian, I want to be remembered as a good person.”