Jimmy Delshad was recently moderating a breakfast meeting to plan the annual fundraiser for a Beverly Hills Iranian American charity.
The event draws mostly members of the city's Iranian community. But Delshad had other ideas.
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Councilman Plays Role of Cultural Mediator
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday April 21, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 69 words Type of Material: Correction
Mansion owner -- An article in Monday's California section about Beverly Hills Councilman Jimmy Delshad quoted Ellen Stern-Harris of Beverly Hills as saying that a "monster home" was built next door to her French Normandy style cottage. While that passage implied that the house was built by an Iranian, Stern-Harris did not say that she thought it had been built by an Iranian, and in fact it was not.
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"Let's invite Larry King! ... Dennis Ross? Paul Anka?" he said, waving a Montblanc pen in the air, searching the skeptical faces around the table. "Let's reserve tables for Americans up front ... get a lively MC ... hire a band?"
Delshad is Beverly Hills' first Iranian American councilman. And since his election last year, he has emerged as an unlikely ambassador between the traditionally insular Persian community, which makes up about a fifth of the city's population of 36,000 residents, and the rest of Beverly Hills.
His election was considered a milestone for Beverly Hills' Persians, who until recently had played a relatively small role in civic affairs. But many residents now see him as a mediator in several long-simmering cultural conflicts between Persians and non-Persians.
The biggest issue is the ornate architecture Persians favor when remodeling their homes. Some residents believe the soaring columns and grand entryways favored by some Iranians are too garish and ruin the vintage aesthetics of the surrounding community. The city has drafted new architectural guidelines that some Iranians say target them unfairly.
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Taking the Lead
Delshad is the most prominent face among Persians of a new generation, who are assuming leadership roles in civic life. In doing so, they are attempting to reverse the clinging impression that Iranians refuse to assimilate.
A working mother of three, Nooshin Meshkati, who is co-president of the El Rodeo PTA, is typical of a younger generation of involved mothers. She arrived in Beverly Hills as a high school student, when her family transplanted itself to the city before the Iranian Revolution in 1979. When her children started school, getting involved in their education came naturally to her.
A computer scientist by profession, Meshkati's first goal was to get more computers into classrooms. "I started to get active in the PTA, and then everything just grew out of the school, extending to the city, the state like a chain reaction," she said. "You realize immediately -- to do more, you need a bigger body involved."
In coordination with other Persian mothers, Meshkati put on multicultural dinners at El Rodeo and got the school board to make "Nowruz" -- the Persian new year -- a school holiday.
