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ALSO Features RELATED Diaspora Opinion Book of the day
Mussadiq and the Struggle for Power in Iran
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This
dilemma has kept many of my generation from actively
participating in the American political process. Having
gone through the 80's and the hostage crisis, we were
justifiably scared away from anything that would bring
up that ugly chapter of our history. We strived to keep
the topic of the discussions with our American friends
away from anything to do with Iran, if we had any American
friends at all. We kept neighbors at a distance, and
retreated to the comfort of Iranian restaurants for lunch
on Fridays where we could forget, for a brief moment.
But
things are starting to change. After 9/11 we have become
more vocal. We're starting to come out of our collective
shells, the discussions are getting more heated and we
are engaging our American friends more as they start
to "get it". Now state and local senators
are taking more meetings with Iranian advocacy groups
that are popping up on both coasts.
Case
in point, in this year's San Francisco mayor's race,
the leading candidate Supervisor Gavin Newsom who is
running an unbelievably successful campaign (dast-be
choob! trans; touch wood) has not one, but 2 Iranian
staffers. Ahsha-Ali Safai, and Baha (Bahador) Hariri,
as you will read, are two of the brightest stars, well-equipped
and outfitted, ready and willing to take on the challenges
the future will likely try to throw at them. They are
definitely two to watch. I recently met them at the Newsom
campaign headquarters in downtown San Francisco.
A
bit of background on Ahsha. Born in Iran in 1973 he is
an American Citizen and has been involved with politics
since age 18. He looks, walks, talks and is every bit reminiscent
of a hipper, cooler George Stephanopolis. Except he is
better looking (because he is Iranian!). During college
at Northeastern he worked in Massachusetts politics at
the city and state level, establishing many mentor level
contacts with big name politicians such as former presidential
candidate Dukakis. In 1995 after completing his undergrad
he went to work in the Clinton White House. When that term
was complete he went back to college, this time to MIT,
where he received his masters in Urban Studies and City
Planning.
In
2000 he moved to San Francisco and immediately went to
work for the Housing Authority. His function, unclog proposals
and budget approvals and laws that were stuck in the system.
Basically a swiss army knife. Find out why something is
stuck, and go get it fixed. This involved frequent meetings
with city council members and supervisors in order to advocate
and educate and explain the benefits and reasons why an
initiative was good and why they should pass it and get
it going.
It
was through this job that he met with and grew to respect
Gavin Newsom. When it became clear that Newsom was going
to run for Mayor, Ahsha joined the campaign as Deputy Field
Director. This function essentially mobilizes the supporters
for the candidate and coordinates activities in order to
maximize exposure, and help the candidate meet and interact
with as many people as possible.
Gavin
Newsom is somewhat of an enigma himself. He has come from
the best San Francisco has to offer. A local restaurant
and wine businessman, he has a well qualified awareness
of both the internal needs of the city as well as the important
image San Francisco has, as one of the top ranked cities
in the world. However, San Francisco has it's fair share
of problems that you can tell Newsom intends to tackle
with energy.
One
testament of the success that the Newsom campaign has experienced,
is in the signature gathering process. Any candidate can
secure the minimum signatures necessary to qualify for
a race. Basically this and the application fee gets you
in. The Newsom campaign however set an early goal of 20,000
signatures, but with one difference. They wanted the so
called "Hard Signatures". Anyone can drum up
a signature of a voter who agrees the candidate should
be on the ballot, but they may or may not vote for that
candidate. The Newsom people were after the signatures
of those voters who were going to vote for Newsom. A substantially
harder accomplishment. The goal of 20,000 was set in order
to beat the previous record, held by current Mayor Willie
Brown and political veteran, of 17,500 signatures. They
got over 23,000 hard signatures and a new record.
Part
of the success of the signature goal was thanks to the
efforts of Baha (Bahador) Hariri who took over the internship
program that Newsom had planned for. The program drafted
college students studying public policy as well as a diverse
range of other majors to come and intern for the campaign
during the summer. Baha was able to recruit some of the
highest caliber interns who brought not only a high degree
of expertise to the campaign, but an incredibly diverse
and enthusiastic energy that has contributed to the campaign's
overwhelming success so far. We're talking interns from
some of the best schools in the US.
Baha,
younger (but taller) than Ahsha, was born in the US in
1980 and has been back to Iran once when he was 15. He
grew up in a traditional Iranian-living-in-the-US home,
taught to respect and cherish his roots. He is the quintessential
proud young Iranian, a bit tentative because he is young,
but clearly unafraid of anything. Why he is unafraid is
possibly due to the fact that he is (deep breath) Magna
Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Berkeley, he has worked
for California Senator Barbara Boxer, and he is now the
only Iranian in his class at the John F. Kennedy School
of Government at Harvard no less, and the Vice President
of the JFK School Student body.
Ahsha: "Another
is that believe it or not this campaign hasn't promised
anything in return for votes. So the standard practice
of working with key community leaders and wooing them based
on their influence is not what we are about. There are
community leaders who are angry that we haven't gone to
them for help in the campaign. But we say vote for Newsom
if you think he is the best man for the job, not if you
expect favors."
Baha: "Another
thing I like about Newsom is his commitment to "Best
Practices" solutions. Take a problem, find what is
the best practiced solution others have found for it and
implement it. It's simpler and better than the more common
political compromise approach."
As
we walked around the office I was introduced to various
members of the staff and the volunteers who do everything
from make posters and banners, to call donors for money.
The Newsom campaign is about operational efficiency. Things
get done on time and are done well. The interns have been
an unusually successful part of the campaign and one aspect
is the proliferation of 
digital
cameras which has allowed the documentation of every major
event to be completely captured and recorded. This allows
Newsom to take many pictures with many voters and be able
to send them a signed thank you picture. Something that
goes a long way, and is a trademark of the personal touch
people feel when they talk to Newsom.
The
interns also use an ingenious device for getting signatures
and mobilizing themselves. They use an ironing board as
a standing table. It folds up quickly, is lightweight,
and they can move on to the next venue quickly. I think
it also adds a nice touch of grassroots symbolism which
people have obviously responded well to.
The
process is that based on whether the candidate wins or
not, as a staffer or volunteer, you may be invited to stay
on and hired. It's all based on honor, how well you work,
and whether you are right for the positions. Ahsha who
already has extensive experience in government, if Newsom
is elected, may well be given a job. Baha, although going
back to finish school, may also have a home when he is
done as well. Politics when it comes to this area is extremely
fluid and there are reasons for everything.
Then
I asked, "So why are you so involved? I mean, people
my age have spent the past 20 years trying to forget being
an Iranian and get on with their lives, hard as it has
been to do so. But what is it about being an Iranian that
is so important to you?"
Ahsha: " Had
we been better organized, the bill would never have seen
the light of day. With the strength of our community in
California, we never should have allowed a bill that directly
targets Iranians to happen."
Baha: "You
have to want to work hard to fix something."
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