2007年VOA标准英语-Iranian-American Becomes Beverly Hills Mayor

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
27 March 2007

Beverly Hills, the upscale California community many movie stars once called their home, is getting a new mayor - an immigrant from Iran named Jimmy Jamshid Delshad.  VOA's Mike O'Sullivan reports, the mayor became the highest-ranking US public official of Persian descent.

Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Jamshid Delshad

Jimmy Delshad came here as a teenager 49 years ago.  He studied electrical engineering, and made his fortune by starting, and later selling, a data storage company.  More recently he started a second enterprise that sells food-packaging supplies.  For the past five years, he has devoted¹ much of his time to charity and civic² affairs, something he wanted to do as an immigrant.

"And I felt like I owed something to America because when I was growing up, all doors were closed to me," he said.  "I had to work hard to get anywhere and anything.  And America gave me the opportunity to do anything I wanted to do."

His adopted city of Beverly Hills has barely 35,000 permanent residents, but it may be the most famous small town in America.  Known for luxury shops and elegant restaurants, the city's residential³ streets are lined with mansions⁴, where the old-time Hollywood stars once made their homes.

Delshad is part of the large Iranian Jewish community that came to Beverly Hills after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.  Today, they are nearly one quarter of the city's population.

In 2003, Delshad was elected to city council.  In Beverly Hills, council members take turns in the posts of vice⁵ mayor and mayor, and this year it was Delshad's turn in the number one spot.   He faced a tough reelection campaign in which ethnicity was a factor.  He says that the city clerk, who coordinates⁷ elections, printed this year's ballot⁸ in Persian, Spanish and English, and some US-born voters objected.

"And many, many phone calls came [in]," he said.  "Because of that they thought they were not going to vote for anyone that was of Persian background.  So there was a big backlash against me.  At the same time, we had also a backlash from the Persian community that said, we don't need that.  We are educated, we read English and so forth⁹, and a very, very small number of people wanted that."

Delshad has promised both sides that he will settle the issue of multilingual ballots¹⁰ based on input¹¹ from the community after he takes office.

He was reelected to city council by 171 votes, and so he kept his seat on the council, and in the coming year, will take his turn as the city's mayor.

Many local immigrants are pleased.  Delaram, a college student from Iran, works part-time in a Persian-language bookstore.

"Somehow it makes me proud and happy that an Iranian person has become the mayor of Beverly Hills, the famous Beverly Hills, and he is a distinguished¹² person," he said.  "Yeah, that's a good feeling."

Alex Helmi runs a shop that sells antiques and carpets.

"We are seeing more and more our community getting more involved in politics, and we feel great about it," he said.

Jimmy Delshad is good friends of another immigrant politician, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria. 

"Yes, I just had lunch with him, in fact," he added.  "He comes and we smoke cigars at a restaurant.  And I do see him and I am very proud of him.  He feels very similar to me that we both want to give back to America, and do everything possible to show our gratitude¹³ for America."

Beverly Hills is a small town, but one of the most famous in the world.  Tourists come from around the world to soak up some of the glamour¹⁴, and to mix with the rich and famous. 

Although the position of mayor is largely ceremonial, Jimmy Delshad says it will keep him busy, dealing¹⁵ with the ordinary issues that concern city government, like traffic and potholes¹⁶.  He also plans to bring his engineering background to bear in his job as mayor, saying he hopes to better coordinate⁶ the city's traffic lights, use high tech cameras to monitor parking lots and schools, and make free wireless¹⁷ internet available in the city.

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

3 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

4 mansions   

n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑，空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗，钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊，那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

7 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

12 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

13 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

14 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 potholes   

n.壶穴( pothole的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Potholes are also home to tiny desert animals. 洞穴也是弱小动物的家。 来自互联网
• If you're going to enjoy the good times, you've certainly got to deal with some potholes. 如果要享受甜美的胜利果实，当然要应付这些战绩不佳的指责压力。 来自互联网

17 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。