Jonathan Ahmadi never thought he’d enter a career in politics after he earned his aeronautical engineering degree from UCLA.
Then came the 2016 election, a year he said inspired many, including him, to get more involved in politics and “give back to the community and this country.” He took a major step by quitting his job and volunteering for then-candidate Katie Hill’s campaign. After her win in 2018, he served as her senior district representative in Santa Clarita before Hill’s resignation last fall.
Now he’s looking to run for Santa Clarita City Council, which he announced at a kick-off event over the weekend after stepping down from his previous role on Friday.
“What I really learned from my role and working with Hill is that you can’t represent unless you’re out in the community and hearing from them directly,” said Ahmadi, who moved to Santa Clarita from Culver City when he started working in the area.
If elected, Ahmadi said he would work with Santa Clarita’s leaders in business, government and other sectors to help bring more jobs, increase resources and the number of shelter beds for the homeless, and expand affordable housing.
“This community still feels like a small town and the reason is that people own homes, raise their kids and they buy homes here, so there’s that continuity,” he said. “We have college students living in their cars and others just a paycheck away from being homeless. If we don’t address the issue of affordable housing, that continuity will go away and that’s critical of who we are in Santa Clarita.”
Ahmadi, who enjoys hiking with his wife, said he would help preserve the local area’s open space, one of the topics he said he shares with current council members.
“I’ve met with them and I look forward to the day I can call Councilwoman Laurene (Weste), for example, on how to end Cemex,” he said. “I really do respect the people on the council, and we have found ways to work together in the past.”