Ahsha Safaí | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from the 11th district | |
| In office January 9, 2017 – January 8, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | John Avalos |
| Succeeded by | Chyanne Chen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1973 (age 51–52) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Northeastern University (BA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS) |
| Website | Government website |
Ahsha Safaí (born 1973) is anIranian-American elected official in San Francisco, California. He served as a member of theSan Francisco Board of Supervisors representing Supervisorial District 11 from 2017 to 2025.[1][2]
District 11 includes the neighborhoods ofExcelsior,Ingleside,Oceanview,Merced Heights, Ingleside Heights, Mission Terrace,Outer Mission,Cayuga, andCrocker Amazon.
Safaí was born inIran in 1973, and moved with his mother toCambridge, Massachusetts at the age of five.[3]
In San Francisco, Safaí served as political director for the janitors union local.[4]
In 2008, he ran for the District 11 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors againstJohn Avalos, losing by a close margin.[5] Safaí ran again in 2016, successfully, replacing Avalos who wastermed out of office.[5] During the 2016 race, he ran against Kimberly Alvarenga; Safaí was endorsed by theSan Francisco Chronicle.[4]
In April 2022, Safaí voted against keeping cars off the east end of John F. Kennedy Drive inGolden Gate Park. The ordinance passed 7–4.[6]
He worked with SupervisorsDean Preston andAaron Peskin to delay the construction of thousands of housing units in the Hub so thatTODCO, a low-income housing non-profit in San Francisco, could perform a race and equity study on the project within six months.[7] More than two years later, TODCO had not begun the study and the group said it had no intent to do so.[8]
In 2021, Safaí said he would oppose the building ofmodular housing for the homeless in San Francisco unless it used labor from San Francisco; a Vallejo company had up until then provided modular housing complexes faster and cheaper than other companies could.[9] In 2021, Safaí supported a proposal by Mayor London Breed to streamline housing production in San Francisco.[10]
In 2024, Safaí voted to downzone San Francisco’s Northern Waterfront, reducing the amount and density of housing that could be permitted in the area.[11]
In May 2023, Safaí filed to run in the2024 San Francisco mayoral election, challenging incumbentLondon Breed.[12]
Safaí, his wife Yadira, and their children live in San Francisco'sExcelsior District.[13]
