Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has nominated Vahid Khorsand, the current deputy director of Planning and Land Use for Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, to the Board of Public Works.
“Vahid has dedicated his life to lifting up communities and making sure city government opens doors of opportunity for our residents – and that makes him the ideal leader to help us deliver the core services that make our neighborhoods work,” Garcetti said in a statement.
Khorsand was born in Tehran, came to Los Angeles at the age of 4, and was raised in Porter Ranch and Granada Hills. After college he worked alongside his brother at BWS Financial Inc., a Woodland Hills-based boutique equities research firm.
He earlier served as the West Valley Area Representative for Garcetti from 2020 to last year, when he helped bring mobile vaccine clinics, resources for small businesses and facilitate the donation and dissemination of PPE to community-based organizations in the West Valley.
“It’s an honor of a lifetime to be entrusted by Mayor Garcetti and the City Council to serve my city of Los Angeles on the Board of Public Works,” Khorsand said. “I look forward to getting to work with my fellow Angelenos and digging in on important public infrastructure projects through the city.”
The Board of Public Works is the five-member executive team responsible for the administration of the city’s Department of Public Works, overseeing and managing more than 5,000 employees within the department’s five bureaus: Bureau of Contract Administration, Bureau of Engineering, Bureau of Sanitation, Bureau of Street Lighting and the Bureau of Street Services.
Public Works is responsible for design, construction, renovation, and operation of public projects ranging from bridges to wastewater treatment plants and libraries; curbside collection and graffiti removal; and maintenance of streets, sidewalks, sewers, streetlights, and street trees.