Ibrahim Bashir (Los Altos City Council At-large, California, candidate 2024)

Ibrahim Bashir

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Los Altos City Council At-large

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas, Dallas, 2001

Graduate

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2002

Personal

Profession

Technology Executive

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Personal LinkedIn

Ibrahim Bashir ran for election to the Los Altos City Council At-large in California. He was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.^[source]

Bashir completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ibrahim Bashir provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 7, 2024:

• Birth date: October 27, 1980
• High school: Stratford Senior High School
• Graduate: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2002
• Bachelor's: University of Texas, Dallas, 2001
• Gender: Male
• Profession: Technology Executive
• Prior offices held:
  • Chair, Los Altos Library Commission (2016-2019)
• Incumbent officeholder: No
• Campaign slogan: Common Sense Results. For Us.
• Campaign website
• Campaign endorsements
• Campaign Facebook
• Campaign Instagram
• Campaign YouTube
• Campaign YouTube video
• LinkedIn

Elections

General election

General election for Los Altos City Council At-large (3 seats)

Ibrahim Bashir, Larry Lang, Sally Meadows, Eric Steinle, and Jonathan D. Weinberg ran in the general election for Los Altos City Council At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Ibrahim Bashir (Nonpartisan)
		Larry Lang (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Sally Meadows (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Eric Steinle (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Jonathan D. Weinberg (Nonpartisan)

---

	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To view Bashir's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bashir in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ibrahim Bashir completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bashir's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Ibrahim Bashir is running for Los Altos City Council because it's the only place he's ever truly felt at home. He’s raising his three kids here and sending them to local public schools. And when something in your home is broken, you fix it. That's exactly what Ibrahim intends to do on the city council. Despite moving around the country and never quite feeling at home, Ibrahim learned the value of hard work, perseverance, and community from a young age. As a tech leader in Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, Ibrahim learned how to solve big problems. He knows you solve big problems by setting ambitious goals. You spend smart. You execute with discipline. It's an approach he's eager to bring to Los Altos city government. But when Ibrahim and his wife Amal were renovating the teardown they bought, they experienced firsthand how frustratingly bureaucratic and nonsensical city processes could be. Despite his frustrations with city bureaucracy, Ibrahim sought ways to get involved and make the city better, which led to an appointment on the city’s library commission. But on the commission, Ibrahim discovered that the city was often slowed down by a vocal minority resistant to change and progress. They stalled downtown development and delayed improvements to cell reception, which cost taxpayers millions in legal bills. While the city has made some progress in recent years, with plans for downtown, housing, and climate action, significant work remains.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Affordable Housing: I would address affordable housing by breaking down barriers to inclusionary zoning in Los Altos. I would then push resources and policy into increasing the number of below-market-rate units available by funding projects or requiring new apartment developments to allocate more BMR units.
• Public Safety:

  With public safety, I want to bolster emergency preparedness by funding grassroots response organizations and increasing their engagement with the community. I also aim to create safer streets for bikers and pedestrians by increasing infrastructure and bike lanes. Finally, to combat crime, I will hire more detectives while also creating more opportunities for the police to interact with the community to

  increase transparency.
• Local Economic Vibrancy: For local economic vibrancy, I want to increase the opportunities local businesses get by holding more events. I also want to create support systems for smaller local businesses to help them understand and keep up with changing regulations.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Housing, Public Safety, Economic Growth and Development, Climate Action

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

As a councilmember, you are part of a small group tasked with a critical mission: to make the city of Los Altos more sustainable, vibrant, and inclusive. That is a charter that affects the lives of tens of thousands of people for decades, which is both unique and important.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I would recommend Essentialiam: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. While not specifically a book about political philosophy, it does offer a disciplined way of thinking to help you achieve more by doing less. The book's main idea is to replace the assumption that you can have it all and do everything with the pursuit of what's right, when it's right, and in the right way. By applying a more selective criteria, you can regain control of your choices and focus your time and energy on what matters most. I think that mindset is what Los Altos and our city council need in order to tackle long-standing issues once and for all.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I think the most important qualifications to be a councilmember in Los Altos, at this juncture in our journey as a city, are common sense, clear prioritization, and community engagement.

I’ve got over 20 years experience in business and technology building products that delight people. And that’s a direct result of my ability to work with folks from different backgrounds with different agendas in order to get things done.

When you have numerous problems to tackle, you need a clear strategic plan, the ability to prioritize, and collaborative decision making that involves the people impacted by the decisions you’re making. Long term strategic planning and disciplined execution are my areas of expertise from the private sector, and I believe I can bring that to city government.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibilities for someone elected to serve as a councilmember in Los Altos are determining city policies and service standards. Our city's mission is to be a sustainable, vibrant, and inclusive community in which to live, work, visit, and play. To accomplish this mission, we need to elect officials who have experience building sustainable, vibrant, and inclusive teams in both the public and private sectors, like myself. And we need elected officials who have empathy for every resident and the different ways in which they live, work, visit, and play.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked as a grocery bagger / cart collector at Kroger during the summer between high school and college. It taught me a lot about how every role in an enterprise is critical, if you take the time to understand how things connect.

What is your favorite book? Why?

A recent read that has stayed with me was Shantaram, a semi-autobiographical tale about a prisoner from Australia who escapes from jail, flees to India, and starts a new life providing free medical care to his fellow slum dwellers. My biggest takeaway was you can reinvent yourself at any point in your life, despite what your ethnicity, nationality, education, etc might otherwise dictate.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes, and having served on the library commission, including being the chair for a period, will be valuable experience I bring to council.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

I think the most important qualifications to be a city councilmember in Los Altos, at this juncture in our journey as a city, are common sense, clear prioritization, and community engagement.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

organizations: Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Santa Clara County Firefighters, League of Conservation Voters, 350 Silicon Valley Action, BAYMEC, and Planned Parenthood

individuals: Former Los altos Mayor and Councilmember Jean Mordo, Mayor of East Palo Alto Antonio Lopez, Los Altos School District Trustee Vaishali "Shali" Sirkay, Mountain View Councilmember Alison Hicks

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I believe both transparency and accountability are critical to ensure that government actually serves residents. The best way to create accountability is making sure priorities are aligned, communication is clear, and staff have the resources to do their jobs well. And by creating channels for transparency with the folks being served, we ensure a system of checks and balances.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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