Shervin was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of two Iranian asylum seekers who faced religious persecution and fled for their lives in the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Before his second birthday, his parents immigrated to the San Fernando Valley and settled in Canoga Park, California. Raised for most of his early youth by his grandparents, Shervin grew up watching his mom work long hours, nights, weekends, and holidays at a department store to make ends meet for the family, while his dad took the bus to and from California State University Northridge and studied to become a family doctor. From an early age, Shervin learned the power of responsibility from his mother and the power of service from his father. As a young teenager in the wake of the 2008 economic crash caused by endless corporate greed, he wrote countless letters on behalf of his parents to Wells Fargo urging the bank to not foreclose their home. 

As Shervin grew up, he thrust himself into public service and the fight for social justice through the lens of public health. While in community college, Shervin joined student groups advocating for climate justice by addressing the impact of the city’s toxic urban runoff on low-income Black and Latinx neighborhoods. After transferring to UCLA, Shervin worked for a residential treatment facility where he witnessed how our broken healthcare system criminalizes mental health and substance use issues, and fails to meet people where they are at. 

After college, Shervin moved to the Bay Area and worked on HIV prevention and harm reduction within the LGBTQ+ community, and later in Washington D.C. as the city health department’s HIV Screening Coordinator. There, he built bridges between the city and low-income Black communities to ensure teenagers had access to sexual health education, free HIV and STI screenings, and contraception. After joining a national Indigenous healthcare advocacy non-profit, Shervin delved further into national health policy as he wrote public comments to the EPA and USDA to address water access, pollution, and food security in Tribal communities, and later became their Director of Congressional Relations. As the organization’s lead advocate on Capitol Hill, Shervin prepared Tribal leaders with testimony, talking points, and issue briefs to assist their advocacy with lawmakers, while he worked behind the scenes to push critical health legislation forward. 

By the time Shervin left to launch his bid for Congress back home in the Valley, he had successfully led advocacy efforts that resulted in the passage of legislation that

• Eliminated copays and cost-sharing for Native American Veterans seeking healthcare services through the VA
• Secured long-term funding for community health centers and diabetes prevention programs like the federal Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI)
• Delivered over $100 million annually into underserved communities to address the opioid crisis and to establish patient-centric community behavioral health programs
• Guaranteed over $10 billion in direct healthcare and public health funding to Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout his advocacy work on Capitol Hill, Shervin firmly understood that real change and real solutions required much bolder, institutional reforms that directly serve the working class and dismantle white supremacy. He saw first-hand the corruption that leads many to believe that things won’t change, but he also witnessed the power of organizing and what our Congress could achieve when it serves people, not profit; and community, not corporations.

Shervin holds a Masters of Public Health degree from George Washington University where he wrote his thesis on the generational public health consequences of mass incarceration, and a Masters of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Shervin and his wife Jamie Ishcomer-Aazami, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and fellow public health activist, live in the West Hills neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley with their deaf rescue dog, Vicki. They proudly welcomed their first child, Barrett Ishcomer Aazami, on June 9th, 2021.

My name is Jason Potell, and I am running for California’s new 32nd Congressional District. Thank you for taking the time to read about both myself and the other candidates. Whomever you decide to vote for, I am grateful for anyone that takes their civic duty as a voter seriously. 

I grew up here in the Valley, born to a mixed Mexican-Jewish working class family.  However, the world we are facing today is much different than that of my childhood. The past few years especially have been incredibly difficult for many of us. The issues in front of us grow increasingly complex, with no simple solutions.

The guiding principle of our campaign is “Action with Empathy.” I made the decision to run last year, after losing 3 family members and my small business in 2020. Throughout this race, my biggest takeaway from speaking to people both in Los Angeles and elsewhere is that my story is not unique. At every level, no matter what side of the aisle we are on, most of us are hurting.

We are living in a critical moment for the US. It often feels like every day brings a new crisis. We need leaders who understand this moment, and have the knowledge, mindset, and temperament to be effective in today’s world.

What I Will Do 

When I first thought about running for office, my family’s first comment was, “We think you are too honest for politics.” That may be true, but that is also why I will be straight up front: I am not running because I believe I can solve every issue we face in LA and nationwide. As I am sure many of you feel, I do not trust people who say that.

In LA and nationwide, we’ve been promised solutions to homelessness for decades now. Here is the truth: Homelessness is a massively interconnected crisis that requires addressing issues in housing policy, economics, mental health, and structural racism, just to name a few areas. There is no one policy change that will solve this. 

That is why I have committed that on day one my office will become a hub for multi-sector, multi-level policy discussions on housing and homelessness with the relationships I have intentionally built throughout this campaign. Further, we will be open and transparent at all times on the latest developments and strategies born out of this hub. If after my first term you are not satisfied with the approach, then vote me out.

Just as we have run our campaign, our office will also be intentionally welcoming to all residents of our district - regardless of party. I am a Democrat, but I am proud to have not only Democratic supporters and donors, but Independents and Republicans as well. I deeply believe that when you sign up to represent a district, you sign up to represent all people who live there - not just those who agree with you. I am running to do the best I can to make people’s lives better - and I am not so conceited that I believe I alone have the best ideas.

My Connection to the Community

Regardless of the outcome of this campaign, I have been, and will continue to be deeply involved in a wide variety of areas of our community here in the 32nd District. I regularly conduct homelessness outreach services through several local organizations. I am a staple volunteer at local food banks. I assist the planning and production of community events such as resource fairs. 

As a proud Chicano, I love to celebrate my family roots by performing traditional Mexican folk dances with an incredible local Mexican arts group. As a Jewish person, I am involved with multiple synagogues and Israeli arts groups in the Valley and LA. 

I am an artist - specifically I am a poet, singer, and dancer. At Christmas I perform Christmas songs for local churches and shelters. I recently contributed a poem to a local Jewish arts organization that teaches the story of the Holocaust through art. Los Angeles is a city of artists, and we need that perspective now more than ever. For what is art but the expression of our humanity?

In Closing

If you leave here remembering anything, let it be this: I do not have all the answers, and would never claim to. What I do believe is that I am an intelligent, empathetic, and thoughtful person, that would do everything I can to make my hometown proud to have me as a representative. 

If you are currently proud of the state of our neighborhoods, city, and country, then I respect that, and I am probably not the candidate for you. However, if you are like me, and believe we can do better, I hope you will give me the chance to earn your support.