A recently returned Turlock native has brought his newfound political activism home in order to be “the most impactful” for the people he cares about most.

Andrew Nosrati pulled papers on Tuesday to run for the Turlock City Council District 3 open seat in the November election. Council member Bill DeHart currently represents District 3. DeHart has not yet announced if he plans to seek reelection.

Nosrati, the head of product development for a tech company, said that his main reason for seeking a seat on the Council was to give a voice to the people of his district.

“What I want to do, if elected, is be transparent and open to the community leading this city…there’s a disconnection between politics and the people and I want to try and bridge that gap,” he said.

While the Turlock native and 2006 Pitman High graduate just recently returned to the area after living in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and New York, his desire to make a difference in politics started nearly a year and a half ago — on Jan. 24, 2017 to be exact. In fact, that date is tattooed on his arm as a reminder of his decision to be more politically active. 

Following his inked-memorialized New Year’s resolution inspired by the 2017 Women’s March on Washington, Nosrati started a movement dubbed “The American Stand.” The movement was dedicated to “bringing together all Americans under common cause, in pursuit and in defense of the American dream.” Nosrati used the tagline “Swipe Right to Unite” on Tinder and other social media platforms to get his unifying message out the public.

Nosrati was living in New York at the time and said his movement was all about getting people off the Internet and in a room together to have conversations.

“We have shared beliefs and shared desires. The overwhelming majority of people have a basic agreement of what they want,” he said.

While Nosrati still believes in his unifying message, he has since found that the best place to start a movement for change is in his hometown.

“I’m more inspired in Turlock than I was in New York because I see here that it really is our town to shape,” he said.

He jumped into local politics by spending the past few months volunteering on Democrat Virginia Madueno’s campaign for Congress.

“It was a great learning experience watching her campaign and connect with the community,” said Nosrati.

Nosrati said he has been talking with residents in District 3 — and all over Turlock — in order to find out what issues matter most to the people. So far, he said he’s heard from people concerned about the city’s rapid growth, increasing homelessness and poor roadways.

“I’ve watched the rapid growth. It hasn’t necessarily positively impacted those who have lived here longest,” he said.

Nosrati said that if elected, he would work to ensure that residents’ concerns aren’t “overlooked while the City chases new money.”

He that he’s also seen certain streets neglected while the City sends money to other areas of town.

When it comes to the City’s ban on cannabis operations, Nosrati said he thinks it “foolish for a city that needs economic opportunities to be stopped by old beliefs.” He advocates for evaluating the impact the cannabis industry has had on neighboring communities and having the issue be a “continual dialogue” for the City of Turlock.

Nosrati is hosting a candidate meet and greet from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 28. He encourages anyone interested in attending to RSVP to the event at his campaign website: nosratiforturlock.com