Courtesy of Belal Aftab
Saratoga mayor Belal Aftab centers his agenda on residents’ feedback.
Since being appointed Saratoga’s mayor in December, 39-year-old Belal Aftab has set his sights on improving community vitality and fostering meaningful connections among residents — goals rooted in his own youth in Saratoga. Growing up here as the son of Pakistani parents, Aftab recalls the 9/11 attacks as a turning point in his life, one that inspired him to learn more about the world of politics.
“It was an interesting time to be Muslim because it was something I never really thought about,” he said. “All of a sudden everyone was talking about 9/11 and in quite a politicized way.”
After 9/11, Aftab, who attended Bellarmine Prep instead of Saratoga High, became more involved in his community, interning for his congressman Mike Honda for two years. However, while later majoring in Business and minoring in English at UC Berkeley, he focused more on his academics and professional development, putting aside his interests in politics.
After a few years in a professional career, Aftab said he felt unfulfilled just working in the private sector. He began volunteering at soup kitchens and organizations across the Bay Area. Eventually, he joined the Saratoga Traffic Safety Commission in 2019 to see what local problems he could help solve, particularly school traffic safety, leading initiatives to improve the safety of the city’s routes to schools.
Since then, he has served on the City Council since 2022 and was elected vice mayor in 2024. Aftab’s campaign centered around emailing community members and spending his weekends knocking on residents’ doors and having conversations with them.
From these experiences, Aftab has learned to trust himself more, making sure that he can commit to his vision despite pressure to make certain decisions.
As mayor, Aftab said he intends to implement a four-prong agenda focused on increasing traffic safety, housing development, community vitality and disaster preparedness. Many of his agendas stem from feedback he has received from residents. For example, Aftab received various emails from community members who expressed concern about wildfire preparedness in the city.
Aftab said that he also aims to work on strengthening a sense of community, as many residents said they still feel isolated in recent years.
“A lot of the feedback I got is that people felt like they’ve lost that sense of connection to their neighbors and their friends,” Aftab said. “So whether it’s investing in having a vibrant downtown or having different events like the classic car show, things like that are an opportunity for our community to come together.”
Currently, Aftab, who is unmarried, is juggling his mayoral responsibilities with his job as a business developer at Stripe, a financial services software company. He’s able to balance the two occupations by using calendars to schedule his meetings and plan extensively. Sometimes, it comes down to harsh prioritization, as it is impossible for him to attend every event he is invited to.
Like his own exploration with local government, Aftab encourages high school students to intern for local congressmen, whether it is to be part of a student advisory board or youth advisory committee.
“Get involved in a cause you care about, like the climate, food insecurity and the cost of living in the Bay Area,” Aftab said. “So many things need help, so there are a lot of problems that need solving.”
