Brad Lewis Appointed Interim City Councilman

San Carlos city leaders voted unanimously on Monday to appoint former mayor and councilman Brad Lewis to serve out the remainder of Omar Ahmad’s term, after Ahmad died suddenly last month.

“Brad, like Omar, brings a sense of levity to a tense job,” said San Carlos City Councilman Royce, choking back tears. “We miss that.”

Lewis was one of 11 applicants interviewed earlier in the day by the four-member City Council. When asked by Councilman Grassilli to describe what he felt were the city’s biggest challenges, Lewis said it was citizen and staff morale.

“What are the goals of the next six months and how can someone like me be effective?” said Lewis. “Monitoring the morale of staff, finding what they want to do next, and figuring out the big changes what’s been working and what hasn’t.”

Mayor Omar Ahmad’s sudden heart attack on the morning of May 10 left a vacancy in the council. Vice Mayor Andy Klein stepped forward as the city’s acting mayor, though no official mayor has been appointed.

Klein had taken himself out the running for mayor after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. The day after he removed himself from the running, the district attorney reported Klein’s blood alcohol level was at 0.07, a hundredth of a point below the legal limit.

Klein told San Carlos Patch he would never have removed himself from consideration had he known he was within the legal limit and said he intends to reinsert himself into mayoral consideration.

On May 23, the city council was unsuccessful in appointing a new mayor after the nomination of Randy Royce failed in a 2-2 vote. The council decided to postpone appointing a new mayor until they had appointed a fifth councilman.

Lewis will now be the fifth vote on the council when they vote to appoint the city’s next mayor on Monday.

Before the decision was made, acting-Mayor Klein asked his three colleagues to pick their top two choices out of the 11 candidates. Councilmen Grassilli and Matt Grocott both chose Lewis and John Sieling while Klein and Royce chose government veterans Lewis and Don Eaton.

Lewis was the only name on every councilman’s list for appointment. He has previously served on the council and has been mayor. He is the producer of the Academy Award-winning Ratatouille, as well as Antz and the upcoming Cars 2 for Pixar.

Lewis said he does not intend to run in November due to scheduling conflicts.

“Mr. Lewis is a person who I served with,” said Royce. Immediately before he announced his support for Lewis. “I know him well. Why I’m leaning toward him is because he’s more different than I am. He has a young daughter. He’s very artistic and creative. He’s very talented. It’s good to have opposites. He knows how to manage people. He brings a positive attitude to the job.”

 Lewis’ official swearing in will take place on Monday when the council will reconvene to vote to appoint the next mayor of the city.

 “You never think you’re going to have to replace one of the people who serves alongside you,” said Klein before voting for Lewis. “I went back and forth and I thought it should be someone who was involved before. We need someone who really gets what we’re doing. I think this is the time when a former council member comes up here and lends us a hand.”