News that San Carlos Mayor Omar Ahmad died from a heart attack Tuesday morning stunned a local community of elected officials, business associates, friends and constituents who found it hard to believe the smart, good-natured politician was suddenly gone at age 46.
“We’re all pretty shocked here. No one saw this coming,” Vice Mayor Andy Klein said.
Ahmad had presided over a city council meeting Monday night that lasted until about 10:30. He appeared to be in his usual good spirits and didn’t say anything about feeling bad, Klein said.
The mayor was picking up a newspaper outside his home in the San Carlos hills, near Crestview and Club drives, when he felt severe chest pains and called 911 at 7:12 a.m., according to Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department Chief Doug Fry. While on the phone, Ahmad lost consciousness, Fry said.
Firefighters arrived at about 7:20 a.m., and two of them accompanied three paramedics inside an ambulance as all tried to keep Ahmad alive during the drive to Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, Fry said. Ahmad was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital.
He was elected to the council in 2007 and became mayor in December 2010 — the second Muslim mayor of a U.S. city.
He was born in Ohio and grew up in Florida, where his mother and father still live. Ahmad, who was single and had no children, is also survived by three siblings, according to council colleague Randy Royce.
“They were a very close family,” Royce said. “He also had lots of friends all over the Bay Area.” Royce choked up as he added, “He was a great man.”
Ahmad moved to California in 1998 to work for @Home Networks, after several years with the Discovery Channel Online, according to city records. He also worked at Napster, Netscape and Grand Central Communications. In addition, he founded TrustedID, Logictier and SynCH Energy.
San Mateo County Supervisor-elect Dave Pine, who had once worked with Ahmad at @Home, said he and Ahmad bonded over their love of politics and policy years before jumping into public life.
“One thing that’s unique about Omar, it’s rare to see someone bridge the technology community and the local political community,” Pine said. “Normally, everyone in the tech community has minimal interest in their local communities. The last thing they want to do is run for city council.”
Last year, Ahmad gave a speech at a conference in Southern California hosted by Technology Entertainment and Design. Although he was pitched as an “Internet infrastructure maven,” Ahmad’s six-minute speech focused on the power of the handwritten letter to make political change. According to TED officials, he was working with the nonprofit organization on a book titled “Citizen Advocate: How to Get Government to Move Mountains and Change the World,” which they still plan to release.
A dedicated public servant
In addition to his work on the city council, Ahmad served on numerous regional committees and boards including the Caltrain Board of Directors, San Mateo County Council of Cities, Peninsula Congestion Management Relief Alliance, San Carlos Green and the SamTrans Board of Directors.
In a statement released by the SamTrans district, colleagues described him as having a good sense of humor and being dedicated to public service.
“He was kind and funny, warm and genuine and he believed in the work he was doing on behalf of the public,” SamTrans board President Karyl Matsumoto said in the statement. “Omar was not afraid to ask the tough questions or make difficult decisions. … He loved his work, he was passionate and he had a terrific sense of humor.”
His San Carlos government friends said he thoroughly enjoyed the everyday tasks of his $300-a-month, part-time job as mayor, stopping in at City Hall on a daily basis and regularly attending community events and ribbon cuttings.
Ahmad was a “very high energy individual who understood the issues of the community, and really, the region,” said David Bouchard, CEO of the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce. When Bouchard opened his email inbox Tuesday morning, he had a message from Ahmad trying to make a business connection for a startup that wants to relocate to the city. The mayor sent the message in the middle of the night after the council meeting.
Ahmad was particularly pleased with progress the council had made in eliminating the city’s $3.5 million deficit over the past year, said Assistant City Manager Brian Moura. Ahmad strongly supported outsourcing law enforcement and park maintenance services, and at Monday’s council meeting he sided with a decision to reduce the pay of new firefighters.
‘Perfectionist of many things’
Ahmad brought enthusiasm to everything he did, including hobbies, Vice Mayor Klein said.
“He became a perfectionist of many things, whether his love of cigars or guitars, he would learn everything he could about,” Klein said. “He had an incredible amount of knowledge about many things you wouldn’t expect.”
He also was a mountaineer who successfully scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, among other summits, Supervisor-elect Pine said.
Ahmad’s parents and other family members are flying out to Northern California, Moura said. The city is talking with the family about holding some sort of service or celebration of Ahmad’s life, possibly as early as the end of this week, he said.
Moura said Klein will assume the mayor’s duties until the next council meeting, at which time he or someone else will be named interim mayor. Ahmad’s term expires at the end of the year and the council could either appoint a replacement, call a special election or hold the seat open until the next election.
The city’s flags were lowered to half staff on Tuesday.
Email Bonnie Eslinger at beslinger@dailynewsgroup.com.
