Mayor Omar Ahmad Passes away
San Carlos , CA : Mayor Omar Ahmad of San Carlos City, California, passed away on the morning of May 10 at the age of 46.
A widely respected politician, businessman, and community leader, Omar will be missed by one and all. He was elected to the San Carlos City Council in November 2007. He had previously served as a member of the City's Economic Development Advisory Commission (EDAC). While on the City Council, Omar was selected to serve as the Mayor of San Carlos in November by his fellow Council Members.
He was a well-known entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and was responsible for the startup of a number of companies including the Discovery Channel, @Home, Trusted ID, Grand Central Communications, Napster, Netscape, and most recently, as co-founder and CEO of SynCH Energy Corporation.
Ahmad was deeply committed to his faith and guided the community in grooming the next generation of leaders. By personal example he showed how to balance faith in mainstream politics. He took his oath of office in the presence of an Imam. Noted playwright Wajahat, who was a close friend, observed: "In all his activities, he remained committed to his faith. He helped nurture and train Muslim-American leadership. He was a behind-the-scenes mover, who used his vast entrepreneurial experience to make sure the next generation would be able to build real, lasting community relationships with our neighbors. We admired him, not because he was Muslim, but because being Muslim made him do admirable things.”
City Manager Jeff Maltbie said, "Those of us at City Hall who had the opportunity to work with and get to know him are devastated by his loss. Omar's dedication to the citizens of San Carlos and his passion for democracy will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends."
Ahmad is survived by Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad (father), Nadira Ahmad (mother) and two sisters (Fataima Warner and Leah Berry).
The City lowered the flags in front of City buildings to half staff in honor of Omar Ahmad.
