When Lewis Brant saw Manor accepting applications for the borough’s next mayor, he knew it was the perfect opportunity to give back to his hometown of nearly 29 years.
Brant, 56, a Republican, comes to the post with no prior political experience. He worked more than 15 years as a manager and independent distributor for a bread company in Pennsylvania.
He served on the Penn-Trafford Basketball Association board and coached youth basketball teams in the community for about 12 years while his sons — now 27 and 23 — were in school.
“I thought this would be a great opportunity to get involved and give back to the community some time that I had that I haven’t been able to give back in prior years because of having kids, everything else that goes on in life that really doesn’t give you that time — that opportunity — to give back,” he said. “I thought this would be the perfect time.”
Former Mayor Ed Malinoski was appointed to the post during a tumultuous council meeting in June 2022. He ran for the office in 2023, securing a two-year term with nearly 700 votes.
Malinoski resigned in August, citing a lack of support for his vision for the borough.
Brant was appointed Oct. 16 to finish the term, which will expire in 2025. He beat out one other community member who applied for the position, council President Tony Gockel said.
“I always thought he (Brant) was a good people manager,” Gockel said. “I know he’s pretty much a straight shooter.
“What I like about (Brant) is you can have an argument with him and disagree and then as soon as whatever you’re disagreeing (about) is done and you can agree to disagree, you move on and you work together,” he said. “He has the ability to put things behind him.”
Brant’s primary focus is overseeing the borough’s police department, which has two full-time officers and three applicants preparing to take the civil service test.
“There’s a lot that goes on within the borough, but the police department I think is one of the most important things. It should be a main focus of everybody on council, not just the mayor,” Brant said. “I want to make sure that there is a full staff and that the relationship between the police department and the borough is good. I want to be that bridge between the two.”
Brant also hopes to expand upon Malinoski’s efforts to revive Community Day — which had been a tradition in the borough for 80 years until it was shut down in 2002. The events Malinoski organized in September 2023 and in August drew hundreds of attendees.
“There’s a lot of talk within council of what the Community Day really should look like,” Brant said. “For myself, I appreciate everything Ed (Malinoski) did to bring back the Community Day, but I think the Community Day needs to go in a different direction.”
During his first borough meeting Wednesday, Brant was pleased to see a high level of communication among council.
“No council is perfect,” he said. “There’s a lot of different opinions, but I see a lot of people talking, so I think that’s a good thing.”
For Brant, serving as mayor is an honor and a blessing.
“I’m coming into this with an open mind and I’m not taking things personally,” he said. “This was a job that was bestowed upon me because someone abandoned their position, so I’m going to give it everything I can in the time that I’m here — whether it’s just for this term or if it’s for additional years.”