Mount Airy business owner and former mayoral candidate Teresa Lewis was approved for a vacancy on the city board of commissioners Thursday night, receiving support from all four of the existing board members.

Lewis, 50, of Montclair Drive, was one of five people vying for the opening that was caused by last month’s election of At-Large Commissioner Deborah Cochran as mayor. Cochran narrowly defeated Lewis in a race to become only the second female mayor in Mount Airy history.

Cochran was sworn in to her new job earlier this month with two years remaining in the four-year commissioner term she was elected to in 2007. The remaining commissioners decided on Dec. 3 to allow citizens to apply for the vacated seat, and each of the five who did was allowed five minutes to make their case Thursday night as to why they should be chosen.

After those presentations, Lewis was picked in a process in which each commissioner voted for two of the candidates as part of a narrowing-process OK’d at the suggestion of Commissioner Steve Yokeley.

This resulted in Lewis receiving votes from every board member — Dean Brown, Jon Cawley, Todd Harris and Yokeley — which led to her being declared the winner.

“It’s a very good feeling, especially the fact that all four of the existing commissioners gave me their support,” a smiling Lewis said at the conclusion of the meeting, which drew a standing-room only crowd. She now will be sworn in as at-large commissioner at the board’s next meeting on Jan. 7.

Thursday night’s development capped a bittersweet election season for Lewis, who spent more than $13,000 on her bid to become mayor. After dominating an Oct. 6 primary involving Cochran and two other candidates, Lewis lost a head-to-head showdown to Cochran in the Nov. 3 general election after mistakenly being declared the winner.

Others involved in Thursday night’s selection process included Peter Lydens, a former city manager who received none of the eight votes cast by the commissioners; John Pritchard, an ex-banking official, who drew one vote; Twyla Sickmiller, a local business owner and candidate for at-large commissioner in 2007, two votes; and Dennis Williams, a former Marine and counterintelligence agent, one vote.

In her oral presentation before the vote, Lewis cited her ownership of Workforce Carolina and leadership of the staffing agency for the past 22 years among her qualifications for commissioner. She also mentioned a lengthy record of community service that began in her 20s as president of the Parent-Teacher Organization at Tharrington Elementary School. That led to leadership positions with such organizations as the United Fund, Economic Development Partnership, Chamber of Commerce, city museum and others.

“My commitment to the community has been ongoing,” Lewis added during her presentation, “and did not start in July when I filed to run for public office.”

During a public-comment period near the start of Thursday’s meeting, Gene Clark — one of the mayoral candidates eliminated in the primary — had urged city officials to choose someone other than Lewis, although he didn’t mention her by name.

In calling for a “true fresh start for 2010,” Clark said he believed that picking any of those former candidates would not bring unity to the city and would be unfair to Cochran as well as citizens who had voted against Lewis. Clark added that if any of the mayoral candidates had desired a commissioner seat, they could have run for one in the recent election.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.