[2] Upon inauguration, Brand became the oldest to assume the mayoralty of Fresno beating the previous holder Dr. Chester A. Rowell by 3 years and 21 days.

[1] The Brand family moved to Fresno when A.M. no longer ran the roadside business and started a career as a sea lion trainer, touring the county with his ‘Sparky the Seal’ act.

While in junior high, Brand and some friends were arrested for breaking and entering several schools and served time in the juvenile hall work program.

[1] At Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno, Brand was an average student who competed on the cross country and track teams and ran a 1:59 half-miler in his junior year.

After less than half a year in active duty as a technician, Brand returned to Fresno and engaged in a lifestyle he described as "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" before experiencing a "calling from God" in 1971.

On the side, Brand flipped houses and eventually opened a real estate business, Brand-Glenn & Associates, and car stereo store named The Sound Machine.

[1] After an unsuccessful campaign for the city council in 2000, Brand began serving on the Fresno Planning Commission as an appointee of mayor Alan Autry.