A growing chorus of frustrated Lewiston residents is demanding accountability from City Hall, accusing city leaders of failing to enforce basic residency laws as the controversies surrounding Councilor-elect Iman Osman continues to escalate.
A new petition launched December 6, directly calls out the Lewiston City Clerk and Mayor Carl Sheline for what residents describe as a stunning lack of oversight.
At the center of the petition is Osman’s use of 210 Blake Street as his registered address, a building condemned and ruled uninhabitable in October 2024 after a drug raid. Despite the property’s status, City Clerk and Registrar of Voters Kathy Montejo accepted the filing and allowed the address to stand, enabling Osman to run for and win the Ward 5 council seat.
Beth Matthews, the petition organizer, told the Maine Wire, “this situation was completely avoidable, the city just continues to gaslight the public.”
Matthews argues that Maine law and the Lewiston City Charter require a candidate’s registered address to reflect their actual, fixed place of residence. Those rules say a condemned structure simply cannot meet that definition and that the clerk’s office failed to perform the most basic due diligence.
Residents also point to months of unanswered concerns about Osman’s residency, including his refusal to provide a verified, habitable address. According to the petition, those concerns went unaddressed by the mayor, who remained silent even as the dispute intensified.
The controversy deepened earlier this month when Osman was indicted by an Androscoggin County Grand Jury on charges involving receiving stolen property and theft of firearms. Petition supporters say the indictment should have triggered immediate action from city leaders, yet none came.
Last week the mayor finally said that Osman should not join the city council but was very careful not to address Osman’s school committee seat.
The petition also cites a failed internal attempt to review Osman’s residency last year. School Committee members, where Osman also serves, sought to investigate whether he lived at the address he claimed. That effort collapsed when Osman and a former campaign manager voted to block the inquiry. The petition states this was another moment when city leadership could have stepped in and didn’t.
Matthews says the petition was launched because residents have lost patience with city officials who have ignored clear red flags. They argue the lack of scrutiny from the clerk’s office and the mayor has allowed the situation to spiral into a full-blown crisis, raising doubts about the integrity of Lewiston’s election system.
The petition calls on city leaders to immediately verify Osman’s legal residence, correct voter records tied to condemned buildings and determine whether he is eligible to serve on the City Council. Dozens of residents have already signed on, urging City Hall to take action before Osman’s scheduled swearing-in early next year.
City officials have not responded publicly.
