LEWISTON, Maine — What should have been a routine step to fill a vacant City Council seat turned into a drawn-out, almost three-hour drama Thursday night, complete with the council president floating a move the city attorney warned could violate the Lewiston charter and invite a lawsuit.
The vacancy opened after Ward 5 Councilor Iman Osman resigned Thursday morning.
Thursday evening, councilors were gathered for a special meeting believing they could call a special election, until City Attorney Marty Eisenstein told them the charter does not allow, now that Lewiston holds municipal elections every year.
Eisenstein said the charter’s vacancy language triggers a special election only if the seat opens more than one year before the next “regular municipal election” a timeline Lewiston can no longer meet under annual elections. The result: the council “shall appoint” a replacement to serve out the remainder of Osman’s term.
“What if we just… don’t?”
Instead of accepting the legal reality and moving on, Council President David Chittim pushed the meeting into a marathon, at one point making a motion to call a special election anyway, even after Eisenstein warned it could expose the city to litigation.
Several councilors openly fumed about the situation, calling the charter “flawed” and blaming an “oversight” during the city’s 2021 charter updates.
Beth Matthews said during a public comment session, “it’s painful to sit here and listen to you argue about semantics, and your inventing language that doesn’t exist, so it appeals to your own ideology.”
Councilor Susan Longchamps at one point in obvious frustration said, “we absolutely obey the law!”
The Ryn Soule fight and accusations of a stall tactic
The legal opinion immediately sparked calls from two councilors and members of the public to appoint Ryn Soule, the former councilor who lost to Osman in November by 35 votes.
That motion failed, 5–2, with Councilors Susan Longchamps and Bret Martel voting yes.
Lisa Jones told the council it looked “desperate” to keep Soule-Leclair out of the seat. And as the council pivoted to an open application process instead, critics in and around City Hall argued Mayor Carl Sheline was telegraphing his preferred outcome all along: block an immediate appointment and drag the process out long enough to shape the pick, turning a council appointment into what they see becoming a mayor appointment.
Lewiston School Committee member Janet Beaudoin and a candidate for the State Rep race special election in February, ripped into the mayor. “Mayor Sheline your judgement has been consistently poor. You have rewarded people who promote your political party over the people of Lewiston, you talk of moving Lewiston forward, but your appointments have brought us nothing but distractions and legal issues and a total breakdown of public trust.” Beaudoin then turned to the council, “stop allowing the mayor to bully you around.”
Councilor Scott Harriman spent the evening saying that he did not have the opportunity to review the information provided to the council just prior to meeting and could not make as decision. Prompting Andrew Jones to say, during public comment, “if you can’t keep up, get out of the way.”
The council ultimately voted unanimously to solicit applications and take them up at its Jan. 20 meeting.
Nagine bristles at Republicans and the press being in the room
During the meeting, Councilor Josh Nagine also took exception to Republicans, and to The Maine Wire, being present as the council argued over how to fill the seat. The Maine Wire was the only news outlet in the room.
How to apply for the Ward 5 seat
In a city release, Lewiston said it is accepting Ward 5 applications through 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, with applications submitted to the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, 27 Pine St.
The city is directing applicants to use its standard appointment form “Application for Appointment to City Board/Commission/Committee” available online.
On another note, the Maine Wire, Editor in Chief, Steve Robinson spoke at the podium telling the council that this reporter experienced threats of intimidation and gun violence earlier Thursday and that the Maine Wire will be filling a police report with the Lewiston Police Department. The council attempted to shut Robinson down, but he thanked them before they could do so.
