LEWISTON — Darcy Reed, a challenger in last November’s City Council race, is the only person officially seeking the soon-to-be vacant Ward 4 seat.

Reed took out nomination papers Friday for the seat held by Doreen Christ, who announced last week that she would step down this month.

City Clerk Kathy Montejo said would-be candidates have until Friday, Sept. 26, to collect at least 50 signatures from registered Ward 4 voters to get a spot on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Reed said she collected a handful of signatures this past weekend and hoped to collect the rest next weekend. She said she planned to turn in her completed nomination petition by Monday.

“I have some ideas that I’ve had in mind since I ran last time, mainly landlord and property owner issues,” Reed said. “I’d like to see a change in the way trash is picked up in Lewiston, with more emphasis on recycling. Those are just a couple of ideas, so far.”

Reed graduated from the University of Southern Maine in December and is taking classes at the University of Maine School of Law, intending to get a law degree and practice criminal law.

She said she’s usually in school five days a week. She should be just as able to serve as a councilor with a full-time job, she said.

“I really do treat my schooling as a full-time job,” she said. “It was part of my hesitancy running, being able to balance school and City Council. But I’ve thought about it and I’m confident I’ll be able make it work.”

Lewiston’s Ward 4 is in the center of the city’s land mass, bordered by Webster, Farwell and Sabattus streets in the west, Pond Road in the east and Old Greene Road in the north.

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