An apparent oversight made during 2021 updates to the City Charter threw a curveball in the City Council’s plans to call for a special election to replace Iman Osman, who resigned Thursday morning.
City Attorney Marty Eisenstein said that because the city now holds elections each year, the charter spells out that the City Council shall appoint someone to represent Ward 5 for the remainder of Osman’s term rather than hold a special election.
Councilors appeared flabbergasted by the news during a special meeting Thursday night, with some questioning whether to follow what they argued to be an extremely “flawed” charter.
Meanwhile, the opinion from Eisenstein was immediately met with calls from two councilors and members of the public to appoint former Councilor Eryn Soule-Leclair to the seat. Soule-Leclair lost to Osman in the November election by 35 votes.
After more than two hours of back and forth, a motion made to appoint Soule-Leclair to the seat failed by a 5-2 vote, with councilors Susan Longchamps and Bret Martel in favor.
The council then voted unanimously to direct staff to announce applications are being accepted for the Ward 5 seat, and that those applications will be considered during the Jan. 20 meeting.
It’s “disappointing that we have a flawed document that creates a situation where we can’t make a good choice.”
Josh Nagine, Lewiston City Council
At the center of the legal opinion is language in the charter regarding filling a vacancy on the council, which states that the council shall appoint someone if the vacancy falls less than one year before the “next regular municipal election.” A special election, per charter, is only held if the vacancy is created more than a year before the next election, which is no longer a possibility.
Prior to charter updates made in 2021, regular municipal elections were held every two years, where every seat was on the ballot. After the shift to staggered terms, elections are now held annually.
“The council does not have a choice to do a special election, according to my interpretation,” Eisenstein said.
Councilors were visibly angry with the situation Thursday. Josh Nagine said it’s “disappointing that we have a flawed document that creates a situation where we can’t make a good choice.”
“It’s clear that a mistake was made in the process,” he said, referring to the charter amendments in 2021.
For the bulk of the meeting, councilors could not agree on how to move forward, with some in favor of asking staff to develop a process for soliciting applications for the seat by Jan. 20, and others wanting an item more specifically appointing Soule-Leclair to the seat.
At one point, Council President David Chittim made a motion to call for a special election despite Eisenstein telling councilors that it could open the city up to litigation.
Because the charter states the council has 30 days to make the appointment, several councilors said they were not prepared to make an appointment the same day that Osman resigned.
“The vast majority of Ward 5 probably doesn’t even know they no longer have representation,” Nagine said.
Members of the public told the council that it appeared “desperate” to keep Soule-Leclair out of the seat.
Martel argued that the “only option that doesn’t entirely disenfranchise” the voters of Ward 5 is to appoint Osman’s opponent.
