Lewiston officials continue to face questions about the residency of School Committee member and Councilor-elect Iman Osman.

However, Mayor Carl Sheline said the city is “not aware of any violation of statutory requirements” and the council has no mechanism to take action before a councilor-elect is sworn in.

Osman was elected to the Ward 5 seat on Nov. 4. He’ll be sworn in Jan. 5 and will relinquish his School Committee seat.

Osman and his attorney, Kiernan Majerus-Collins, have said 210 Blake St. is Osman’s permanent legal address based on his voter registration. The building has been condemned since October of last year, with no clear timeline established for Osman’s return, which has led to continued questions from the public regarding whether Ward 5 has true representation.

However, the state’s definition of residence for voter registration purposes is: “The residence of a person is that place where the person has established a fixed and principal home to which the person, whenever temporarily absent, intends to return.”

According to City Clerk Kathy Montejo, the law also states the person’s residence is retained if they temporarily leave their home and go to another country, state, or place within Maine with the intent of returning.

In a recent letter to Montejo, Majerus-Collins said, “Mr. Osman is a qualified voter in Ward 5, which should end any uncertainty about his eligibility to serve on the School Committee (or, indeed, on the City Council).”

“While I understand the intensity of public interest, the city must adhere to the legal framework and cannot impose standards or remedies that do not exist under law,” Sheline said Tuesday.

Sheline nominated Osman for an open School Committee seat last year, and he was appointed by the City Council in December. Asked Tuesday, Sheline said he was not aware that the building at 210 Blake St. was condemned until recently.

Jon Connor, director of planning and code enforcement, said Tuesday that a city building inspector recently conducted a walkthrough of 210 Blake St. with the contractor, and “progress is being made on both floors with respect to the issued permit — although it’s progressing slowly.”

Montejo said the city recently contacted the Maine Division of Elections in the Department of the Secretary of State, which told her they do not have a definition of “temporarily absent.” 

“They could not give me any examples to use as a precedent to try to determine a timeframe or definition of ‘temporarily absent,'” she said.

After Osman was elected, Montejo attempted to follow up with Osman seeking clarification on his current address due to ward residency requirements established in the City Charter regarding his seat on the School Committee. 

In his response, Majerus-Collins declined to say where Osman is staying because he said Osman “has been the victim of a targeted harassment campaign.”

Montejo said she has forwarded the latest letter from Majerus-Collins to the city attorney and superintendent of schools for review, but did not have a response to share Tuesday.

Asked Tuesday, Majerus-Collins said, “Osman’s residence is 210 Blake St. and he has every intention of continuing to reside there moving forward.”

The issue was brought up during Monday’s School Committee meeting, but much of the public comments were deemed by the chair to not be committee business.

Sheline opened Tuesday night’s council meeting by reading the same statement on Osman that he provided to the Sun Journal, which was followed by comments from several members of the public.

Lisa Jones called on the council to conduct a third-party investigation into Sheline regarding what he knew before he nominated Osman to the school board, pointing out that the Blake Street building was the site of a significant drug bust leading up to the condemnation.

“Ironically, that seat was vacated by someone who had moved out of Ward 5 and was following the rules,” she said, referring to former School Committee member Ashley Medina.

Others on Tuesday said the noise surrounding Osman’s election amounts to nothing but accusations and personal attacks.

Martin Chartrand said he voted for Osman earlier this month because he wanted to offer his vote “to someone I thought would bring a new voice to the council.”

“I’m hopeful about that councilor-elect being my councilor,” he said. “I’ve been disappointed with the personal attacks and concerns, and haven’t heard anything substantive about what the person would do wrong in the seat on the council, only accusations.”

Asked about the continued questions about Osman on Tuesday, Majerus-Collins said, “the ‘questions’ about Councilor-elect Osman are nothing more than whining from sore losers who can’t stand seeing a Black man in city government.”

“The facts are on his side, the law is on his side, and, as we saw on Election Day, the voters are on his side,” he said.

Sheline said Tuesday that Osman is not a member of the City Council, and the council “does not have the authority to judge the qualifications of a person before that person becomes a member of the City Council.”

According to the Lewiston City Charter, “The city council shall be the judge of the qualifications of its members, … and of the grounds for forfeiture of their office.”

“We remain committed to transparency and will continue to uphold both the integrity of the process and the limits of council’s legal authority,” he said.