Major flaws remain in the Lewiston charter, including the lack of a mechanism for removing local elected officials from office, city leaders said this week.

At least three councilors and the mayor appear on board with calls for establishing a charter commission, arguing that the charter leaves too much to interpretation, including the roles of mayor and city councilor, and leaves no way for elected bodies to remove or recall a member.

The charter debate was revived last month amid the controversy over Councilor-elect Iman Osman, who was under the microscope for residency questions, and now faces outright calls to step down following an indictment last week.

Councilor Tim Gallant, who will be replaced by Bret Martel next month, said the charter has resulted in several “stumbling blocks” in the two years he’s been on the council and he urged councilors to pursue changes.

“The charter has cut us off at the knees from doing anything that seems to be correct,” he said.

During a council discussion Nov. 18 that he requested, Gallant referenced the Osman controversy, saying, “A lot of things going on now we have no control over because we’re handcuffed by our own charter. We can’t remove somebody, we can’t stop somebody from being elected, we can’t have recalls.”

Gallant said the charter has lots of “gray area,” and “the gray area always defaults to the person you don’t want it to default to.”

Other officials say, recent events aside, the charter has needed more sweeping updates for years.

The city undertook a charter review, which is limited in scope, in 2021. A full charter commission, however, allows for any aspect of the charter to be changed, and several officials and members of the public over the years have argued that Lewiston’s charter — now nearly 46 years old — deserves a full commission review.

‘NO TOOLS’

Councilor Josh Nagine, who will be sworn in for another term Jan. 5, said he’s been concerned with how vague the charter is, and supports asking Lewiston voters to establish a full commission.

He said Lewiston’s charter spells out a “weak mayor, fairly weak council and strong administrator” form of government, which is common in Maine, but the duties of councilors and the mayor aren’t spelled out. He pointed to issues the council has had with mayoral appointments and ad hoc committees versus standing committees.

“Duties aren’t truly clearly defined and anyone can take what they see there and take powers that don’t belong to them,” he said. “There’s a lot of expectation that the council take action and influence policy but there’s no tools to do it.”

Nagine said he wouldn’t be opposed to having a nine-member council, which could be accomplished by adding an at-large council seat, and allowing the mayor to vote.

While he said he’s hesitant regarding adding recall or removal mechanisms, he also understands why some officials and the public would like to see language added.

He said the current language “as far as qualifications and conduct, there’s not a lot of process in which the public can effect major change if their councilors don’t listen to them.”

With five councilors carrying over into the 2026 term, along with two new councilors, the issue will likely be on the docket in the first few months.

Councilor Scott Harriman said he’s also in favor of a charter commission because it gives the public “more say.”

Mayor Carl Sheline said this week that “there are definitely changes that could be made to increase representation in city government,” and that he agrees a commission is needed.

Council President David Chittim last month asked city staff for more information on what kinds of changes would necessitate a commission versus a review committee. If the recommended charter amendments are deemed by legal counsel to be “major” changes to Lewiston’s structure of government, then a full charter commission is required.

If Lewiston voters ultimately approved the formation of a commission, the city would then have to elect commission members in a process that is regulated by state law.

‘BROKEN DOWN CAR’

City Clerk Kathy Montejo told councilors that a clause in the charter requires a charter review every 10 years with the year ending in 1, a process that would be due again in 2031.

While voters approved nine amendments in 2021, including a shift to staggered terms for elected officials, many have said the internal charter review doesn’t allow for the kinds of changes needed. An attempt to establish a full charter commission in 2022 was rejected by a newly-elected council after the previous council approved sending the question to voters.

Luke Jensen, a former councilor who was elected to the School Committee in November, has always found flaws with the charter. When he resigned from the council in 2021, Jensen pointed to the charter as needing “serious reform.”

Reached this week, he said the charter “doesn’t allow anyone to provide any direction for the city.”

He said when it was adopted, the charter separated executive powers between the mayor and city administration, but that the split “has meant nobody has had the authority or mandate to push the city in any direction.

“If we redefine how that power is split and balance it between the council and administration, it will change the whole political culture in Lewiston,” he said. “Until then, we’re a broken down car that isn’t going to make any progress.”

Jensen said he also believes the charter should give the council and School Committee an easier way to remove someone from office, or clarify that “each body can determine what constitutes grounds for expulsion.”

The charter as written only states that a councilor or School Committee member must vacate their seat if “convicted of a crime or offense involving moral turpitude while in office.”

While Gallant’s time on the council is nearly up, he urged the council to push for a public vote on a Charter Commission this coming June during the school budget referendum, with the possibility of using the November 2026 election to elect commission members.