Not long after Iman Osman is sworn in Monday to represent Ward 5 on the City Council, the new council will hold an executive session and could potentially hire an independent investigator to review Osman’s qualifications for serving.
According to a memo for Monday’s meeting, which will begin with four councilors taking the oath of office for the new term, the council will enter an executive session to discuss “whether and how to proceed” in regard to a resolution passed in December that urged the incoming council to launch a formal inquiry into Osman’s residency.
Immediately following the executive session, the council could vote to direct the city attorney to retain an independent investigator to “prepare a report presenting the facts relating to Councilor Osman’s qualification to represent Ward 5 on the City Council.”
At issue since Osman’s campaign for council has been his legal address, which is listed as 210 Blake St. 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 would have true representation.
Osman has not publicly released the address where he lives. His attorney, Kiernan Majerus-Collins, has said he will not divulge the location because Osman is facing harassment, and that Osman plans to return to the 210 Blake St. address when renovations are complete.
Local officials have previously said that 210 Blake St. meets residency requirements under state law because Osman plans to return there, and there is no timeframe established by precedent for the state to define “temporarily absent.”
Complicating matters further for Osman and local officials was Osman’s indictment for gun theft charges last month, which led to calls from Mayor Carl Sheline for Osman to resign.
The building at 210 Blake St. was also one of the properties visited by Department of Homeland Security Investigations agents this week, which said it was “actively conducting audits of businesses in Maine to protect America from fraud & ensure businesses only employ legal workers.”
According to the City Council memo, if the council requests an investigation into Osman, a report on the investigation would be expected in time for the council’s next meeting “so that the City Council can determine whether to hold a hearing.”
The City Charter, under section 2.08, gives the council the authority to judge the qualifications of any of its members and of grounds for forfeiture of office.
According to that section, “a member charged with lacking the necessary qualifications to hold office or conduct constituting grounds for forfeiture of office shall be entitled to a hearing on demand, at which the individual charged shall have the opportunity to present witnesses and cross examine witnesses.”
Removal from office requires the affirmative vote of at least five members of the council. The member charged would be disqualified from voting on the question of removal.
Sheline said Friday that his position on Osman hasn’t changed.
“It’s past time for Iman Osman to resign,” he said. “I’m concerned that his issues will be a never-ending distraction for our city just as we’re about to start deliberations on a difficult city budget.”
