LEWISTON- Ward One City Councilor Joshua Nagine will serve as Council President until at least January.
City Councilors made the decision during their July 21st meeting, after choosing to remove Ward Six Councilor David Chittim from the position. Chittim was elected Council President back in January of this year.
Nagine, in his second term, has served on the Council since 2024. He was re-elected last November.
The Council vote for Nagine was unanimous.
The decision to remove Chittim stemmed from Councilor criticisms over Chittim’s efforts to find funding for a cut position.
During the budget process, Councilors voted to eliminate the vacant Director of Economic and Community Development position, and instead restructure the responsibilities among other administrators.
This was done mostly as a cost-saving measure during a tough budget cycle, although some Councilors did express concern over eliminating the role.
Based on comments made at the July 21st meeting, Councilors were seemingly unaware that Chittim and Mayor Carl Sheline were working behind the scenes to find funding for that Economic Director position.
Chittim stood by his actions, explaining that he felt the Council would want to reinstate the position if another funding source could be found to pay for it.
Councilors responded by saying that they felt Chittim went against the agreement they all came to, and that trust had been lost.
Some Councilors also voiced criticism to the Mayor for his role.
When the vote to remove Chittim as Council President took place, it passed 6-1, with Chittim the only vote against.