LEWISTON- Following hours of discussion and lengthy public comment, City Councilors chose resident Chrissy Noble for the vacant Ward Five Council seat.
Noble, a social worker employed by New Beginnings, said she applied for the seat because she’s “concerned about where our city is headed.” She highlighted her background as a trained mediator who is well-versed on issues related to homelessness and addiction.
Chrissy Noble
Five residents applied for consideration, and ultimately two were nominated by members of the Council for a vote: Noble and Eryn Soule-Leclair, who lost re-election to the seat last November to former School Committee Iman Osman.
Noble was appointed by a 5-2 vote, with Councilors Susan Longchamps and Bret Martel voting against. Prior to the vote on Noble, Councilors voted on Soule-Leclair’s nomination; it failed 2-5, with Longchamps and Martel voting in favor. Those two had already indicated their support for Soule-Leclair at a prior meeting of the Council.
Eryn Soule-Leclair
The other applicants were Kiernan Majerus-Collins, an attorney and former School Committee member, as well as newcomers Nicole Johnson and Adam Buckley.
Nicole Johnson and Adam Buckley
Of the Ward Five residents who spoke during public comment, an overwhelming majority of them voiced support for Majerus-Collins. Several of them stated that they didn’t feel Soule-Leclair properly represented them.
Kiernan Majerus-Collins
Osman resigned the seat earlier this month following intense pressure on him and on the city, mostly by individuals outside of Ward Five. In early December he was charged with two counts of receiving stolen firearms, which he denies.
In October of 2024, police raided the building Osman lives in to arrest a neighbor for trafficking methamphetamine. The raid damaged the 1896 building, causing the city to condemn it as uninhabitable. The gun charges appear to be related to that incident, although it is unclear why Osman was charged more than a year later and only after winning a seat on the City Council. Almost no information has been made available to the public.
Many of those who called for Osman’s resignation also publicly called for Soule-Leclair to be given her old seat.
Due to an administrative error, amendments to the City Charter in 2021 did not include approved language that allowed for special elections to fill a vacancy when there is more than a year remaining in the term of a Councilor. The city’s attorney advised Councilors that a special election was not allowed based on the language of the Charter, and if they did not make an appointment within thirty days then the Mayor would be allowed to make the appointment.