The Westbrook City Council president is expected to announce at the board’s regular meeting Monday, June 2, that he will not be a candidate again in November.

“I will announce publicly at the next meeting that I will not seek reelection,” Claude Rwaganje said.

Rwaganje was first elected to a three-year, at-large term on the City Council in 2019 and reelected in 2022. In December last year, Mayor David Morse nominated Rwaganje as his replacement as president of the seven-member board that unanimously elected him. More recently, questions about his residency have been raised.

Rwaganje, in a May 21 email to Westbrook-Gorham Now, said that he is still a resident of the city while owning a Gorham property, in addition to a home in Westbrook.

Rwaganje, according to Westbrook tax records, owns a house at 114 Myrtle St. Gorham tax records show that he bought an undeveloped lot at 11 Barnfield Lane in 2022. Bettina Cota, Gorham code administrative assistant, said in an email that Rwaganje is the current owner unless the property has been sold within the past few months.

A search of tax records shows that 11 Barnfield Lane is the only property Rwaganje owns in Gorham. But, an occupancy permit for a home built at that address was issued to a Wayne Nelson on April 24 this year, according to Cota.

“The Westbrook City Council consists of seven elected members, one from each of the five wards within the city, plus two at-large members elected city-wide,” according to the city’s website.

Angela Holmes, assistant city administrator, said in an email Wednesday, “If a sitting councilor were to change their permanent residence to a place outside of the city of Westbrook, technically their change in permanent residence is the action that removes them from council.”

Holmes pointed to Section 6.5 of the city’s charter that reads in part: “A vacancy occurring in the City Council by death, resignation or removal from the city of any member thereof, shall be filled for the unexpired term by a majority vote of the remaining members present and voting, voting by roll call.”

Holmes also said that Westbrook utilizes the state’s voting laws concerning residency, and she cited 21-A MRS Section 112.

“While it is the historical practice for a departing elected official to provide notice of an impending departure from their position, it is not technically required,” Holmes said. “The notice could also consist of the city clerk alerting the mayor and/or City Council of the elected official’s removal from the city when the person registers to vote in their new place of permanent residency.”

Rwaganje in 2008 founded ProsperityME, a nonprofit in Portland that provides financial education and counseling to immigrants. He serves as the agency’s executive director.

This article was updated to include a comment from Assistant City Administrator Angela Holmes.