WESTBROOK – The Ward 3 City Councilor has been disqualified from running for the seat this fall after officials determined he actually lives in Ward 4.

Lyle Cramer, a Conant Street resident, has been the Ward 3 councilor since April 2008, when he filled the seat vacated by Ed Symbol, who left the City Council to join the School Committee.

According to City Clerk Lynda Adams, Cramer himself was the first to question whether he actually lived in Ward 3, when he was looking at a map of the wards in the clerk’s office while filing his nomination papers.

Adams said, in the city’s computer system, Cramer and his Conant Street neighbors are registered in Ward 3. However, after she and City Solicitor Bill Dale compared the written description of the wards in the city’s code with the computer system and the map, they found discrepancies.

Though Adams said she and Dale are still trying to determine how to interpret some of the language to figure out which ward some Conant Street residents are in, they are certain that Cramer’s home falls in Ward 4.

Unless a Republican comes forward to run before 5 p.m. Friday, Democrat Paul Emery, a planning board member, will run for the Ward 3 seat unopposed.

“I think the losers are the voters in Ward 3, because they lose a choice,” Cramer said Friday.

In July, Cramer was still questioning whether he would run at all in November, and though he eventually decided to throw his hat in the ring, he’s not particularly disappointed about being disqualified.

Cramer said he’s been advised by city officials that he’ll be able to remain the Ward 3 councilor until his term is up in January, unless someone challenges his right to be there.

Cramer served three terms on the council in the 1980s, when he said he was certain he lived in Ward 3.

According to Adams, the city was last redistricted in 1994, and she’ll likely start that process again next year. The population of each ward must be within 10 percent of any other, and, particularly with the growth of Ward 5, Adams said, it’s time to take a look at the boundaries.

“It’s a huge project and this is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said.

Lyle Cramer