Paul Lopez is Busted

I have looked into this a matter a little since it first came up. One problem is that the city does not have a definition of what is a “resident” for the purposes of running for office. And the municipal elections are run by city law and not state laws.

If he was running for a legislative seat, it would be an open and shut case because state specifically states one has to be registered in the district for a certain time to be eligible to run for a seat there.

The city laws have no such requirement. They only require one to be a “resident” but do not define how that residency is determined.

If he wins the election, this matter should and probably will, go to court and a judge will have to make a determination. My understanding is that Lopez has multiple addresses and has effectively lived off-and-on at all of them so can claim any of them as his residence under the current lack of specific definition. I suspect lack of legal definition will work in his favor in court.

In any event, City Council needs to pass a ordinance defining residency for the purposes of elections.