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Mayoral candidate alleges clerk’s office mishandled qualifying paperwork; threatens legal action
Summary
At the June 8 meeting, mayoral candidate Chan Robinson accused the city clerk’s office of approving then rescinding his qualifying paperwork, said staff treated him like a criminal and warned he may file multiple suits if the issue is not remedied within 24 hours.
Channel Robinson used his five‑minute public‑comment slot on June 8 to accuse city officials of mishandling his campaign qualifying packet for the Sanford mayoral race and described a series of procedural and personal grievances.
Robinson said he submitted qualifying paperwork more than an hour before the filing deadline, that a deputy clerk initially told him his packet was in order, and that the city clerk later disqualified his filing. He disputed the clerk’s later action and said the sequence of events left him "treated like I'm a criminal" and effectively barred from campaigning. Robinson described attempts at informal remediation and said he had prepared litigation documents if the matter is not resolved promptly: "If you guys don't remedy the situation in the next 24 hours, I have paperwork for about four or five different suits," he said.
City staff did not take immediate action in the meeting beyond receiving Robinson’s comments. The clerk’s absence (she was attending a conference) was noted earlier in the meeting; the deputy clerk handled duties at the dais during the session. The transcript records strong emotion in Robinson’s remarks and his request that the commission intervene or provide clear process and transparency for candidate qualification.
Context and next steps: Robinson alleges procedural inconsistency between staff members regarding acceptable forms of campaign depository (he said he used a Square account and a recognized financial provider) and said he had complied with campaign requirements. He urged the commission to treat the matter as a fairness and access issue. The publicly recorded meeting does not include the clerk’s office explanation or a formal response; any official remedy would need to be processed by the clerk’s office, and legal remedies would move through the courts.
Quote: "When the deputy clerk says that my campaign packet is good, all of a sudden the city clerk can come in the next day 24 hours after a deadline has been met and say that I'm no longer qualified," Robinson said.
