BEND, OR -- Negative campaigning between Lisa Seales and Casey Roats continues in their race for the Bend City Council.
Seales' supporters have filed a formal complaint with the Secretary of State's office, claiming Roats violated residency requirements by failing to live within the city limits the year prior to the election.
Roats says he moved to his parents house 2 miles outside the city temporarily while his house was being built. "We've done our homework and called the Secretary of State's office and they've told us it's very common for people to file with a residence they are going to be in." He said, "They've given us every indication that there are no problems."
He says, as a lifelong Bend resident, the charges are ridiculous. "This kind of politics should stay in Salem or Washington D.C. or large metro areas. "We should be talking about important issues. And it turns out my opponent has her own residency question herself." Roats claims Seales was a resident of Florida until earlier this year while she finished her doctorate at the University of Florida. He says she 's never voted in a Bend election and does not have a current Oregon driver's license.
