A day after a contentious City Council election for the Ward 1 seat, Councilmember Arthur Dowdell's half-brother, Larry Taylor, filed an amended complaint against council member-elect Clemon Byrd.
Byrd won the Aug. 26 election, 246-147.
Taylor claims Byrd does not live at 1116 Martin Luther King Drive in Ward 1.
Taylor instead claims Byrd lives at 600 Seminole St. in Ward 4.
"Numerous witnesses have come to the house located at 1116 Martin Luther King Drive, Auburn, Alabama, and can confirm that no one is living in said house," Taylor said in the complaint.
Taylor asked the Lee County Circuit Court for an expedited hearing in the complaint.
Taylor's complaint calls on the circuit court to remove Byrd from office and declare Dowdell the winner of the election.
Before the election, Dowdell made numerous claims that Byrd was not eligible to run for office.
"If by some miracle (Byrd) wins, I will sue to force him from office," Dowdell said Aug. 26. "The people need to be represented by someone who lives here."
Byrd brushed off threats of a potential lawsuit made by Dowdell on election night.
"My residence is 1116 Martin Luther King Drive," Byrd said. "The facts are going to stay the same regardless of what lawsuit he files."
Paperwork filed with the lawsuit states that Byrd was served notice of the complaint by regular mail to the Seminole Street address.
Dowdell claimed he visited Byrd's residence in August and found no evidence of a person living there.
"We went around back of the house where you could see all the way through the house," Dowdell said. "That house is dilapidated, there's no furniture in it. And (the city government) allowed him to still qualify to be on the council."
According to Dowdell, to be qualified to be on the ballot a Byrd should have abandoned his former residence and live in the ward for at least 90 days.
Before the election, Judge Jacob Walker denied a previous request brought by Taylor for a hearing on Byrd's qualifications to be on the ballot citing an Alabama law that stated a complaint could only be heard after the election.
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