Court refuses to block Medley election

The roller-coaster legal ride of Medley’s mayoral race finally ended Friday — at least temporarily — when an appellate court rejected Mayor Roberto Martell’s attempt to have his only challenger disqualified.

The appellate judges upheld a lower court’s refusal to grant an injunction that would have forbidden election officials to count any votes cast for Lily Stefano, a charity manager who is Martell’s only opponent in Tuesday’s election.

Martell contends that Stefano didn’t live in Medley, a tiny industrial town of less than 1,200 residents, for the year prior to the election required by the town charter. He filed suit in September to have her removed from the ballot, but the trial judge last month ruled against him.

The Third District Court of Appeal upheld that ruling Friday. But the judges said Martell can continue to pursue his lawsuit after the election — which means that if Stefano wins, he can go to trial in an effort to keep her from being seated.

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Court refuses to block Medley election."