Local News in Brief : McClain Won’t Be on Ballot

Clifford E. McClain, who had hoped to unseat Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores in the Los Angeles municipal election in April, has failed to come up with enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

McClain, a South Los Angeles consultant on community development issues, blamed last week’s bad weather for his falling about 100 signatures short of the 500 he needed by the deadline last Saturday.

Flores and Jo Ann Wysocki, a Wilmington homeowner activist, met the deadline. Before they legally qualify for the ballot, however, the City Clerk must verify the validity of the signatures they collected.

McClain said he will decide over the next few weeks whether to stay in the race as a write-in candidate. “I am going back and talking to some of the people and seeing if they would want to put forth that kind of an effort,” he said. “It could be a history-making event.”