Court Denies Rainey-Sought Writ...Meaning Her Name Will Appear on LB School Board Ballot For Race She Entered But Decided Not To Pursue

Ms. Rainey had hired L.A. law firm in effort to remove her name from ballot

(Feb. 2, 2012) -- LBReport.com has learned that at a court hearing in Los Angeles this morning (Feb. 2), Superior Court Judge James Chalfant denied a Petition for Writ of Mandate sought by Ms. Naomi Rainey (President of the LB Chapter of the NAACP), who filed candidate paperwork to seek the LB School Board seat currently held by Jon Meyer but subsequently decided against pursuing the race.

Accordingly, Ms. Rainey's name will appear on the April ballot -- with LBUSD estimated costs of over $200,000 -- for a School Board seat that she has decided not to pursue.

The Court reportedly cited the plain language of the election manual regarding candidate withdrawal [includes deadlines and procedures] in ruling that Ms. Rainey hadn't shown her compliance in properly withdrawing.

Ms. Rainey had hired an L.A. law firm in an effort to have her name removed from the ballot.

LBUSD lawyers didn't attend an initial Jan. 31 court hearing on the matter (at which the judge indicated he wanted to hear more on the legal issues today). LBUSD spokesman Chris Eftychiou told LBReport.com (Feb. 1) that the School District's counsel examined the matter and didn't see a way to have Ms. Rainey's name removed from the ballot at this point.

The City of LB was present in court; the City's position was that it had fully complied with the law in the matter.

LBReport.com will update this story as we learn further.