DOWNEY : Road to Ineligibility Paved With Asphalt

Living on the wrong side of a Downey street cost a former city councilman a place on the ballot in the city’s June 7 City Council election.

Lyell Swearingen, a 76-year-old retired businessman, saw his aspirations for a return to the council’s District 2 seat dashed when he attempted to file nomination papers at the city clerk’s office. To his surprise, Swearingen learned he is ineligible because he lives across the street from the district’s boundary line.

Swearingen represented District 2, which encompasses the southwest portion of the city, from 1978 to 1982 and was mayor during his last year in office. He moved out of the city four years ago, then returned last year. The boundary lines were redrawn in 1992. He now lives in District 3, which is north of his old district. He said he might run for that seat when it comes up for election in two years.

Two of the five council seats are on the June 7 ballot. In District 2, incumbent Barbara J. Riley, 62, a substitute schoolteacher, faces Patrick McDermott, 68, a retired elementary school custodian.

In District 4, incumbent Robert S. Brazelton, 64, an attorney and current mayor, seeks a second term against challenger Robert Feliciano, 53, a law enforcement consultant.