Roberts, Allies Take Control of DC 37 Board; Win Landslide Over Ensley and Sweep 20 Board Seats

Roberts, Allies Take Control of DC 37 Board;
Win Landslide Over Ensley and Sweep 20 Board Seats

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, who had bristled over the checks on her power exerted by political opponents who controlled the union's executive board, broke free of those shackles Jan. 23 when her slate swept the 20 contested board seats.

LILLIAN ROBERTS: Vanquishes her opposition. Ms. Roberts was overwhelmingly re-elected by DC 37 delegates, getting 83,486 votes to 37,503 for challenger Charles Ensley, the president of Local 371. She and her allies now occupy 28 of the 29 executive board slots, including the top four officer positions.

'No Longer Held Back'

The decisive victory gives Ms. Roberts's Members First team full control of assignments to union committees as well as the board of DC 37's Health and Security Fund, and empowers her to make changes as she sees fit.

"This means we will be able to accomplish what we were elected to do," said Ms. Roberts shortly after the ballots were tallied. "We have been held back by the bickering and unwarranted criticism. Members were sick and tired of it."

The results represented a dramatic swing from three years ago when members of the opposition Unity slate won control of the executive board and Mr. Ensley came close to unseating Ms. Roberts. Mr. Ensley and his allies were stunned by the results; although he hadn't expected to defeat Ms. Roberts this time, he believed his slate would win at least the 14 contested seats necessary to retain control of the board (Because Local 371 represents more than 5 percent of DC 37's 121,000 members, it automatically receives a seat on the DC 37 board, as do four other locals whose presidents supported Ms. Roberts.).

CHARLES ENSLEY: Shocked by debacle. "We had thought, frankly, that we would win all 20 seats," Mr. Ensley said. "If our candidates had stuck together and voted for each other, we would have won."

The 20 executive board seats voted on last week were decided by delegates from DC 37's 51 locals, which together make up slightly less than 40 percent of the union's membership.

Members of Mr. Ensley's Unity slate represented locals whose memberships provided more than half of the delegate votes in the election. If the delegates from those locals had voted as a bloc for Mr. Ensley's slate, they could have won all 20 seats.

CLAUDE FORT: United board will breed respect. "They were well-organized," Ed Hysyk, president of Local 2627 and a member of the Unity slate who lost his race for the executive board, said of Ms. Roberts's forces. "They used bloc voting. Locals voted for the incumbent, and the power of incumbency is important."

Ensley supporters said that one difference from the 2004 election was the death last year of Edna Williams, president of Local 1597, who had been an Ensley ally. That local's 1,800 votes went to Ms. Roberts's Members First slate this time, accounting for about half the margin between the two slates.

The top 20 vote-getters in the field of 40 won the executive board seats. The highest vote-getter on Mr. Ensley's slate received 20,398 votes, while the lowest tally among Ms. Roberts's candidates was 25,073.

Contract a Key Factor

Ms. Roberts said that her team did not do anything different in this year's campaign. But she said that securing a contract that was approved by 97 percent of the members was an asset.

"Members were able to watch my performance," she said. "Last election, I had only been there [23 months]."

Members of the new executive board said they were looking forward to less rancor at the meetings.

"I'm ecstatic," said Carmen Charles, president of Local 420 and a member of the executive board. "Maybe we can get back to doing the business of the union instead of fighting amongst ourselves."

Several members of Ms. Roberts's slate said the absence of opposition on the board would give it more focus.

Fewer Distractions

"This board will not bring charges," said Maf Misbah Uddin, DC 37 treasurer and president of Local 1407. "They brought 18 different charges against Lillian and she won them all, but it took a lot of time."

Other executive board members said they hoped the newly united leadership would give them more clout with the city.

"When people know you have the whole union behind you, you get more respect," said Claude Fort, an executive board member and president of Local 375.

Ms. Roberts said her first priority will be to get the city to agree to provide day care for 25,000 members who need it. She also said she will continue to push for the approval of city legislation which would allow DC 37 members to live in six state counties surrounding the city. The measure was agreed to by the Mayor under last July's contract deal but has been stalled in the City Council.

Members First's agenda also includes pushing for more members to get promotions under civil service rules, and for 4,000 members who have recently gotten college diplomas to be given consideration for advanced job titles.

The Vengeance Question

Some members of the opposition worried that Ms. Roberts and her team would strip them of positions on union committees and on the Security Benefits Trust, which manages member benefits worth more than $200 million.

Ms. Roberts said she was not seeking to punish anyone. "They're members of the union just like us," she said. But when pressed about committee assignments, she said that in the past she had assigned people to committees who were ready to do the work.

"The people who criticize don't help with union business," she said, "so I have to work with the people who will work with me. And so when there are assignments to give, they get them."

Loyalty Bought?

Mr. Ensley said he was confident that some delegates had crossed over and voted for the Members First slate because they were promised "perks" such as committee assignments, which can come with an annual stipend of up to $9,000. "The incumbent has a lot of power and privilege to hand out," he said.

A spokesman for Ms. Roberts said it was too soon after the election to make decisions about any changes to existing committees or boards. Currently, members of Mr. Ensley's opposition hold several committee chairs and make up about half of the Security Benefits board.

Members of the opposition said they would wait to see how Ms. Roberts and her team would wield their newly consolidated power.

"I hope I'm wrong about Lillian Roberts; I hope she brings the union together," said Mark Rosenthal, president of Local 983 and a longtime supporter of Mr. Ensley. "They've got the power now, and their record will be judged in three years."

Rest of New Board

The vice presidents who were re-elected are Lenny Allen of Local 2021, Michael Hood (Local 1505), Walthene Primus (957), and Jim Tucciarelli (1320).

Newly elected members of the executive board are Jackie Rowe-Adams of Local 299, Colleen Carew-Rogers (Local 2054), Terry Cleveland (1559), Sirra Crippen (1507), Michael DeMarco (1455), Cuthbert Dickerson (374), Alfred Edwards (1759), Charles Farrison (1797), Morris Johnson (154), David Moog (1757), Eileen Muller (1482), Darryl Ramsey (768), Kevin Smith (1655), John Townsend (1322), Esther "Sandy" Tucker (384), and Shirley Williams (1219).

In addition to Mr. Uddin, DC 37 President Veronica Montgomery Costa and Secretary Clifford Koppelman were re-elected without opposition.

The locals with more than 5 percent of the union's membership re-elected their officers in November to serve on the executive board. They are: Local 371 Vice President Faye Moore, Local 372 Executive Vice President Santos Crespo, Mr. Fort at Local 375, Ms. Charles at Local 420, and Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez.