Urge Mail Ballot For Local 372 Officer Elections; 2% Turnout in Past 2 Contests Spurs Petition Drive

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

About 2,000 members of Local 372 of District Council 37 have signed a petition in favor of mail-in ballots for all union officer elections.

A PUSH TO INCLUDE MEMBERS: Veronica Montgomery-Costa (left) has twice been re-elected president of Local 372 of District Council 37 despite averaging just 500 votes from a membership 50 times that size. Her challenger in both the 2002 and 2005 elections, Larry Davis, said, 'If you have 2 percent of your membership voting, I think there's a problem,' and called on the local to scrap holding elections at a single polling site in favor of a mail-in ballot.

The 27,000-member local has for the past two elections required members to travel to DC 37 headquarters to vote, with balloting limited to a four-hour period. Petition organizers contend that because most members work in city schools spread out across the five boroughs, having to travel to downtown Manhattan has caused low voter turnout. In 2005, 547 votes were cast in the local's last election for president.

'Give Members a Chance'

"A mail ballot will give the majority of members a chance to vote," said Tony Ferina, a Local 372 shop steward. "If the president had to handle the vote outside the union door where the majority sits, I don't think she would be president."

President Veronica Montgomery-Costa declined to comment for this article. In the past, she has defended the in-person voting process, noting the high cost of mail-in ballot elections.

The approximate cost for mail ballot elections is $2.50 per member, according to the American Arbitration Association, which conducts and monitors most of DC 37's elections. Local 372's election cost would total about $67,500 at that rate. In the last election, Local 372 had about 11 polling stations set up at DC 37 headquarters. Running and monitoring 11 machines for a full day would cost $5,000 to $6,000, according to Jeffrey Zaino, vice president of elections at AAA's city offices. The 2005 vote represents about 2 percent of the local's membership. During last year's contract vote, which was conducted by mail ballot, about 50 percent of the membership voted, according to DC 37 officials.

Seek 5,000 Signatures

Ms. Montgomery-Costa beat challenger Larry Davis by a margin of 417 to 122 in 2005. (Eight ballots were ruled invalid.) Mr. Ferina lost to Glen Blacks 375 to 125 in the race for secretary-treasurer.

Mr. Davis and Mr. Ferina say their goal is to collect 5,000 signatures by this fall in order to convince the union to change its policy and "level the playing field."

The petition is titled, "We Want Mail Ballots!" and reads, "The last election for Local 372's officials had less than 600 votes cast. This is not an election but an outrage. The majority of the dues-paying members are not being represented."

In 1999, when DC 37 was under an administratorship controlled by its parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, because of internal union corruption, Local 372 members were allowed to vote at any one of about 20 locations set up around the city.

In 2002, the local executive board decided to hold elections at DC 37 headquarters, and 516 members cast votes for president when Ms. Montgomery-Costa beat Mr. Davis 475 to 28, with the remaining ballots voided.

Upheld Vote, Added Hours

Mr. Davis complained to DC 37's parent union about the sole polling location, and AFSCME ruled that the in-person vote was constitutional. After the 2005 vote, when the polls were open from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m., Mr. Davis complained again and AFSCME ruled that the four-hour time slot was not sufficient to allow all members to vote. The local agreed to extend future polling over nine hours.

"If you have 2 percent of your membership voting, I think there's a problem," said Mr. Davis. "It takes over an hour to travel from some places in Staten Island and Queens. And what if 10,000 people actually turned up to vote? There's no capacity for that."

Mr. Davis, who is a Parent Support Officer, intends to run again for union president in June 2008.

Mr. Davis, Mr. Ferina and their supporters are planning to hold a rally and informational meeting June 12 at the Ridgewood Queens YMCA about mail-in voting and preparing for next year's local election. Members of the One Member One Vote coalition, who believe that DC 37's executive board should be directly elected instead of through a delegates system, will be speaking at the rally as well.

"We want to promote awareness and show members that we can run the union differently from this," said Mr. Davis.