Two Try to Unseat Montgomery-Costa as Local 372 President;

Vote Confined to DC 37 HQ
Two Try to Unseat Costa as Local 372 President


District Council 37 Local 372 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa faces challenges from Jesse Teitler and Larry Luther Davis in her bid for a fourth term at the helm of DC 37's largest local.

VERONICA MONTGOMERY-COSTA: Limiting turnout?

The election is scheduled to take place at DC 37's lower Manhattan headquarters June 11 between 12 and 9 p.m., which has been a prime source of controversy.

Ms. Montgomery-Costa, who ran for office in 1999 pledging to get union members more involved, has insisted on holding walk-in votes at a single location ever since. She has been accused of confining the election to DC 37 headquarters to make it more difficult for rank-and-filers - who work in schools scattered throughout the city - to participate.

She and her supporters have also been accused of bringing specious charges against both Mr. Teitler and Mr. Davis to try to render them ineligible to run for office.

Ms. Montgomery-Costa did not return several phone calls requesting comment.

Just Over 2-Percent Turnout in '05

LARRY DAVIS: Leader discourages participation.

In 2005, when voting was limited to a four-hour period, Ms. Montgomery-Costa defeated Mr. Davis by a vote of 417 to 122, with nearly 98 percent of Local 372's 24,000 members not taking part in the walk-in election confined to DC 37 headquarters. Mr. Davis has named his slate "The Mail-In-Ballot Slate," a reference to his call for an election conducted by mail. Ms. Montgomery-Costa has contended the cost of more than $60,000 makes a mail ballot too expensive.

"I have always taken objection to how elections take place in 372," Mr. Davis said. "Unionism says members get the best opportunity to vote and the easiest way to do it. Since this administration, that has not happened. Members have nine hours to vote in one place."

Mr. Davis hopes members will recognize the necessity for a mail-in ballot to beat Ms. Montgomery-Costa. "We'll never get anywhere with Montgomery-Costa. She is running the union from herself down, rather than the members up," he said.

Mr. Teitler has distributed flyers to members in an attempt to organize transportation efforts on the day of the vote.

JESSE TEITLER: Fears eligibility chicanery.

Claims DC 37 Dues Ruse

He claims that after announcing his campaign for president, his membership status suddenly came into question, although he insists he has always paid his dues on time. He said this first became an issue when he attempted to enter an Oct. 30 chapter meeting.

A recent pay stub of Mr. Teitler's indicates that he is a member in good standing. The stub shows, however, that $17.23 was deducted from his paycheck for union dues, when $21.43 should have been taken out based on his title as a Loader and Handler, according to Mr. Teitler. He believes that DC 37 is intentionally charging him the wrong amount to create a pretext for placing him in bad standing.

Patricia A. Washington, the manager of membership records for DC 37, stated in a letter to Mr. Teitler that she was unable to verify his membership status. DC 37 General Counsel Eddie M. Demmings stated in another letter that it was not Ms. Washington's role "to determine whether a candidate or potential candidate is a member in good standing and therefore eligible to run for office in a local's election." This, he stated, is delegated to the election committee, which happens to fall under Ms. Montgomery-Costa's jurisdiction.

AFSCME: He's Good

According to Mr. Teitler, he has received no indication from the election committee about his membership standing. He said he previously received a letter from John Seferian, judicial panel chairperson for DC 37's international union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, verifying that he "was and is a member in good standing of Local 372."

In order to be eligible to run for president, a member must be in good standing for the prior 12 months.

DC 37 did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Davis and Mr. Teitler both believe they are the victim of false charges brought by Ms. Montgomery-Costa to derail their campaigns.

Mr. Davis was ultimately cleared by a Department of Education investigation of anonymous charges in 2006. "Every single charge is a result of Ms. Montgomery-Costa and her people," he stated. "People in her group admit that she brought the charges against me. They also clearly state that the charges had something to do with my [candidacy in 2005]."

Mr. Teitler was found guilty by an AFSCME judicial panel of distributing literature utilizing Local 372's name without permission, and disrupting a union meeting. However, he claims that he paid his fines for those violations and that they should not jeopardize his standing as a union member.

"It is a shame they are taking the campaign into the gutter because I am trying to take the high road," said Mr. Teitler before last week's nominations.

"Being out in the field campaigning for Jesse, I feel very positive that people want change and they are going to choose Jesse as their new leader," said Local 372 dissident Tony Ferina, who previously was aligned with Mr. Davis.

Mr. Teitler's running mates include: Cliftonia L. Johnson, executive vice president; Ronald Wing, second vice president; Jerilyn Paradiso, secretary/treasurer; Zabeida Ali, recording secretary; and John Olsson and Reynold Adams, sergeants at arms.

The other slates were not available at press time.