2 Once-Bitter Rivals Elected to Board, Vow to Get Along : Elections: Several school district incumbents lose to challengers who campaigned hard on money issues.

Two once-bitter rivals have been elected to the board in the Montebello Unified School District, one of the most financially troubled school systems in the state.

Retired Los Angeles school principal Frank Serrano and parent Barbara Chavira led a field of five running for two board seats. Although Serrano and Chavira have traded barbs for almost a year, both agree that their primary challenge will be the district’s financial problems. They say they are prepared to work together.

Money-related issues dominated many area school board campaigns, and a number of incumbents lost to challengers who criticized how board members spent, raised or saved money. Incumbents were defeated in Norwalk-La Mirada Unified, Compton Unified, Lynwood Unified and Paramount Unified, among other districts.

In Paramount, the election results sealed the fate of Supt. Richard Caldwell, who had been notified by school board members that his contract will not be renewed at the end of the school year. Caldwell had attempted to save his job by endorsing two candidates who he hoped would support him, but both candidates lost.

In all, newcomers were elected to school boards in 10 area school systems.

In Montebello, both Serrano and Chavira say they will bring new blood to a school system near the top of the state controller’s list of districts most likely to become insolvent. Serrano finished first with 36.7% of the vote. Chavira, with 31.9% of the vote, finished a strong second, far ahead of the next closest challenger.

The election ends a year of wrestling between Serrano and Chavira for a school board seat. Both applied last fall to fill a seat vacated by a retiring board member. The board selected Chavira, who held office only a month before being forced to step down because Serrano and other activists gathered enough signatures to force a special election--even though the term would last only five months.

Chavira won the endorsement of board members and employee groups, but lost the June election. Serrano ran as an outsider and bitterly attacked the board and Chavira. Then, on Tuesday, voters elected both Serrano and Chavira to the board. Chavira will succeed board President Willard Yamaguchi, who is retiring.

The outcome “vindicates what we’ve been saying about having a parent on the board,” Chavira said. “We let the public know that it’s imperative that you have someone on the board who’s directly affected by the board’s decisions.”

Despite the rough rhetoric of the past, Serrano said he anticipates no problem working with Chavira, given the gravity of the district’s problems. The district has cut $26.7 million, about 21%, from its budget, slashed many programs and laid off more than 150 employees since April.

“This community did not elect me to fight with her,” he said. “I’m going to work with her.”

Chavira is more reluctant to extend an olive branch. “He’s going to have to earn my respect,” she said. “To get respect, you have to give it. I am willing to work with him.”

In the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, challenger Rudy Bermudez, a Department of Corrections officer, led a field of five candidates vying for three seats. He said he won because he persuaded voters that he would aggressively seek money for schools from government and private sources. Incumbents Sal Ambriz and Bruce Butler kept their jobs, but incumbent William Campbell finished last.

In Lynwood, where three incumbents and five challengers fought for three seats, longtime district critic Cynthia Green-Geter won a seat. She finished second behind board President Thelma Calvin Williams and ahead of 26-year board member Richard Armstrong. Incumbent Willard Hawn Reed finished fourth.

During her campaign, Green-Geter, a building rehabilitation specialist, attacked board spending priorities. She criticized incumbents for building a new administration building before constructing a new high school and for considering a plan last month that would have given board members free lifetime health benefits.

In the Whittier Union High School District, dental hygienist Cathy Warner, who campaigned against a controversial district assessment fee, outpolled eight challengers vying for two seats. Warner said she would work to repeal the district’s new assessment fee. Business management consultant Ralph Pacheco, who recently completed a term as a Rio Hondo Community College District trustee, won the second seat.

Board members voted to impose the fee--about $20 a year--on residents and businesses in order to help maintain the schools’ public recreational facilities, such as tennis courts, baseball fields and auditoriums. Some residents call the fee an illegal property tax, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. has filed suit against the district over the matter.

In the South Whittier School District, where there were four candidates for two seats, the leading vote-getter was Teresa Halstead, a parent who became active in school politics after her daughter was killed last year in a crosswalk near her school. She ran on a platform that included making it safer for children to travel to and from school. Halstead had 33.2% of the vote. Halstead will succeed incumbent Jesse Aguirre, who finished third. Incumbent Sharon Stys will keep her seat after finishing second.

In a lively Compton Unified race, veteran incumbent Mary Henry was ousted despite endorsements from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Jesse Jackson. Nine challengers and three incumbents vied for three seats.

Incumbents Lynn Dymally and Cloria Patillo retained their seats. Challenger Amen Rahh, a black studies professor at Cal State Long Beach, finished second to win a seat. Rahh combined an enthusiastic volunteer network with angry eloquence and voluminous research into the district’s shortcomings to score points against the incumbents.

In Paramount, the election cemented the fate of Supt. Caldwell. His hopes of keeping his job beyond the current school year hinged on the defeat of incumbent Vivian Hansen, who had provided the swing vote in an August decision to replace Caldwell. Not only did Hansen win, but she led a field of two incumbents and two challengers in the race for two board seats. Hansen had 34.3% of the vote. Challenger Craig Olson finished second with 28% of the vote and will join Hansen on the board. Incumbent Ken Teeples, a Caldwell supporter, will step down after finishing third.

The victorious Hansen said Caldwell’s status dominated the campaign. “I tried to talk about overcrowding (in the classrooms) and year-round schools, everything that other districts are talking about, but it got overshadowed by this issue,” Hansen said.

A crestfallen Caldwell, a district employee for 39 years and superintendent since 1978, monitored the election returns at the county registrar’s office, but would not comment on the results.

Other districts with new board members include El Rancho Unified, Little Lake City and Whittier City. Voters reelected all the incumbents in Bellflower Unified, Downey Unified and ABC Unified.

Times staff writers Lorna Fernandes and David A. Avila, and community correspondents Connie Simonian, Marilyn Heck and Mary Becker contributed to this report.