ABC School Board Will Appoint the Successor to Deceased Trustee : Education: A special election to replace Dean Criss would have been too costly, majority says. But critics may seek a vote if another Cerritos resident is picked.

The ABC Unified school board has voted to appoint a board member rather than hold a special election to replace Dean Criss, who died recently.

The board majority and staff cited the $65,000 price tag of a special election as the main reason they preferred to appoint someone to the unfinished term, which expires in November, 1993.

Criss, a respected, independent voice on a sometimes combative board, was the only trustee who lived outside Cerritos. Some district critics are threatening a petition drive for a special election unless the new board member comes from one of the other seven cities that the school system serves. The new member will be asked to take immediate stands on issues that have divided the board.

Only trustee Cecy Groom was opposed to the appointment process. “I would like a special election because I don’t think the appointment will be what the community wants,” she said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “I don’t have faith in the process of appointment.”

Any adult resident of the district may apply by April 22. The board will then interview candidates and make a selection at the May 5 meeting.

The board voted down two proposed restrictions on who could apply. Board President Dixie Primosch wanted to limit applicants to residents who have attended a board meeting in the past two years, who have been appointed to one or more volunteer committees and who display knowledge of issues confronting the district. That amendment lost 4-2.

The board also rejected a proposal by Groom and Sally Morales Havice to limit the field to candidates who ran for the board in November.

Residents can force a special election if they gather the signatures of 1.5% of the district’s registered voters within 30 days. School district critic Kathleen Navejas, a Hawaiian Gardens City Council member, has threatened a petition drive if the board selects a Cerritos resident.

Cerritos resident David Montgomery, who ran unsuccessfully for the board in November, is the preferred candidate of the ABC Federation of Teachers, union leader Laura Rico said.

One of the first problems the new board member will face is an employee contract squabble. The teachers have yet to agree to salary and benefit terms for the current school year. Non-teaching employees are also deadlocked with management over their contract.

Another issue is a plan to raise money by developing school property.

The board may also confront the issue of whether to change from at-large board elections to elections by district area. Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a bill last year that would have forced district elections. Criss supported elections by district.

The independent Criss, 66, was respected by numerous district factions. Navejas praised him as sincere. Union leader Rico said Criss would listen to all sides of an argument and then plainly explain the reasoning behind his decisions.

“He was the type of board member who did his homework and checked his issues,” board President Primosch said. “And his decisions didn’t always coincide with the positions of the groups who supported him.”

Criss, who died March 21 after a long illness, began his district career as an art teacher in 1967 and later served as administrator of the instructional materials center and then maintenance and operations.