‘92 SOUTHEAST ELECTIONS : ABC SCHOOL DISTRICT : Union’s Candidate Wins Seat on School Board : Education: David Montgomery calls his victory--in the midst of bitter labor dispute--a resounding vote against the board majority.

David Montgomery, backed by the teachers union, seized a one-year seat on the ABC Unified School District board in a race that was seen as a challenge to the board majority and their position on teachers’ salaries.

Charlie Chung--who was appointed to an open seat by the board but had to step down to run in the special election--ran a close second. Brent Maddox was a distant third.

Earlier this year, the school board appointed Chung to fill a seat opened by the death of board member Dean Criss. Chung was backed by President Dixie Primosch and three other board members.

Montgomery, supported by the ABC Federation of Teachers and school board member Cecy Groom, led a successful petition drive to hold a special election that came in the middle of the district’s most bitter labor dispute.

Chung grabbed led early in the evening, but at midnight Montgomery inched ahead and maintained a narrow but steady lead.

A loyal core of Montgomery supporters--including union leaders, his wife, his mother and two of his six children--moved their election party from a pizza parlor to the teachers union offices in Hawaiian Gardens after midnight.

Shortly before 2 a.m., with fingers still crossed, Montgomery supporters were crafting a victory speech and pulling out bottles of sparkling cider.

Montgomery, a 41-year-old painting contractor from Cerritos, described his victory as a resounding vote against the board majority.

“When you add Maddox’s votes (to mine), you have an overwhelming majority of people voting against board policy,” he said, vowing to run again when his term expires in December, 1993, and two other seats are up for reelection. “We can change the board majority next year.”

Meanwhile, at the campaign headquarters of Chung, a 51-year-old engineer and businessman, an election-night party of his supporters, including those on the school board and Cerritos City Council, dwindled to about a dozen by 2 a.m.

“We were really counting on the absentee vote,” said Dale Hardemann, a Chung campaign consultant. “We were hoping for 1,600 to 1,800 absentee votes, and we got 1,200.”

For Chung, the defeat may have been partly due to a late campaign mailer that promised to bar Compton students from attending Gahr High in Cerritos for fear that they would bring criminal activity to the campus.

Montgomery and Maddox called the mailer racist, pointing out that unlike the other cities that send students to Gahr, Compton has a high number of blacks. Chung said he simply did not want students from other high schools bringing trouble to Cerritos.

“I was just responding to the parents who complained about kids from Compton coming to Gahr,” Chung said.

Chung spent about $30,000 on the election, according to campaign workers.

Montgomery, who said he spent $11,000, was propelled by the ABC Federation of Teachers, which sought to upset the board majority that refused improve its salary offer. The dispute over salaries and other issues has lasted more than two years.

About 100 teachers walked precincts for Montgomery, union President Laura Rico said.

“My victory is a victory for the people,” Montgomery said Wednesday. “It shows that a common person can run and not have to spend big dollars.”

Maddox, 35, said he spent less than $3,000. He vowed to run again in 1993.