Citing Problems, Teamsters Officials Oust Leader of Ventura’s Local 186 : Union: A temporary trustee is appointed ‘to restore financial stability’ to group whose reputation Scott Dennison had vowed to clean up.

The Teamsters Union local that represents nearly 2,000 workers in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties was turned over to a temporary trustee Monday to “ensure that democratic procedures are followed and to restore financial stability to the local,” officials announced.

Scott Dennison, elected last year to head Ventura-based Local 186, has been removed from his position as secretary-treasurer of the local, Teamsters officials said. Sergio Lopez, an official with Local 912 in Watsonville, has been appointed temporary trustee until new elections can be held.

“This is my first day on the job,” Lopez said Monday. “That’s as much as I can say.”

Dennison could not be reached for comment.

In a prepared statement issued by his Washington office, Teamsters General President Ron Carey said that Local 186 had been placed in trusteeship because it had not followed directives issued by his office last November.

Carey said in the statement that the local had failed to ensure that its entire executive board approve all expenditures and that the local had not updated its bylaws since 1965.

He also noted that an investigation by a court-appointed independent review board earlier this year found that the local is in “precarious financial condition.”

“The longstanding problems in this local union have to be corrected,” Carey said.

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The local’s reputation has been damaged over the years by bitter infighting, growing financial problems, election irregularities and lawsuits filed against the union by some of its own members.

After his election in October, 1994, Dennison vowed as secretary-treasurer to clean up the local’s image and launched an aggressive but ultimately unsuccessful campaign to boost membership by organizing employees of three trash hauling companies operating in Ventura County. The local’s membership has fallen from 4,000 to 2,000 over the last decade.

Six months after Dennison took over the local’s top spot, some members complained that the local was worse off than it had been before. They argued that Dennison had actually increased administrative costs and perks, adding to the local’s $50,000 debt.

Dennison denied the accusations, attributing the local’s financial problems to the previous administration.

He also blamed his predecessors for a lawsuit filed last March by female employees of Oxnard’s Nabisco Foods plant against the plant and the local. The suit accuses the food maker of restricting workers’ restroom privileges so that some workers were forced to wear diapers on the job. Nabisco denies the allegations.

The female employees also allege in the suit that union leaders failed to adequately respond to workers’ complaints.

Dennison blamed the local’s previous administration for not addressing the problem. Although he had served as president of the union before being elevated to secretary-treasurer, Dennison said that the president’s post was essentially that of a figurehead with no power. He said that though he had heard rumors of problems at Nabisco, he never saw any evidence or documents relating to the workers’ complaints.

The workers’ lawsuit is scheduled to be heard in federal court in Los Angeles on Jan. 16.