Gronauer and Savage move on in Constable race

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1998 | 2:25 a.m.

Democrat Bobby Gronauer and Republican Tom Savage will move on to the general election for Las Vegas Constable despite crowded primary races.

Gronauer beat seven other candidates to win the primary, while Savage bested his four contenders to take the Republican nomination.

Savage grabbed 34.84 percent of the vote in the Republican primary outpacing his nearest competitor Dan Mansfield by about 13 percent.

Gronauer had a tougher time getting out of the Democratic primary. Gronauer had 18.42 percent of the vote, but Chief Deputy Constable Doug Tharp and retired firefighter Michael Verrilli were right behind with 16.84 percent and 15.74 percent respectively.

Tharp had the endorsement of outgoing Las Vegas Constable Bob Nolen. Tharp said he has personally served 11,000 of the 76,000 documents the constable's office has received in the past two years, but it was not enough to overcome Gronauer.

Gronauer, 51, is a Metro Police patrol sergeant with 29 years of law enforcement experience. He would like to see the constable's office utilize a website to more efficiently download information. He said he would also hire a bilingual staff if elected.

Savage also had to overcome a prominent candidate in Deputy Constable Michael Counterman. Counterman ran on a platform of returning the constables office to its most effective level and following the standards set by the Nevada Revised Statutes.

Counterman collected 14.02 percent of the vote for fourth place in the Republican primary.

Savage, 60, is an Air Force Vietnam veteran. Savage served as chief of federal police at Fort Ord, Calif., from 1993-96, and has held several management positions in law enforcement over the past 20 years.

The constable's job is to serve and execute court documents -- bench warrants, summons, subpoenas, etc. -- and oversee evictions. The salary for the Las Vegas constable is $72,000 a year.

For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century Lou Tabat will not be the constable of North Las Vegas following his retirement from the office after completing his sixth term on April 30.

Upon Tabat's retirement Herb Brown was selected over Steven Bergstrom in what was described as a tough choice by members of the Clark County Commission.

Now the voters will get a chance to make that decision with Brown winning the Democratic primary to face Bergstrom in the general election.

Brown captured 58.63 percent of the vote to defeat Patricia Little in the primary, and Bergstrom was unopposed on the Republican ballot.

Brown, 57, was a North Las Vegas assistant police chief in the early 1990s and served as a U.S. Marshal locally from 1994-97.

Bergstrom, 45, is a registered representative with Fortis Investors and has California police officer certification.

The job, which requires the serving of court papers and the overseeing of evictions, pays $2,500 a year plus the collection of fees for those services that could bring the annual salary to a maximum of $53,000.

Democrat David Burress emerged from the Henderson Constable primary election to face Republican incumbent Earl Mitchell in the general election. Burress, a 42-year-old retired UNLV Police Officer, got 60.49 percent of the vote in his primary win over Deputy Constable Gene Altobella.

Burress will meet Mitchell, a 12-year veteran of the Henderson Police force. Mitchell, 40, got a walkover to the general election because of his incumbent status.

The job pays $2,500 a year plus the collection of fees, which do not have a ceiling like those in North Las Vegas.

In Moapa Valley Gary Leavitt won the Republican primary with 61 votes to Gerald Swanson's 23 votes.

In Laughlin incumbent Patrick Ketterer, 56, a Democrat, is running unopposed, just as he did in 1990 and '94.