Brager, Moulton advance to general

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2002 | 9:02 a.m.

Clark County School Board incumbents Susan Brager and Sheila Moulton advanced to a November runoff , facing Mitchell Tracy and Gina Greisen, respectively.

The board is responsible for the management of the Clark County School District, the nation's sixth largest with 258,000 students and an annual budget of $1.2 billion.

Brager, who is seeking her third term, picked up 54.4 percent of the vote, followed by Tracy with 32.2 percent. Challenger Bert Kash Blevins III was third with 13.4 percent.

Brager said she was "ecstatic" to finish first in Tuesday's primary.

"I never take anything for granted, so I'm really thrilled by the show of support I've received," Brager said.

Brager, whose children graduated from Clark County schools and who has several grandchildren currently enrolled, said she believes the school district should focus on lobbying the state Legislature for additional education funding. Also at issue is improving the district's summer school programs and reducing class sizes, she said. District F includes portions of the southwest and southeast regions of the school district.

Tracy, 39, an insurance claims investigator, ran unsuccessfully for the Republican congressional nomination in 2000, and was defeated by incumbent Rep. Jim Gibbons. Tracy, who has one son attending elementary school in Clark County, said he wants to see the board be more responsive to parents and teachers.

"I've got a lot of work to do between now and November," Tracy said. "I plan to get my name out there and try and win over some votes."

Moulton, 52, is seeking her second term on the board representing District G, which includes areas of the northeast, southeast and east regions of the district. Moulton said Tuesday's results were closer than she had expected. She finished with 40.2 percent, followed by Greisen with 27.8 percent.

"I've got to get my grass-roots campaign going," Moulton said. "It's going to be a busy two months."

A homemaker and former substitute teacher, her children have all attended Clark County schools, including a son currently in his last year at Las Vegas High School. Moulton said her goals for the district include increasing the number of students who enroll in algebra by the eighth grade and increasing services and programs for students who are non-English speakers.

Greisen, 34, a Teamsters Union trustee and the single mother of one son, said she wants to see more parents get involved in school district activities. A former employee of the North Las Vegas Public Works Department, Greisen said as a board member she would focus on more equitable contracts for teachers and support staff.

Greisen said she will spend the next two months gathering as many endorsements as she can.

"I'm going to have to work hard to get my message out and let voters know they have a choice," Greisen said.

Also on the District G ballot were Tuston L. Brown, a technician for Cox Communications, who finished third behind Greisen with 20.8 percent, and water treatment specialist Van Franklin Woertz, who was fourth with 11.8 percent. Both men were making their first bids for public office.

In District D, two candidates will face off in the general election. Larry Mason is the incumbent in the District D seat. He is the dean of student development at the Community College of Southern Nevada. He faces newcomer Pablo Castro-Zavala, an independent television producer.

Mason, currently the clerk of the Clark County School Board, is seeking his third term. His priorities include protecting student-related services and programs from the ongoing budget cuts and ensuring that older schools are as clean, safe and technologically advanced as new schools. Mason, 57, has also pushed for careful accountability of district spending.

Castro-Zavala, making his first bid for public office, said he's running for the board because he wants to ensure the district's campuses are safe for students and staff.