BOARD OF REGENTS DISTRICT 13

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 1:35 a.m.

Two lawyers will face off in the race for Tom Kirkpatrick's Board of Regents District 13 seat.

James Dean Leavitt and Gloria Sturman narrowly squeezed out Kirkpatrick in the six-person primary after a District Court judge disqualified the top finisher, Mark DeStefano, as not a bona fide resident of the district.

The regents came under fire repeatedly over the last year for alleged open meeting law violations and for board divisiveness, and both Leavitt and Sturman have focused their campaigns on restoring its credibility.

Leavitt, 42, said the board should err on the side of openness in complying with the law and wants it to establish a public relations team that would promote the good the system is doing.

Sturman, 47, said the board will only restore its credibility through good governance, and that her experience as a member of the appointed Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Board and as president of the Nevada State Bar Association can help it do that.

Both candidates have held part-time teaching jobs at local institutions, with Leavitt serving as an adjunct speech professor at UNLV and Sturman serving as an adjunct legal instructor at CCSN.

Leavitt said one of his major goals is to work to diversify the economy by expanding technology and engineering programs and to better meet health care needs by expanding nursing programs.

Sturman said she wants to work to develop a more comprehensive, preschool through college education plan for Nevada that encourages cooperation between the local districts and the regents.