Testiness done; time for test

Four cities’ voters have election stake as ugly campaigns give way to ballots

An acrimonious Las Vegas city election cycle that’s been socked with money, outlandish mailers, personal attacks and complaints of election integrity violations draws to a close Tuesday.

Thevitriolhasputmuchofthe election attention on the races for two Las Vegas City Council wards and one Municipal Court judgeship, but voters elsewhere in Clark County also will get their say. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Henderson and North Las Vegas

All four cities are using voting centers, where voters can cast ballots at any designated location intheircity.alistofvoting centers for all municipal elections in Clark County can be found at www.clarkcountynv.gov/election/ Pages/2017-infoindex-17g.aspx. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters who live in unincorporated Clark County and the city of Mesquite do not vote in off-year municipal elections.

Las Vegas

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There’s been drama aplenty in all three races, prompting Mayor Carolyn Goodman, to call this a “pretty rough” election cycle.

“Things are very different in politicsthantheywere20yearsago,” said Goodman, who’s been in a couple heated races of her own. “I mean, it’s sort of like throw anything out there, whether it’s true or not. Justthrowthemudatthewalland something will stick.”

The most contentious fight has been in Ward 2, where retired Air Force colonel Steve Seroka is challenging incumbent Bob Beers. Political action committees have pumped thousands of dollars into at least 45 different mailers that since April have bombarded voters in the city’s

ELECTION

encouragement to succeed.”

The school, which has not yet been named, will offer a standard high school curriculum, but students also will be required to attend family therapy sessions, submit to random drug tests and enroll in some form of recovery plan outside of school, Horn said.

Fall opening expected

The school, approved by the School Board last month, will accept students through referrals from school counselors, parents, treatment centers and others. The School Board approved $825,525 for the project, which includes money for staff and transportation. Horn hopes to open the school sometime in the fall.

Horn was one of three men from different walks of life who pushed the idea before the school district andthecity.

All three — Horn, former Lasvegassun.com publisher Donn Jersey and electrician Joe Engle — have at least one thing in common: they have been through addiction recovery themselves.

“We’re productive members of society,” said Engle, founder of the local branch of the nonprofit There is No Hero in Heroin. “We pay taxes, we vote, we buy services around town. We want to erase the stigma.”

Addiction has also affected Engle

and Jersey’s children — Engle lost his son to an overdose at 19.

Jersey was in the newsroom in 2015 when he began to realize the extent of his daughter’s heroin addiction. He heard of a shooting on the police scanner. A detective called him later that day to tell him that someone had been shooting at his daughter’s car.

“Her addiction took her to prostitution, and that was her pimp,” he said. “And I found out while I was working as a news guy in this town.”

From 20052010, an average of

9.9 percent of people 12 or older in Clark County had a substance use disorder in the past year, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In 2015, 7.8 percent of people age 12 or older nationwide had a substance use disorder in the previous year, according to the agency’s 2015 national survey.

A national trend

The new school comes amid a national opioid epidemic in which overdose deaths have soared, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That has led more communities to establish recovery high schools, said Sasha Mclean, vice chair of the Association of Recovery Schools, adding that there are currently 39 such schools in 25 states.

“I think we’re definitely seeing sort of a shift in education, where people are acknowledging that what these kids have going on is really, really

heavy stuff,” Mclean said.

Along with a new mission, the former Biltmore school near Las Vegas Boulevard North and Washington Avenue will get a makeover. Old portable classrooms will be removed. The city of Las Vegas will provide up to $100,000 for beautification efforts on campus.

“Instead of incarceration and a criminal record, these kids need recovery,” said Councilman Steve Ross, whose son has also battled addiction. “They need their education so they can move on.”

The state Department of Health and Human Services will contribute roughly $150,000 to fund three fulltime counselors — a marriage and family therapist, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and a licensed clinical social worker — for the school, said outpatient administrator Ellen Richardson Adams.

The recovery effort also includes afterschool activities to keep students engaged in a healthy manner, boosted by a $5,000 donation from Caesars Entertainment Corp.

“You’re going to see a change, and you’re going to see kids being supported and loved and encouraged,” said Horn, standing in the courtyard of the abandoned school. “We’re going to put diplomas in kids’ hands, and we’re going to save some kids.”

Contact Amelia Pak-harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-4630. Follow @ Ameliapakharvey on Twitter.