Trustee Kevin Child files to defend CCSD board seat

Embattled Clark County School District Trustee Kevin Child filed papers Thursday to defend his seat.

Child, who serves as the District D trustee, is in his first four-year term and had previously announced his intention to run for the seat in January. Child joins challengers Irene Cepeda, Leobardo Martinez and Eli Thompson in the race so far.

Child is running to continue to fight corruption in the nation’s fifth-largest school district, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“We run a $2.4 billion a year operation, and we must be accountable in order to be serve our nearly 322,000 students and 42,000 employees,” he said in a release.

Child touted his involvement in the district’s financial issues, including calls for a forensic audit, which ultimately failed to gain traction. He also touted his role in spearheading a new sexual misconduct policy in the district.

But Child has come under fire multiple times in his first term, with school district officials saying he created a hostile work environment and forced staff to enact suicide protocols for students after Child had talked to students about the issue.

In October, Child was banned from school property for the second time by Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky, who said this time an outside agency had received a complaint about Child’s behavior.

Child said the allegations are contrived against him because he asks tough questions. He said he thinks the allegations are sexist because he is an easy target, as he is the only male on the school board.

“You can make up stories all you want. There’s nothing there. They were made-up stories,” he said.

Attorney general race

Las Vegas attorney Joel Hansen, best known for defending Bunkerville cattle rancher Cliven Bundy, also filed papers Thursday in a bid for Nevada attorney general.

“I think there are some interesting constitutional issues the attorney general ought to bring up,” said Hansen, 74.

Hansen, who’s the chairman of the ultraconservative Independent American Party, will face off against at least four other candidates vying to replace Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor. Other declared candidates for attorney general are Democratic Senate Leader Aaron Ford, Democrat Stuart MacKie and Republicans Wes Duncan and Craig Mueller.

Hansen ran for attorney general in 2010, garnering a little less than 8 percent of the vote in the general election. He’s also made unsuccessful bids for Clark County district attorney, the Legislature and the state Supreme Court.

If he became attorney general, Hansen said he’d file a lawsuit related to the federal government’s control of Nevada public lands — the highly charged issue that entangled his former client, Bundy, and landed him behind bars.

Hansen said he’d also focus on enforcing a rule that prohibits state employees from serving in the Legislature and crack down on scammers who are stealing the assets of elderly people.

He also said he would look at how Nevada can arm willing teachers to fight back against school gun violence, a plan floated by President Donald Trump.

“Criminals prefer unarmed victims, and that’s what a school is,” he said. “You’ve got teachers and students cowering under their desks and hiding in closets. I think that’s horrible. They should be able to defend themselves.”

The 2018 election filing period ends at 5 p.m. Friday.

Contact Ramona Giwargis at rgiwargis@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4538. Follow @RamonaGiwargis on Twitter. Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.