ELECTIONS : School Race No Longer Just a Quiet Affair : Moorpark: The candidates--an airline pilot, a nurse and an IRS auditor--have heated up the campaign with personal attacks.

The race for an open seat on the Moorpark school board, until weeks ago a relatively quiet affair, has turned into a bruising vocal battle with all three candidates trading personal accusations.

Gary Cabriales has been accused by his two opponents of being beholden to the current school district administration because his wife works as a part-time aide at Peach Hill School.

Helen Taylor has been labeled an activist parent unwilling to work with or listen to anyone who doesn’t support her views.

And Ted Green, education chairman of the Ventura County NAACP, has been accused of riddling the current administration with fiery rhetoric while offering little substance to back up his invective.

The three candidates reject the negative label given by opponents and contend that he or she is the best choice for the children, parents and teachers in the Moorpark Unified School District.

“I’m really running because I love this community greatly and I always felt that when I moved back here I wanted to get involved in the process, and this presented a perfect opportunity,” said Cabriales, who graduated from Moorpark High School as its valedictorian in 1974, went on to the U.S. Air Force Academy and is today a commercial airline pilot.

In 1989, Cabriales, 37, moved his wife and four school-age children back to the city where he grew up after spending more than 10 years in the Air Force.

He was briefly appointed to the vacant seat by the school board in June, but had served less than a week when Taylor and other residents gathered enough signatures to force a public vote Nov. 2.

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The vacancy, which runs through November, 1994, was created when board President Sam Nainoa resigned from the eight-school, 5,600-student district because of work obligations.

Cabriales said he has accepted the notion of running for a seat he had already won, but is still bothered that the district will spend $3,000 to stage the public vote, money he said should have gone toward educating Moorpark students.

“I don’t agree that it was necessary,” said Cabriales, who has been endorsed by the Moorpark Educators Assn. “I went through a fair and a public and a very political process to get elected. And it was a fair process, there wasn’t any underhanded play or anything like that.”

Taylor still maintains she was correct in helping invalidate the appointment.

“One of the reasons I had my name on the petition drive is that I really believed that the people should have the right to make this decision,” she said. “It’s really not a lot to pay for democracy. I knew where Gary stood on the issues, I did not want him on the school board.”

One of Taylor’s biggest problems with Cabriales is what she considers his failure to strongly support the concept of neighborhood elementary schools in the district.

Taylor’s main issues are her strong support of neighborhood elementary schools and the creation of magnet schools, which the district does not offer.

She is also an outspoken advocate of Proposition 174, which would give parents a tax-supported voucher and allow them to choose the schools their children attend.

“I believe parents should have more control over the education of their children,” said Taylor, 34, a registered nurse who lives in the city with her husband and three children.

“I think they should be free to choose schools and programs for their children. They should have more clout in the school district.”

Green, 46, has been a frequent visitor to school board meetings in recent years.

Standing behind the speaker’s podium, Green’s voice often approaches shouting volume as he challenges board members to hire African-American teachers or stop using what he calls racist educational materials--such as the novel “The Cay.”

“I have no selfish agenda, no conflict of interest, no wife working for the district,” said Green, who unsuccessfully sought an appointment to the seat. “All I have is concern for children. This is a stubborn board, you cannot be a wimp if they’re going to listen.”

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Green, an auditor with the Internal Revenue Service, said he offers voters his leadership, frankness and outspoken nature, but also his ability to get along.

“I feel that I can work with the board and the school district in a harmonious relationship for the betterment of children. There are no obstacles between us, no bad feelings between us, as I feel there would be with Helen Taylor.”

Taylor denies she would have any problem working with current board members or them with her.

Cabriales said his wife works for the district because she loves children, not for financial gain.

Said Green: “I have a fondness for and dedication to our children, that they are treated fairly and that they receive an education that they can benefit from in their later years.”