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We don't like report cards; they remind us of capricious schoolmarms and frenzied interceptions of the U.S. Mail. But somebody has to grade the graders, so here goes: Mercury News reporter Barry Witt gets an A for his idea to look back on San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer's previous State of the City addresses to see how well she has followed through on promised initiatives. But Witt's bosses get a C- for putting the story above the fold on Page One in Monday's paper, with a headline "Hammer has Delivered on Initiatives," as if this was some kind of breaking news story rather than an editorial. These grades weren't declarations from heaven above--Witt alone decided whether Hammer's gang-control policies got a B or a C. "It probably could have used an analysis bug [special label]," responds Witt, "but it was clear we were making an evaluation. ... Any time you issue a grade, it goes without saying there's a degree of subjectivity." Yeah, tell that to Hammer's mom.
Apple Mutilation
Speaking of boners on 1A, it took the Merc folks three days to catch their hilarious goof-up in Saturday's paper. Um, a former employee of booted Apple exec Michael Spindler did not say, "He was just not a leader or mutilator of people." Make that "motivator of people." It's worth noting that in some organizations there isn't a lot of difference. The Merc explained Tuesday on 2A that a "word was transcribed incorrectly." ... Reminds us of the infamous transcription mistake last July in which The New Yorker, renowned for its fact-checking prowess, quoted William Bennett as saying his relationship with Patrick Buchanan was "a real S&M kind of thing." when in actuality, he said "it's a real us and them kind of thing." Details, details!
Honor Thy Madre
Judicial races are typically such boring affairs, and the countywide contest for the three open Superior Court seats is no exception. But the campaign for seat 14--where Superior Court commish Mary Ann Grilli is taking on Deputy Public Defender Thomas Spielbauer--did capture Eye's attention. ... What prompted a double-take were Spielbauer's campaign signs where he identifies himself as "Thomas Spielbauer (Magana)." What's with the Latino-sounding name in parentheses? Is this a shameless attempt to capture the Hispanic vote? No, assures Spielbauer. The PD insists that he simply wanted to acknowledge his mother's maiden name. Separating Spielbauer and Magana with a hyphen just didn't work, so he decided on the hushed whisper of the parenthesis. Besides, he adds, "a parenthesis draws attention more than a hyphen." ... Well, it worked for us.
What, Me Run?
Speaking of boring affairs, the subject of whether Tom McEnery will again run for San Jose mayor came up in an interview in the February issue of the Vanguard, the SJ Police Officers' Association newspaper. When asked by the ham meisters if he planned to run, the Macster said, "I don't have any plans to run for mayor at all." Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, a few beats later Tom qualified that statement by adding that "I don't really believe in planning out a political career." ... So that explains his bitter defeat at the hands of Zoe Lofgren.
Wanted: Congressional Hacker
One would think that the huge thrashing Jerry Estruth took at the hands of Tom Campbell in the special election for the 15th Congressional District would pretty much deter any Democrat from challenging Campbell--at least for a while. Well, think again. Entering into the partisan fray is political neophyte Norm Kline, president of CASPR, his own software company, which helps libraries catalogue their inventory. Despite the long odds, Kline wants to make a run for Congress because, frankly, he believes they could use a tekkie type on Capitol Hill. To prove his high-tech savvy, Kline will have his Web page up this week (www.modmedia.com/kline96) and is planning to commit anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 of his own money to the race. First, Kline will have to get past candidate Richard Lane, who ran against Tom McEnery and Lofgren in the 1994, in the March primary. Kline would then take on Campbell in the November general election. And Kline's handlers point out that it will be a much different demographic that turns out for a presidential election than did for the stormy December special election. That may be the case but Kline, who is just 39, might be using this election as a trial run for some other office. Of course, that's what was said about Estruth and look where it got him.
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