A tub half full, or half empty?

The theaters all are touting their cleanliness and seat spacing and the requirement that people keep their masks on, unless they’re eating or drinking.

I don’t doubt the sincerity or the efficacy of the cleaning efforts. But as my friend Dick Bennett said the other day, that’s going to have to be one heckuva movie.

AT LEAST GET THE NAME RIGHT: In the ballot arguments on regional Measure RR, the proposal to increase sales tax one-eighth cent to support Caltrain, the lineup of deep-thinking anti-tax crusaders who authored the no side apparently are in such high dudgeon that they sent over their message without spell-check.

In their argument, they call the railroad Caltrain, CalTrain, Caltrains, Cal Trains and even CalTrans. They also misspell the name of the current governor of California. When I worked at Caltrain, it was one of those things you had to get used to — people are always going to screw up the name. But you think these guys would at least get it wrong the same way.

In their argument against the measure they offer this statement, notable for its sweeping inaccuracies: “Caltrain is not an essential part of our transportation network, public transportation is changing, working from home is the new norm, and autonomous vehicles are our future. It does not make economic sense to invest in an obsolete & dying system. Even post-pandemic, Cal Train (sic) ridership will never be what it was.”

Not even a mention of flying cars.

A BIRTHDAY AND A SURPRISING GIFT: Many of us remain in the thrall of Pete McCloskey, the former Peninsula congressman whose maverick support of the environmental movement and opposition to the Vietnam War gave solace and encouragement to thousands of young people. Well, he turned 93 the other day, still raising hell. But that’s not the item. McCloskey was wounded in the Korean War, where he also was awarded the Navy Cross. And not too long ago, he gave his Purple Heart to Congresswoman Jackie Speier. That’s the item.

NEITHER A LENDER NOR A BORROWER BE: Several weeks ago, I wrote something about candidates who fund their own campaigns: In my experience, they are less successful, and it suggests someone who has a less-than-broad base of support.

Now, as the 2020 fall season enters its final month, there is a remarkable trend among candidates to loan their own money to their campaigns. In particular, there seems to be something about running for the San Mateo County Community College Board of Trustees that presents an overwhelming urge to borrow from yourself.

As the latest campaign finance reports trickle in, we see Trustee Dave Mandelkern, running against Trustee Maurice Goodman (who, incidentally, appears not to have filed a report) loaned his campaign $8,500 of the $13,375 he raised; Trustee candidate Lisa Petrides, now running unopposed since Eugene Whitlock dropped out of the race (but not off the ballot), loaned her campaign $1,600 of the $29,828 she raised; and, of course, the one that first kicked off this issue is the $150,000 trustee candidate John Pimentel gave his campaign. Elsewhere, Redwood City Council candidate Chris Rasmussen loaned his campaign $2,000 and Redwood City candidate Isabella Chu (different district) loaned her campaign $2,000. Interestingly, Chu also loaned $2,000 to Michael Smith, who is running unopposed in yet another Redwood City district.

It was Pimentel’s $150,000 that prompted the initial thought that loans signal a limited base of support. Miffed, Pimentel objected to me and in a letter to the editor. So, of course, I had to check. In the latest spending report, he raised $2,375 from nine contributors. Certainly, he has a long list of supporters on his campaign website, many of whom have not given him money. By contrast, his opponent Lisa Hicks-Dumanske, raised $8,718 from 50 donors. … Oh, those college candidates. For some reason, this crop is drawn to slate mailings, those campaign mailings with several “endorsements” on them, sponsored by an organization with a generic name to mask the fact that this is a for-profit enterprise in the business of ... slate mailings. The only exception are the official party mail pieces. Petrides has spent $26,000 on slate mailings, Mandelkern $5,985, Pimentel $13,749.

SPOTTED: On the marquee at the Hanky Panky in Redwood City: “Honk if you miss lap dances.” As opposed to during one.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.