Notes, quotes and dust motes

The blundering that has led us to this point is simply astonishing.

For decades, as the managing agency of Caltrain, SamTrans deferred its own interests to help the regional railroad. You need look no further than my own career working for both agencies. About 18% of my salary was paid by Caltrain, the rest by SamTrans. I spent, conservatively, 60% of my time working on Caltrain issues.

It was the best bargain Caltrain could ever have, or will ever. Rather than recognize and respect this bargain, the Caltrain board has sought to undo it and assert the railroad’s regional independence. If there was a good reason to do this, no one has expressed it in a credible way.

Meanwhile, as an agency and as an employer, Caltrain has been expanding at an alarming rate. And eroding its own credibility. Caltrain recently told Burlingame that the estimate to fix the hazardous rail crossing Broadway had gone from $316 million to $889 million. No one at the city believes it.

TAKE A HIKE: So, Stanford fired its football coach, Troy Taylor, because he allegedly mistreated staff members, and not because he had been a loser. This is, um, refreshing.

This invites a couple of questions: Why did it take this long? What was his reputation when Stanford hired him?

The specifics of this episode aside, Andrew Luck, the general manager of the Stanford football program, reasserted his commitment to “academic integrity and the values associated with it.”

In the brave, and appalling, new world of college athletics, Stanford, which once prided itself on being competitive despite its academic rigors, seems to have only a few choices. They can fall behind, fall in line or invent a new path that achieves athletic excellence while retaining the value of a Stanford education.

MISERY LOVES COMPANY: This is one prediction that was a mortal lock — the scandal by, in and around still-Sheriff Christina Corpus, is going to cost millions and millions of dollars in lawsuits and legal claims.

On March 13, County Executive Mike Callagy filed a $10 million claim against Corpus, and her sidekick, the good doctor Victor Aenlle, stemming from assertions made against Callagy, essentially accusing him of sexism, meddling, obstruction and other bad acts. The claim is a precursor to a lawsuit. Callagy is represented by Jim Hartnett, former Redwood City councilmember and co-chair of the currently inert committee to recall Corpus.

The claim and accompanying statement tried hard to make the focus on Corpus. The repeated assertion that she acted with malice hints at a strategy to make her personally liable for punitive damages.

Nonetheless, it is strange, at a minimum, that the county executive is suing the county for which he works. It is unlikely, given Callagy’s genuine and deep commitment to public service, that he wants a dime from the county. This is just the way it has to be done.

And it is one more illustration of how excruciating this whole affair has become and promises to remain.

Particularly for Callagy, who routinely has been getting vicious death threats.

Just in case you were unsure of this, Aenlle has demonstrated anew that he has some really big brass ones. He filed a claim with the county asserting they failed to provide him legal counsel. They denied him the benefit of county legal services for the time in question because he was not an employee of the county.

This entire mess provides countless opportunities for costly mischief, and will continue to do so.

Meanwhile, the hope here is that the county can come up with a process for removing Corpus — pursuant to the massive voter approval of Measure A — that will be swift and certain and judgment proof.

NOT TOO LATE: Corpus could resign and spare us from what promises to be, to paraphrase Thomas Hobbes, nasty, brutish and long.

Despite the conventional wisdom, it is not too late for Corpus to rescue her career. She always was good at community relations — caring, approachable and sensitive, and a good communicator. A progressive law enforcement agency that wants to make effective connections to the Latino community could find her an asset in that role.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He co-hosts a podcast/videocast that can be found at TheGamePeninsula.com, and he can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.