The curious case of a candidate’s spouse’s tattoo

The sheriff’s race should be about the public’s sense of safety, which is diminishing; whether there is fairness in how all of us are treated by law enforcement, which is very much in doubt; and whether there is leadership that is intolerant of misbehavior and excessive use of force by its troops.

Instead, the latest hoo-ha is about a tattoo. And not a tattoo on one of the candidates, but on a candidate’s spouse.

It has been my practice to regard a candidate’s family as off-limits, unless the family members purposely project themselves into the public eye in a prominent role. Portraits of family members do not count. A husband who also holds public office does count.

In this case, the matter is about a tattoo on the calf of retired sheriff’s Lt. John Kovach, who is married to sheriff’s Capt. Christina Corpus, who is running against incumbent Sheriff Carlos Bolanos.

This should be nothing. Indeed, it is hard to see how it could be anything.

But there it was, the lead front page story in the Palo Alto Daily Post. In the lead spot means it was the best news story they could muster that day, which I am certain is correct. The story bore the headline: “Tattoo emerges in sheriff’s race,” a magnificently incoherent collection of words.

Rumors apparently circulated to the Post about the tattoo and they questioned Corpus about it.

The tattoo, which Corpus confirmed Kovach got when he was 16 and living in the South, is of Looney Toons character Yosemite Sam and the Confederate flag. Kovach realized the flag was offensive to Californians, and has had it blacked out, Corpus said. She also said the rumors and a photo of the tattoo were circulated by the Bolanos campaign.

All right, then. It’s just one day’s story in a paper with minimal impact outside of Palo Alto. It has nothing to do with management and oversight of the Sheriff’s Office and the qualifications of either candidate.

Except that incumbent Bolanos had to pounce on the issue. The Post story and a comment are posted on the Bolanos campaign Facebook page. The comment is in quotes, but is unattributed to any individual, which shows a lack of minimal accountability.

The comment says: “We are deeply disturbed to read this story in today’s paper. It is frankly shocking that Christina Corpus would try to pretend that the Confederate flag has another meaning than exactly what it is — a sign of racism and white supremacy. It’s less surprising that she would try to cast blame on others in light of this revelation. While Sheriff Carlos Bolanos has a zero tolerance policy for racial bias and discrimination, it seems clear that Capt. Corpus is more flexible on this front. Her disingenuous remarks are to be expected from someone who is purporting to be a Democrat to run for office even though she has spent a lifetime as a registered Republican.”

There is a lot to wade through here. Yes, Corpus could have been less dismissive of the offense caused to some by the Confederate flag. But it is a profound leap from there to concluding Corpus, a Latina, is “flexible” on racial bias, a leap that should have been clear to Bolanos, a Latino, who, incidentally was in charge when Corpus was promoted to captain and her husband to lieutenant.

As for Corpus’ Republican past, it is true and it is fairly recent. I asked a few of the most prominent local Democrats about Corpus’ reregistration, and, as one put it, “The Democratic Party is a big tent. She’s most welcome.”

By the way, sheriff is a nonpartisan office, and party registration should not be a factor, an assertion I recognize as theoretical, at best. And I can think of three current and past popular officeholders who had been Republicans not that long ago. Anyway, in addition to racial bias, it appears Bolanos has zero tolerance for Republicans.

But since it is the county’s highest-ranking law enforcement office and since the Sheriff’s Office’s influence is spreading every year, it begs the question: What else does Bolanos have zero tolerance for, besides tattoos? It might be useful information for, you know, voters.

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.