Now If He’d Changed His Basset Hound’s Name . . .

Some years back, the boys in the newsroom made a funny discovery about a minor candidate for mayor of San Diego.

He had been arrested for driving around town naked. With a basset hound strapped to the hood of his car.

Once the hee-haws died down, the discussion concerned whether this revelation was news. After all, the arrest was several years old and the candidate had little or no chance at winning, so why poke him in the eye?

Finally, a journalistic ethic was set: Vehicular nudity is forgivable (and thus forgettable), but animal cruelty is not. If the dog was hurt, then the incident was reportable;

if not, let’s forget it.

Further digging showed that the dog was unscathed. Case closed. The candidate lost and later died, his secret safe forever.

The hound on the hood happened during the days when it was the media thatprobed the background of political candidates. Now much of that work is done by rival candidates under the rubric of “opposition research.”

In the 3rd District race for City Council, the campaign staff of incumbent Gloria McColl has dogged challenger John Hartley, 46, a real estate agent, with several oddities from his past.

First was the lobster tale: that Hartley had been cited for selling lobsters from a pickup truck without a city permit. Then came Hartley’s shortcomings as a landlord.

And now word is out about John Hartley’s Other Name.

Unable to locate Hartley’s academic and military records, McColl’s campaign manager, Marla Marshall, wrote to Hartley for an explanation. Corresponding copies were sent to five newspapers.

Hartley responded that he had changed his name from Bill Terry Glendenning in 1973 to honor his recently deceased grandfather.

Marshall immediately challenged the dead-grandfather explanation by noting that a 1966 birth certificate for Hartley’s son uses the name Hartley, not Glendenning. More corresponding copies.

“It gets curiouser and curiouser,” said Marshall. If those comments have a Cheshire Cat ring, you’re close.

Hartley responded that the birth certificate was changed retroactively in 1973 and that McColl’s gumshoes had not realized that. His ex-wife is sending McColl a copy of the original, showing the name Glendenning.

“You’d think any good opposition researcher would know what the county’s policy is about changing birth certificates,” said Hartley campaign aide John Wainio.

There you have it. Make of it what you will.

Myself, I’m still glad the basset hound wasn’t hurt.

Caterpillar Queens

Small stuff:

* I like that country-Western station that promises “12 records in a row with only two interruptions.” Kind of like a direct flight with only two stops.

* The Engineering & General Contractors Assn. is having a dinner meeting Sept. 13 at the Del Mar Hilton, highlighted by the selection of 12 winners for the 1990 EGGA Earthmoving Beauties calendar. There are 36 contenders, all female.

The second annual calendar will be ready for the Nov. 16-18 trade show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. There’s nothing sexier than a pretty girl and her Caterpillar.

Grunion Grumblings

It will never replace horse racing as the sport of kings, but watching the grunion run does have a certain charm. The silvery fish flop up on the beach during full and new moons in the late spring and summer.

The problem is that the Solana Beach City Council wants to cut down on late-night revelry on city beaches. So it voted to allow parking at its four beach parking lots only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The council didn’t reckon on the grunion vote. A councilwoman protested that the hours would discriminate against those who like to watch the sardine look-alikes shimmering in the moonlight.

City Manager Mike Huse is now under orders to find a way to keep the lots open especially for grunioneers.

“I’ve watched them run once,” he said. “It was interesting, but I haven’t returned.”