If you set out to find the...

If you set out to find the Person of the Century, the names Mark Spitz, Donald Trump and Michael Jackson might not come immediately to mind. Well, at least not Spitz and Trump.

But they are among the 89 personages nominated by the Walt Disney Co., which will survey customers at its amusement parks over the next decade in what it calls “the longest-running poll ever conducted” to find “the individual who has made the greatest impact on the 20th Century.”

The candidates, which Disney said were compiled from a list of recommendations by college presidents, represent a curious mixture of world leaders, politicians, scientists, executives, athletes, entertainers and literati (including writer Virginia Woolf, whose name was spelled “Wolfe” in the announcement).

Alas, L.A.’s most famous entertainer/politician--Ronald Reagan--was left off the list.

While the Disney company forbids mustaches or beards among its employees--four members of the staff at the Queen Mary were recently fired for such offenses--it did accept the nominations of such proponents of facial hair as Walt Disney (mustache) and George Bernard Shaw and Andrew Carnegie (beards).

It’s difficult to tell who the favorite would be in the Person of the Century balloting. Disneyland visitors, after all, may have a unique perspective. How many 8-year-olds, for instance, will choose Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison over, say, Michael Jackson?

One more question: Will Elvis vote for himself?

Newspapers in the state of Washington have taken to decrying the trend of fleeing Angelenos who purchase beautiful spreads in the Pacific Northwest.

The panic seems to be mounting there. Now, Washingtonians are turning on themselves.

Seattle Times columnist Erik Lacitis recently discovered that many residents have advertised properties in the L.A. Times. He added facetiously: “Of course, we Northwesterners could never be accused of such a thing as being hypocrites when it comes to all our regionalism.”

The city of Paramount, which recently acquired a radar device that flashes the speed of passers-by on a screen, employed the machine during a 10-K race over the weekend. The fastest runner, William Musyoki, won the 6.2-mile race with an average speed of 12.6 m.p.h. No problem with the local gendarmes. As the machine points out, the “speed limit is 25.”

Sen. Alan Cranston has seen his ratings in the popularity polls fall in recent weeks as a result of reports of his involvement in the Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal. The 75-year-old Cranston, a quarter-miler in his collegiate days at Stanford, didn’t post great numbers at the Sunkist indoor track meet at the Sports Arena the other night, either. He finished fifth and last in the 50-meter Legends race.

Nonsense, Joe Brito says, to reports that Santa Monica has no official city ditty.

He writes: “I bring your attention to a song which came out in the 40s:

“When Veronica Plays Her Harmonica on the Pier at Santa Monica.”