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Full Court Stress The presidential contest is not the only race where crime and money are emerging as central issues. Closer to home, Municipal Court Judge Gene Hyman, seeking to be elevated to the Superior Court, is busy gloating about his near shutout of rival judge-wannabe Barbara Spector in the law enforcement endorsement sweepstakes. In recent weeks the jurist has been endorsed by the California District Attorney Investigators Association, the California Narcotics Officers Association, a statewide victims-rights group called Crime Victims United, Santa Clara County Sheriff Chuck Gillingham, and the statewide Police Officers Research Association of California. Spector, on the other hand, did snag an "open" endorsement from the local Latino Peace Officers Association, which also endorsed Hyman. ... However, despite support from the cops and from crime victims, Hyman tells Eye he still frets about his opponent's deep pockets. According to campaign finance disclosure reports, Spector has already donated $50,000 of her own money to her campaign while Hyman, in contrast, has tapped his checkbook for about half that much. All of which leaves Hyman worried that Spector's high-quality literature will soon flood voters' mailboxes and leave the impression that her support is coming from somewhere other than her own bank account. "The race for Superior Court judge really should not be decided based on who can write the biggest check," the agitated muni judge complains. Cop Feelings On the subject of criminals and their keepers, former San Jose police chief Joseph McNamara's latest cop thriller, set in San Francisco, has been flying off the shelves, but some San Francisco top cops have been aiming it right back. "I've been getting some angry phone calls from the brass, saying, 'Why didn't you write that stuff about San Jose?' But the rank-and-file cops loved it," McNamara tells Eye. "They said it was right on in how it described the politics of the SFPD." ... Code 211 Blue, the story of an honest cop who uncovers police corruption while investigating a rape and murder case, jumped to number 11 in the supermarket rack bestseller list after only a week out. McNamara, credited with professionalizing San Jose's police department before departing in 1991, says San Francisco could learn a lot from San Jose. As an "eastern-style" big-city police department like New York or Philadelphia, San Francisco has what he thinks is a too-cozy relationship between the mayor and police chief and a strong code of silence among officers to cover up any wrongdoing. McNamara, now a Hoover Institution research fellow, spent six months in San Francisco researching his novel. "The book is a work of fiction," he says, "but the kind of intrigues it describes are basically true." Good Vibrations Also on the police beat, if you go browsing over to www.dare.org/ expecting to find info about the police-sponsored Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for school kids, you're in for a shock. Seems that the site glommed onto the DARE domain name before DARE did, and the site contains information and links that attack DARE, its tenets and even some of its advocates. The site's basic argument is that DARE not only politically indoctrinates kids, but sets them up to possibly take drugs, not reject them. ... Among the links are a Los Gatos Weekly-Times story in which Steve Glickman, a county juvenile justice commission member, argued that although people involved with DARE feel good about it, research has shown it doesn't work. A racier link goes to the Des Moines Register, which reported on the strange case of James Trimble, the Iowa cop who used to head up a local DARE program. Trimble distinguished himself by getting busted driving around town in his mother's van with 7 ounces of speed on board and a "battery-operated sexual device inserted in his body." Now that's daring. Too Many Cooks Well, since there's no MetroMenu section in this week's issue, Eye will dutifully cover the dining business and report the plate-rattling news that Jim Connolly, longtime chef de cuisine at Emile's Restaurant, is leaving to develop a culinary-based corporate "team building" business. "I'm not leaving until Oct. 30," Connolly told Metro. "That's my last cooking class and I wanted to keep my commitments." According to Connolly, he's been training former sous chef Kent Paras to move into the chef slot at the 23-year-old downtown landmark, while Mike Alsop will be promoted to sous chef, serving as Paras' right-hand man. ... Connolly tells Eye that his decision to leave after 17 years cooking for the restaurant came after unsuccessful efforts to buy Emile's from Swiss-born chef/entrepreneur Emile Mooser. "I was either going to buy the place or leave," he informed Eye. "So I'm going to leave." Continuing in the "teaching and training" niche he'd carved out as chef and cooking class instructor for Emile's, Connolly has founded Living Balance with partner Carol Cole, supplying "interactive seminars" for corporate management teams who need to bond. "I've been doing this kind of corporate team-building for several years, and essentially we begin by putting people in the kitchen for a hands-on cooking class." Connolly thinks that cooking together might initiate esprit de corps in a less physically impactive manner than rock-climbing, the current team-building darling du jour. Owner Mooser acknowledges that his restaurant has "promoted from within" in response to Connolly's impending departure. "There are no dramatic changes--I'm still here," he said. Public Eye welcomes tips. Leave messages 24 hours a day by calling 408/298-7818 and then pressing 2, followed by 412, to reach Eye's voice mailbox. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]