SQUIDFRY 03.30.23: Over Cooked

OVER COOKED… Last December, Squid was sad that party poopers in Pacific Grove – namely members of the P.G. Planning Commission – were actively seeking to hamstring outdoor dining parklets, despite overwhelming support from the community. A commission subcommittee developed an onerous list of guidelines which the commission voted 6-1 on Dec. 4 to send to P.G. City Council. One member of that subcommittee, Debby Beck, now serves on the council.

On Dec. 22, the council seemed to steer away from the strict guidelines, especially after being bombarded with emails from parklet supporters. The council asked city staff to come back with a new ordinance and guidelines, which staff did on March 22. All seemed to be going well, until Beck, along with councilmembers Luke Coletti and Lori McDonnell, suddenly wanted – wait for it – a subcommittee! Coletti insisted they needed to do “a deep dive” to “strengthen” the staff guidelines by incorporating some of the Planning Commission’s suggestions.

Beck, Coletti and McDonnell were joined by Councilmember Nick Smith in a 4-3 vote to approve formation of the subcommittee, with the former three as its members. They must complete their work before the current emergency ordinance sunsets on May 31.

Coletti also called the “deep dive” a “slogfest.” Squid suspects a better term would be “clogfest.” Squid just wants to eat Squid’s calamari-free dinner al fresco in downtown P.G. in peace.

STRAW DRAW… Squid’s not a fan of games of chance. Losing to a limpet if the dice turn up snake eyes? No thanks. Squid likes to outsmart Squid’s opponents, which in the sea, admittedly, isn’t that hard.

But for the Del Rey Oaks City Council at a March 28 meeting – after Squid’s deadline – it was pure chance as to who could vote on an agreement to fund the ongoing maintenance of the first-funded (but not yet built) segment of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway (aka FORTAG), a 28-mile bike and pedestrian trail loop connecting Del Rey Oaks and Seaside to Marina.

Because the city is so small, it was expected that deciding who could vote on it would require putting the names of all five councilmembers in a hat, then drawing three at random. The issue: They all lived within 500 feet of the project, and per state law, have to recuse themselves from voting. But then on March 27, Mayor Scott Donaldson confirmed that the project had recently changed because PG&E wouldn’t allow the trail to go along its easement on Plumas Avenue in Seaside – it is instead moving toward the sidewalks – which puts his house just outside of the 500-foot limit (he thinks).

Squid will be oozing around town, checking for measuring tapes to see who really gets to vote or not.