Squid embraces the reckless youth of marketing a hotel development in Pacific Grove

Sitting Pretty…Squid has the bad habit of starting most days by reading the news, generally a downer. Political rallies turned violent, lead in Flint’s water, and more than enough money in presidential politics to fix Flint’s water problem. Squid takes comfort in strolling the quaint streets of America’s Last Hometown, aka Pacific Grove, where monarch butterflies come to spend the winter and adorable boutiques line the streets.

That’s the picture the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce aims to deliver, at least, in a promotional video that shows young people smiling (lots of smiling) and drinking fresh juices, sipping lattes, riding bikes, doing yoga (still smiling), giving each other high-fives, buying daffodils at the P.G. farmers market and skipping through sunlit grass. It’s like they rounded up the entire population of Pagrovians under age 45 and cast them in the chipper film, and told them to wear sun dresses.

(If Squid directed a movie about life in P.G., it would be more realistic: There would be more gray hair, and everyone would wear down jackets and curl up indoors next to a fireplace clutching a whiskey, while all you can see out the windows is fog.)

This idealized portrayal of Pagrovian living made its debut at the March 11 Chamber’s luncheon, which featured retired Gen. Wesley Clark as the keynote speaker. The former presidential candidate delivered what sounded like a stump speech about the importance of economic growth, world peace and North Korea. All stuff Squid would’ve expected.

Squid’s ears perked up when Clark started plugging Project Bella, a proposed luxury hotel for the American Tin Cannery. Why, Squid wondered, would Clark give a darn about America’s Last Hometown’s hotel project? Turns out he’s a co-manager of Domaine Hospitality Partners, the development team behind the hotel.

Their timing is good: In a special election April 19, P.G. voters will decide on Measure X, which would rezone the cannery property to allow a hotel there, step one of many in getting the project approved.

As Squid left the chamber event, Squid got a party favor—a cap, maybe because they’re trying really hard to believe that sunshiny film is reality. Squid donned Squid’s cap and went about Squid’s day, manifesting the reality the video showed; Squid went to yoga, drank coffee, high-fived some pals. By the end of it all, Squid was exhausted and took off Squid’s free hat. A tag slid out that said, “Yes on X.”