Cyber Glitch

CYBER GLITCH… Technology isn’t really Squid’s thing – electronics don’t seem to work too well once they get wet. But that didn’t stop Squid’s tentacles from perking up at the drama in the County of Monterey’s Information Technology Department. According to a lawsuit filed Sept. 1 by Jose Jaramillo, who was hired as the County’s probationary chief security officer in December 2024, his supervisor, ITDirector Eric Chatham, retaliated against him for blowing the whistle on a laundry list of allegations.

Jaramillo worked for the County for less than a year and during that time claims he reported suspected fraud, waste, abuse of public funds, cybersecurity and data-breach noncompliance, timekeeping fraud, record-retention violations and procurement manipulation.

Among the allegations: Jaramillo, who was earning nearly $17,000 a month, reported that the County was paying $200,000 for 2,000 unused licenses, but was told by Chatham to leave the contract alone to preserve the vendor relationship. He also allegedly reported the County spent half-a-million dollars on hardware and software that hadn’t been used in more than five years. The list goes on.

Squid’s colleague reached out to Chatham (no response) and the County Counsel’s Office, which declined to comment on active litigation or personnel matters. Whatever eventually turns out to be true or not, there seems to be a glitch in the system.

ROAD WARRIORS… Squid locks the door of Squid’s lair, but just outside is a free-for-all, with any creature oozing wherever they please. That is not quite true of life behind the locked gates of The Preserve in Carmel Valley, with 297 homesites on 20,000 sprawling acres with 42 miles of private roads for those fortunate few who have access to the property.

A lot of local agencies are going hat in hand to voters this Nov. 3 requesting taxes or bonds to help pay for things, and this enclave is no exception. The Santa Lucia Community Services District created Facilities District No. 2 (Road Quality) of the Santa Lucia Community Services District in July and its first action is asking voters to approve Measure T, a 15-year special tax to support road work. At $2,968-per-parcel annually – subject to 2-percent inflation – the measure is expected to generate about $1 million a year to start.

Compared to everything else on the ballot, that’s a lot of dough for a residential parcel. It’s even more for the ranch club equestrian center ($6,320) and for the golf clubhouse and golf course ($31,832 each).

These are not gilded roads, just pavement, as far as Squid can tell, but maybe that’s just the price of living in paradise – if the measure can get the two-thirds support required to pass.