Hot Links

HOT LINKS… Squid oozes around town and also around the internet, where you never know what you might find. Screenshots of sassy comments posted then deleted by slow-moving sea stars? Check. The internet is forever, even when you delete stuff.

Squid expected that in 2026 politicians would know that to be true, but there’s always something to learn and such is the case in the race for District 2 on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. Just before the deadline to file candidacy paperwork on March 6, Squid started perusing the websites of incumbent Glenn Church and challenger Ramon Gomez. Squid was baffled to see Salinas City Councilmember Aurelio Salazar listed as an endorsement on both. So was Salazar. “I have made no public endorsements yet,” he tells Squid’s colleague. (Later updates show him on team Gomez.)

There were a few other outdated endorsements on Church’s page, including former supervisor Lou Calcagno, who died in 2023. Whoopsies! There was also Cristina Medina, wrongly identified as a member of Marina City Council, from which she resigned in 2024. (Medina is making no endorsement this year and as a member of the Democratic Central Committee advocated for a dual endorsement, on which she was overridden; the party went with Church.)

Obviously it was an outdated list, left over from 2022. Squid’s colleague asked Church what was up, and he described it as “weird,” adding: “I thought it was removed. I’m not a tech person to know those details.”

Details, shmetails. On his endorsements, Gomez offers a quote: “Ramon Gomez is a true leader.” Attribution: “Example Endorsement.” As in, an example of what not to do.

SHOULDER TAP… Squid’s colleagues paid close attention in 2025 to the appointment process by California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas to the influential California Coastal Commission. He went with Monterey County Supervisor over incumbent Justin Cummings of Santa Cruz.

Less dramatic was Rivas’ Nov. 25 appointment of an alternate, Lopez’s nominee, who Squid was surprised to learn was not even a contender in round one: Seaside Mayor Ian Oglesby. (Oglesby has not yet filled in for Lopez, who prioritizes attendance at the meetings. “I am excited to welcome him and have him there to back me up,” Lopez says. “Seaside is one of those cities that is doing, and clearly making a difference.”)

Squid’s colleague asked Oglesby about his approach. “I look to play a role in protecting the coastline and making sure it is fairly developed and that we continue to have access to the coast. It’s pretty straightforward.”

Only nothing is straightforward in coastal politics. Oglesby explains how it came to be: “[Lopez] approached me, and I said yes.” Both men have growing power. Squid will watch to see how they use it.