Long Walk

LONG WALK… Squid was popping shrimp-flavored popcorn all day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, so that Squid would have sufficient snacks on hand to get through Election Day. But Squid was also intrigued by some of the more personal, probing questions that Squid’s colleagues were asking some of the candidates early on Nov. 3 that had exactly nothing to do with their policies.

How well had they slept the night before the big day, Squid’s colleagues wanted to know? In Marina, council candidate Athena Burciaga didn’t, “I slept about as well as a kid the night before Christmas,” while in Carmel, Hans Buder was relegated to sleeping – or trying to – in his home office because two of his kids were up coughing. (For what it’s worth, Squid slept splendidly. The anti-gravity nature of Squid’s aquatic lair is a wonder for resting a gelatinous body.)

Squid has never campaigned. In the sea, natural selection determines who governs. And no underwater candidate would dare knock on a moray eel’s door. But Squid imagines it is strenuous – and occasionally strange. Seaside mayoral candidate Alex Miller tells Squid’s colleague that he lost 10 pounds during the campaign, thanks to knocking on around 4,000 doors.

But Miller did find some time to relax. A few days before Election Day, he was resting on his couch when the doorbell rang. It was a woman canvassing for… Alex Miller for mayor. “What do you like about him?” Miller says he asked.

Meanwhile, Miller’s opponent, incumbent Mayor Ian Oglesby, took some time with classic war movies on YouTube. Oglesby admits to watching Sink the Bismarck twice. What does that foretell? Squid prefers to let the results inform that answer.

Some candidates were surprised to find out they’ve become minor celebrities. In Salinas, both Andrew Sandoval – a current City Council member and quite a lightning rod – and third-time candidate Cary Swensen noted that people they don’t know have recognized them in recent days.

Mostly, Squid wanted to know what candidates would be doing for fun after the campaign is over and they get a chance to decompress, win or lose. Squid was a bit confused by their definition of “fun.” In Monterey, Alec Manas plans “to reflect on how the race went, where the numbers are at.” In Salinas, Brent Bagley is hoping to find time to take a nap. In Marina, Ana Luz Acevedo-Cabrera is pumped about her fitness routine (at least in the spirit of fun it does include dancing). In Pacific Grove, Susan Goldbeck will get back to the project of turning a novel she wrote into a screenplay. For Alissandra Dramov in Carmel, it’s “keep on working.”

Squid believes that’s the one thing that makes local elections so important. No matter the party, the elected officials keep on working for the cities and the counties.