Squid counts the big sums of campaign cash that are appearing in unexpected places.

BIG DEAL…Squid loves surprises. A fruit bouquet from Squid’s nieces and nephews on Squid’s birthday, or a “thinking of you” card from Squid’s bestie, Flapjack T. Octopus, or even a sudden snuggle with Squid’s beloved bulldog, Rosco P. Coltrane, can set even the most cockeyed day back right.

Squid also loves political surprises, and there have been so many this campaign season in the run-up to Tuesday’s midterm races. There’s been the surprise of the California Association of REALTORS (ugh, as an aside, what is WITH the capitalization on that?) independent expenditure committee spending tens of thousands of dollars on smear mailers opposing incumbent Jason Campbell’s run for council in Seaside. Or spending tens of thousands of dollars on smear mailers slamming George Riley, who’s running for the board of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District and spearheading the Measure J campaign.

And there’s the surprise that the return address on those mailers is the office of the Monterey County Association of REALTORS (Doh! Again with the capitalization!) in teeny Del Rey Oaks. 

But political surprises are happening everywhere in Monterey County, it seems. Squid recently turned Squid’s attention to campaign disclosure forms, which make great bedtime reading, and found a lot of money is being funneled into one little campaign, that of Ricky Cabrera, contracting company owner, charter member of the Salinas Alisal Rotary Club, board trustee at Rancho Cielo and the Salinas Valley Leadership Group and aspirant for elected office, specifically the Zone 1 seat on the board of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System.

Owing to the fact that Cabrera has a lot of friends in high places, the money has been pouring in. Filings with the county elections department show that as of Nov. 2, Cabrera’s campaign disclosure forms show he has a war chest of just over $55,000 (seriously? For a hospital district race?), including $5,000 from the Judy Pennycook for Monterey County Board of Education campaign, $5,000 from “retiree” Joanne Taylor-Johnson, $5,000 from the Salinas Valley Leadership Group (uh, is that even allowed given he’s a board member?) a thousand smackaroos from retired Superior Court Judge Jonathan Price, another grand from the John Phillips for Monterey County Supervisor campaign, $5,000 from the Monterey County Business PAC, $3,000 from the Salinas Valley Emergency Medical Group Inc.; and $2,752.79 in the form of a fundraising event held by cement kingpin and political shotcaller Don Chapin, president of (wait for it) the Salinas Valley Leadership Group.

Then Squid took a gander at the disclosure forms filed by Richard Turner, who sits on the board of the SVMH Foundation and who’s running for the Zone 4 seat on the SVMH board. Turner’s raised less money, but the $25,547 has come from some of the same names backing Cabrera: $5,000 each from the Monterey County Business PAC and the emergency medical docs; $5,000 from the Salinas Valley Leadership Group; and $2,500 from Taylor Fresh Foods.

Of course, it only made sense that Squid take a gander at the forms of the two running against Cabrera and Turner. In the Zone 1 race, Cabrera is facing off against Regina Gage, who runs Meals on Wheels of Salinas Valley and opposed John Phillips in the county supervisor’s race. Gage thus far has raised just over $16,000 in the hospital board race, with larger donations from the Democratic Women of Monterey County ($1,250); $1,000 from the California Nurses Association PAC; $9,000 from the Ob-Gyn Associates of the Central Coast; and $500 each from the National Union of Healthcare Workers Candidate Committee, the Pipe Trades District Council, the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union and the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Small Contributor Committee.

Speaking of unions, Turner is running against Cesar Lara, executive director of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council. As of his last filing, Lara has raised $6,800, with $5,000 of that from Dr. William Khien of the Ob-Gyn Associates of the Central Coast; and a handful of smaller donations from unions, including $500 each from the National Union of Healthcare Workers and the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council.

Now, Squid’s no rocket surgeon, but even a cursory look at those numbers has Squid wondering, what does big business think it’s buying when it’s backing Cabrera and Turner? Is it buying someone who will oppose Project Labor Agreements on hospital construction projects? Is it buying someone who will rubber stamp the increasingly increasing salaries of SVMH’s executive team?

(According to the California State Controller’s public compensation records, hospital district CEO Pete Delgado’s salary was $827,136 in 2017, up from $623,605 in 2015, or, as Squid likes to think of it, “Everyone has apparently forgotten the drama that arose when former hospital exec Sam Downing’s compensation package made the pages of the L.A. Times.”)

Squid can’t wait for the election to be over, so Squid can get to covering SVMH more closely. Whoever wins, it’s gonna be awesome!