Squid: Curious request to raise money for Monterey's homeless.

Park Place…Although Squid is a politically-minded cephalopod, and watches this nation’s political maneuverings from afar, Squid hasn’t spent much time inside the Beltway. But from what Squid can tell, money greases most every deal in our nation’s capital, along with several glasses of Scotch, free crab cakes and contraband Cuban cigars.

Locally, the picture’s a bit different, where lobbying often lacks a certain sort of…finesse. Case and point over the last few months has been the clumsy attempts by some to get the Monterey City Council to reconsider the city’s new leasing policies, which limit sweetheart deals to longtime leaseholders.

There was a PR firm out Fresno, Carter & Co., that created a Facebook page depicting Fisherman’s Wharf taken over by the likes of Hooters and Long John Silver’s. There were letters to the Herald from former Fresno City Councilman Jerry Duncan, who got in hot water in 2002 for an email suggesting that “one dirty bomb” could “eliminate all the liberals in Fresno at once.” And there was “journalist” Jon Chown, who wrote sensationalized online stories about City Councilman Alan Haffa “threatening” wharf leaseholders.

Those attempts, to date, have proven fruitless, but wharf businesses and leaseholders don’t seem to be giving up.

The latest maneuver involves Monterey Bay Whale Watch and former Monterey staffer Sam Rashkin, who has since gone on to promote various business interests on the waterfront.

At issue is a vessel, recently acquired by Monterey Bay Whale Watch for several hundred thousand dollars which, unfortunately, they do not have a permit to use. The reason is space: the new boat, a “Blackfin,” is wider than the allowable water space outlined in Monterey Bay Whale Watch’s lease.

Attempts in July to get City Council to approve a temporary permit for the boat—in order to take advantage the tourist season—were rebuffed until 1) city staff could prepare new lease conditions and 2) MBWW’s long-standing friction with nearby Monterey Bay Sailing could be worked out.  

Whether or not to allow the new boat will be considered by City Council Sept. 1, but in advance of that, MBWW was hoping to use the Blackfin this past weekend to entertain visitors in town for TED talks and to ostensibly raise money for One Starfish, a homeless overnight parking program that recently gained city approval.

“This morning I met with the owners of Monterey Bay Whale Watch to formalize their plans to raise funds for the city's Safe Haven Homeless parking program,” Rashkin wrote in a Aug. 25 email to city staffers. “[MBWW] has scheduled private trips this Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th in conjunction with a TED Talks group to showcase marine life in Monterey Bay.”

Rashkin emphasized the ideal timing of the event, which would play off the excitement for the BBC/PBS series “Big Blue Live,” which premiers in the U.S. tonight. And in case any city staffers had been living in a sea cave the last few months and weren’t aware of #BigBlueLive, Rashkin included a helpful link to the show’s website.

“We are checking with you in advance to make sure that they can use the Blackfin to operate as a fundraising charter for this specific event,” Rashkin wrote hopefully. “This is a not-for-profit event where 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated directly to the [parking] program.”

Just checking in advance to make sure we can use the boat we’re still not allowed to use.

City staff denied the request, Squid is told, because they had no power to authorize it without City Council.

MBWW could have, however, used one of their other two boats for the fundraiser, and Squid is curious if, out of the goodness of their hearts, they decided to take that route.

They might also be able to hold a fundraiser on the Blackfin this coming weekend, or for several weekends after, as staff recommended City Council approve the use of the boat at their Sept. 1 meeting.

If the use of the Blackfin is approved, Squid will be curious to see if that’s the case: Whether or not they do so will tell Squid if the whole proposal was a PR stunt to curry council favor, or if MBWW actually wants to sacrifice some profit to help the homeless.

As with the 8pm premier of “Big Blue Live” tonight, Squid will be watching.