SQUID FRY 02.25.16 – Chowder Populist…

CHOWDER POPULIST… The presidential primaries are giving Squid conflicted feelings. After Squid orders THC-infused shrimp popcorn to be delivered in downtown Monterey – just so Squid can point Squid’s beak at the backward and unenforceable city policy – Squid oozes back to Squid’s lair to watch late-night TV. Oh, the material the Republican circus is offering late-night comedians, but oh, the danger that lies in the future if Donald Trump or Ted Cruz were to get elected.

The empty suit with a $5 haircut that is Marco Rubio would be bad, but his bad is better than the others’ crazy. Empty suits bow toward the interests that get them elected, and while they’re often contrary to the greater good, at least they’re predictable.

While Squid has a fair share of criticisms for a few members of the Monterey City Council, there’s nothing as funny or scary about them compared to what Squid sees on the national level. Although Squid did get a chuckle when the ever-predictable Councilmember Ed Smith was subtly called out by Councilmember Timothy Barrett for saying his “constituents” – when he actually meant Fisherman’s Wharf business interests – when discussing the Waterfront Master Plan on Feb. 16. Last Squid checked, City Council seats are at-large, and no one seat represents the wharf. Smith might be confusing the word constituents with interests – interests that helped fund his last campaign to the tune of $22,000-plus.

OH SO COZY… While Squid can’t help being a creature of the sea, Salinas has long been one of Squid’s favorite places in Monterey County. There’s a realness and authenticity that’s lost in the clouds of smugness that can hang over many Peninsula cities. Both nationally and locally, Salinas doesn’t get its due respect, even if Oldtown Salinas restaurants like Patria rival anything the Peninsula has to offer.

Year after year, national surveys like Forbes’ list of America’s Most Miserable Cities, have often ranked Salinas as a place to stay a tentacle’s length away from.

But Squid was tickled a translucent pink when Squid read two recent national lists that ranked Salinas as being a good place to live.

The mega-conglomerate Honeywell, best known for its household thermostats, ranked Salinas the third most cozy city (huh?) behind Asheville, North Carolina and Boston, Massachusetts. Another study, by Gallup and Healthways, found Salinas to have the second highest well-being in the country, trailing Naples, Florida.

Squid’s not so sure about the methodology of these “studies,” but Squid doesn’t care and is raising a glass to toast the realest city in the county finally getting the love it deserves, at least from marketing departments.