SQUID FRY 04.07.16: Vigilante Acts…

VIGILANTE ACTS… When Squid was a rebellious squidlet, Squid swam to the Shrine of Triton at the precipice of the Monterey Canyon and inked on the statue’s head, “No Gods, No Masters.” The more traditional creatures of the sea were aghast, but Squid and those in Squid’s milieu were resolute in their stance: Sea creatures should not venerate an anthropomorphic God representing a species that pillaged our waters and massacred our brethren.

So Squid chuckled a few months back when Squid was lounging in a tidepool at Breakwater Cove in Monterey only to discover the severed head of Junipero Serra staring up from the rocky bottom. Squid understood the sentiment: Pope Francis had just canonized Serra, whose hands were dirty with the enslavement and death of thousands of indigenous people, so in turn, someone decapitated a statue of Serra at Lower Presidio Historic Park.

The head had been missing for months, but was finally found at the cove last weekend and is now in storage with another item of vigilante memorabilia, a metal cross that was mysteriously erected (then quickly removed by Monterey city officials) on Del Monte Beach.

The recovery of the head will cut the cost of repairing the statue, which was expected to exceed $75,000. A fraternal organization called Native Sons of the Golden West has already pitched in five grand for the cause, butSerra’s supplicants might well ask, “native who?”

REVOLVING DOORS… Squid has been saving Squid’s pennies in hopes of taking a vacation to somewhere with warmer waters than Monterey Bay, and since the release of thePanama Papers, Squid now knows Panama is the best destination: Squid can sip fruity drinks while conferring with attorneys at Mossack Fonseca on how to build a tax shelter so Squid can retire early.

Not everyone aspires to a relaxing future, however. Take John Nevill of King City, formerly the cardiopulmonary services director and interim compliance officer at Natividad Medical Center. He was fired in 2014, and instead of basking in what he might win from a wrongful termination settlement, is seeking a new job: He’s running for state Assembly, a Republican in a four-way race for Luis Alejo’s open seat. He’s also suing the county.

In a lawsuit filed Dec. 8 in Monterey County Superior Court, Nevill alleges he was unjustly disciplined in retaliation for being a whistleblower. He was assigned to investigate potential conflicts of interest, he claims, by hospital executives, and a series of punishments – culminating with his firing – were intended to silence his investigation.

Their next court appearance is scheduled on July 19 – well after the June 7 primary. If neither the lawsuit nor the Assembly bid pans out, maybe Nevill will join Squid on a Panamanian beach.