SQUID FRY 05.18.17: Cops out…

COPS OUT… Cephalopods are dispassionate creatures, and generally incapable of loyalty, but in Squid’s case, there is an exception – Squid’s undying loyalty to Squid’s English bulldog Rosco P. Coltrane.

Loyalty has been on Squid’s mind of late, in part due to reports that President Donald Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey – before Trump fired him – to pledge his loyalty. (Comey declined, choosing country over party or president.)

Locally, a group of men faced a similar kind of reckoning: On May 11, when former Del Rey Oaks police chief Ron Langford retired, he was not alone. At the time, DRO PD had six full-time officers, including Langford (another, David Olmos, also retired; he had been on disability leave since November 2014). The department also had 10 reserve officers, but not for long – six of them resigned May 11, seemingly in solidarity with Langford.

Among those who resigned was James Hill III, a Pebble Beach resident, heir to a railroad fortune and owner of El Sur Ranch. It was Hill who pledged $100,000 to refurbish a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle (MRAP) the force acquired in 2014 from the feds at no cost.

So while the DRO police force may be depleted in terms of officers, they remain well-equipped, and if somehow the small, quiet bedroom community turns overnight into Mosul, Iraq, they will be ready.

FINDER’S FEE… Squid has been watching squid boats return to Monterey Bay, lighting up late at night, with a combination of awe and dread. Being a cephalopod, those boats pose an existential threat to Squid, but Squid cannot help but admire them. Squid sometimes feels the same way about political operatives: even if they’re distasteful, there’s something to be admired. All the maneuvering and strategizing behind the scenes. And the bookkeeping alone!

The latest political operative to screw up on campaign bookkeeping is Paul Bruno, of the Monterey County Republican Party. Bruno was treasurer of Abel Maldonado’s failed 2014 campaign for governor, and according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, Maldonado’s campaign failed to file reports for three different contributions of $5,000 or more. The FPPC’s proposed penalty: $2,000.

Squid was feeling a little sorry for Bruno, and thought Squid might hold a bake sale to help chip in: Rice Krispies treats, cookies, humble pie. But then Squid reached Bruno, who was on vacation on a beach in Sicily. “As the named treasurer, I am responsible for the work of others and take full responsibility,” Bruno writes by email. “The candidate was unaware of the mistake and had no role in it.”

Bruno, it seems, has already eaten his slice of humble pie. He’ll still have to come up with $2,000, however.