SQUID FRY 06.16.16: Con Trails…

CON TRAILS… There are times, Squid admits, when Squid wants to be someone else. This past Election Day is one example, when Squid donned a human disguise in an effort to vote at the ballot box. (A trail of slime gave Squid away.)

Humans also seem to have this urge, as evidenced by some members of the recently formed Toro Park Trail Advisory Working Group, which organizers are trying to dub TPTAWG. The working group, which is meant to meet twice per month, was convened by the Monterey County Parks Department to suss out the ongoing conflict between hikers and bikers at Toro Park, one that arose due to unsupervised trail building by mountain bikers. The 13-member group is meant to reflect a balance of both sides, and when applying to be a member, applicants had to self-identify whether they were a hiker, runner or biker.

Sounds great, let’s do this TPTAWG thang!

If only it was that simple: Susan Benjamin, who identified as a runner, happens to be on the board of the Monterey Off Road Cycling Association! Phil Craig, “hiker,” is also on the MORCA board! And “hiker” Keith DeFiebre? Nearly every picture on his Facebook page shows him riding a bike!

For the record, that means there are two more bikers in the group than there are letters in TPTAWG.

OBSCURE APPEAL… Squid loves a good long novel, but when they come to an end, Squid often sheds a tear onto the screen of Squid’s Kindle. Squid feels a similar sadness now that it looks like the years-long legal battle between the Ag Land Trust and Marina Coast Water District might finally be coming to an end, based on a legal doctrine that sounds like it was cribbed directly from a Joseph Heller novel.

And like many a good novel, the 34-page decision, signed June 1 by Monterey County Superior Court Judge Lydia Villarreal, takes us right back to the beginning. She ruled that Ag Land Trust – which won its 2010 lawsuit over the now-defunct desalination project against Marina Coast back in 2012 – is indeed entitled to $1.3 million in attorney’s fees the court awarded back in 2013. (Marina Coast appealed that decision, and the Court of Appeal kicked it back to superior court to re-decide.)

The latest court decision relies on what Squid thinks might be the most esoteric legal doctrine out there, “catalyst theory.” The basic idea is this: If a lawsuit forced a “change in the defendant’s behavior,” the plaintiff in the lawsuit is entitled to collect attorney’s fees.

The change in behavior here is abandoning the desal project, but Squid wishes “catalyst theory” meant a different type of behavior change – maybe shorter meetings, shorter lawsuits, or shorter roads to a water supply.