Squid reads deeply into the emails of retired Salinas library director Elizabeth Martinez.

The Chronicles of Elizabeth Martinez…Even as Squid adapts to the age of e-readers, Squid keeps a special place in Squid’s three-chambered heart for old-school paper books. And the people who promote books, no matter whether they’re made of trees or lithium-ion batteries.

So maybe it’s not a surprise that Squid held retired Salinas Library Services Director Elizabeth Martinez in some esteem. She championed the much-needed remodel of Cesar Chavez Library in East Salinas, and led the charge on refurbishing a public artwork by acclaimed sculptor Claes Oldenburg.

But it was that sculpture, Hat in Three Staging of Landing, that led to a showdown between City Council and Martinez, the threat of a lawsuit, and a $400,000 payout as she retired in August. A payout received, essentially, because Martinez felt some councilmembers spoke to her harshly. (And, as it turns out, not the first payout she received either—she filed previous claims against the city for injuries she received on the job or on city property.)

In all, it was a lot of dough, especially for a city that’s asking voters to approve a penny sales-tax increase and a Utility Users Tax as well at the polls this November, and a city just named the second least-educated city in the country. So Squid decided to try and understand a little better what went down, and sent a Public Records Act request to the city of Salinas. What came back was a ream of paper thicker than most novels Squid reads. Here are some highlights of emails Martinez exchanged as she prepared to retire—twice—from her post.

(First, a quick recap: Martinez retired from her full-time role in 2012, then returned on a part-time basis in 2013. She and former mayor Dennis Donohue had lobbied for city approval to restore the Hat sculpture, designed by Oldenburg and his late wife Coosje Van Bruggen, at a cost of about $160,000. The plan: Borrow the money from the city’s general fund, then raise donations to repay that. “Personally, I vote to restore the Hats now and celebrate it,” Martinez emailed city officials shortly before her first retirement. Then she returned, but fundraising lagged.

A reportedly heated meeting went down in February in which city councilmembers Kimbley Craig, Steve McShane and Tony Barrera—all of whom are up for re-election this year—demanded the cash be repaid, and fast. Martinez followed up with a letter from attorney Michael Stamp alleging the councilmembers had bullied and harassed her. Stamp was tied up with other deadlines before Squid's deadline, so declined to comment.) 

• As early as January of 2012, Martinez was looking for an out from her time at the city. “I’m getting irritated as the expectations of this job,” she wrote Jan. 23, 2012. “Largest department/# of employees/diversity of public/community programs at 13% less pay than when I began 4.5 years ago, and least pay of all department heads. Time to retire this year.”

• “I hope to retire next year, and looking for my next life,” she wrote to a colleague in 2012.

• As Martinez prepared to retire the first time, a colleague wrote to her: “The person that is going to try and fill your shoes will need to be strong, grounded like you and be on fire when it comes to pushing a social justice and equity priority with the people of Alisan and for the leaders at Cesar Chavez [Library] you have grown.”

• Deputy Librarian Carissa Purnell wrote an email in 2012, addressed to “role models,” sharing thoughts on a chapter of her dissertation addressing pop culture references to injustices. “I would like to say this is new but it is old,” Martinez responded. “It was my view 40 years ago, and because I could not work long with hypocrisy or inequity, I wandered among jobs. So I have no retirement or savings and still want to leave whenever it gets so bad.”

• She described that tightrope again in a July 2012 email to Salinas colleagues: “My view of institutional survival is to walk with confidence straight toward the goal throwing off negative people and things to the deep dark caverns along the sides. Do not stop. Regroup and refresh with trusted spirits, ancestors.”

• As she prepared to retire in 2012 and be rehired a few days later, Martinez emailed Assistant City Manager Jim Pia about City Council approval and salary plans. “Jim, I do not like this exposure, and may simply retire and leave. The Council report will put me in the public light open to critics.” 

• As to the General Fund loan and repayment strategy, Pia raised some financial concerns in September 2012. Martinez responded: "The city is obligated to pay for restoration due to lack of maintenance. What media story do we prefer? City finds money to restore world-famous art for mayor during election season? City decides to wait on mayor's plans for restoration of world-class art until after the election? [Salinas Californian reporter] Jeff Mitchell will write it and has already asked questions."

• In November of 2013, Martinez was still optimistic about repaying the General Fund for the restoration costs of the Hat sculpture. In an email to Councilwoman Craig, City Manager Ray Corpuz, Mayor Joe Gunter and library Community Services Manager Sheila Molinari, Martinez wrote: “I received a check for $3,000 on a cold ask last Friday, and expect more this week. Every member [of the fundraising committee] is committed to making the required ‘good faith effort’ to pay the costs of restoration of the Hat.”

• In the same email, recounting an off-the-record conversation with former KSBW reporter May Chow (now doing PR work at LinkedIn), Martinez wrote: “I told her…it was not not my understanding that the Hat fundraising was my primary responsibility (as she stated she heard it was).” That exchange may have set the stage for the showdown over fundraising that resulted a few months later.

• Then this foreboding note followed in January 2014, addressed to Corpuz: “The story about the Hat in Three Stages of Landing is not over, and I realize the funds raised are nominal.”

As far as the $400,000 settlement, Gunter says it was a business decision for the city; avoiding legal proceedings is generally a cheaper alternative.

“It became a business decision,” he says. “Was it a happy decision? No. That money came from an insurance company, and it pisses me off that we had to pay it.”

Despite all the bitterness, Martinez seemed to have her heart in the right place as a librarian. She was devoted to public art and transforming libraries from book storage lockers to relevant community hubs.

On July 18, as she prepared to retire (for good), she wrote this: “After almost seven years in Salinas, I am still surprised when children have to take a taxi to the library, and an 8-year-old sees the ocean for the first time on a library trip. There is so much basic work to do in Salinas, to teach families to read, and feed the soul with hope.”

Here’s to hoping Salinas keeps focused on making the city a literate, culturally engaging place to live and work and raise kids, with or without fundraising strategies all buttoned up.