SQUIDFRY 02.09.23: Stop the Squeal

STOP THE SQUEAL… Squid does not waste time watching right-wing propaganda about voter fraud. Some people spend too much time watching it and now imagine fraudulent voting everywhere.

In Pacific Grove the leader of the conservative group PGLIVES, Micheal Gibbs, attempted his own version of “Stop the Steal” on Feb. 1 at a meeting of the P.G. City Council. Gibbs was upset over a council vote on Jan. 18 regarding Mayor Bill Peake’s appointments to the P.G. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force. One of Peake’s picks – Marie Hunter, who in her application questioned the usefulness of the task force and was backed by Gibbs – was protested by other residents as unqualified, as Peake excluded the experienced incumbent Kim Bui. Responding to public comment, councilmembers amended the list, voting to include Bui and in the process excluding Hunter.

Gibbs told the council that he and others gathered over drinks to commiserate after the vote on Jan. 18, deciding it had to be illegal since changing the list of appointees wasn’t spelled out as an option in an accompanying report. He demanded a re-vote. Peake replied he believed the vote was proper, then turned to City Attorney Brian Pierik to ask if he had any further comments about the vote’s legitimacy. Without looking up from some work in front of him, Pierik issued a succinct analysis: “No.”

Swing and a miss. Move along.

DOLLARS AND SENSE… One way Squid procrastinates on filing Squid’s taxes is looking at other people’s money. Specifically, Squid took a look at campaign finance forms to wrap up last year’s election that were due to the Monterey County Elections Department on Jan. 31. And Squid’s biggest takeaway: A lot of money was spent on local races.

In the race for county supervisor for District 2, where Glenn Church spent $271,508 to beat Regina Gage, he ended in the red and gave himself a $20,000 loan to make things pencil out. He’s also already started a 2026 re-election campaign committee. (Gage outspent Church slightly, $280K. She ended the campaign not only without the supervisor’s seat but $67,768 in debt.)

In one contentious countywide race, now-Sheriff Tina Nieto spent $282,904, leaving her campaign $28,422 in debt at the end of the year. Nieto won despite being outspent by over 40 percent with $406,458 reported in expenditures by challenger Joe Moses, a captain in the Sheriff’s Office. But Moses only raised $295,233, which appears to leave him in a very deep hole, as in $111,225 deep.

Campaign season might be over, but Squid won’t be surprised to see bake sales (shrimp-flavored cookies?) pop up to help politicians cover their costs.