SQUIDFRY 02.16.23: Deep Hole

DEEP HOLE… While oozing around Monterey County in Squid’s jalopy, Squid has been generally impressed by how fast crews show up to clear storm damage. Downed tree? Cue the chainsaws. Sinkhole big enough to swallow a child? Cue the Jan. 10 contract between the city of Salinas and Don Chapin Company for emergency repairs on a sinkhole behind Los Padres Elementary School.

When the city’s Public Works Department asked Salinas City Council on Feb. 7 to authorize a $100,000 transfer, it was to pay for work already done to repair the sinkhole. Members of council had questions. Andrew Sandoval wanted to know if any other prospective contractors were contacted about the job. (No.) Tony Barrera wanted to know if there was a list of multiple contractors pre-approved for such emergencies. (No, Public Works staff is working on it.) Anthony Rocha objected to what he described as “favoritism” at play.

The issue had already been dealt with, but given their concerns about the no-bid, sole-source contract, council voted 5-2 against the funds transfer. Denied.

Squid does not expect Chapin, however, to let an invoice for work that was already completed disappear into a sinkhole. Squid will be watching to see what happens next.

HAND OUTS… Christmas is long over, so Squid was a little surprised to receive an announcement about a big gift on Feb. 2 from Kaiser Permanente to 11 Monterey County nonprofit organizations. The healthcare provider is giving $450,000 to groups including the Food Bank for Monterey County, Everyone’s Harvest, CHISPA and Rancho Cielo. The goal of those donations, per Kaiser’s statement, is to support “greater access to healthy food and stable housing for low-income, vulnerable residents.” A noble mission, Squid thinks – and one that a healthcare provider may well participate in by, well, providing healthcare to those same communities.

But Kaiser has a reputation for only accepting patients with Kaiser insurance, something that has local hospitals worried – if and when Kaiser arrives in town, will everyone else end up footing the bill for uninsured and under-insured patients? So Squid asked a Kaiser spokesperson directly which insurance plans will qualify. Squid also asked some basics like Kaiser’s timeline to open and where. Instead of answers, Squid got a boilerplate statement: “We continue to explore all possible options to serve individuals and employers in Monterey County who over the years have expressed their desire to have Kaiser Permanente’s high-quality care available to them.”

For those who don’t desire or can’t afford “high-quality care,” Kaiser’s message seems to be: Don’t worry, there’s always the food bank.