SQUIDFRY 04.29.21: In Deed

In Deed… Squid caught wind of something that smells fishy over in Del Rey Oaks concerning votes by councilmembers John Gaglioti and Pat Lintell regarding nursery Hana Gardens. Both live within 500 feet of the nursery property and both recused themselves in 2014 – Lintell as a councilmember and Gaglioti as a planning commissioner – from casting votes involving the property that year. In a City Council meeting on Jan. 26, both claimed that they no longer had a conflict because even though they still lived in the same homes, it was relatives who actually owned them. Lintell stated she had transferred her home to her son.

DRO resident Ken Rutherford dug into county records and discovered that Lintell didn’t transfer her deed until Feb. 4, nine days after the vote. Gaglioti’s mother transferred the deed from her trust to Gaglioti on Feb. 11. Rutherford filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission, which has not yet made a determination on whether to open an investigation. Rutherford also sent his research to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. (A DA investigator told Rutherford they declined to open a case.) Gaglioti says he was advised by a different city attorney to recuse himself in 2014, although he never believed a conflict existed; Lintell did not respond by Squid’s deadline.

Whether the FPPC takes action or not, Squid still thinks something smells, and it’s not the fertilizer at the garden center.

Oh The CalAmity… Squid supposes it was some decades ago when the Pacific Cephalopod Film Society first hosted a viewing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. That it was a pirate version did not help this terrestrial film’s quality, but Squid felt kinship with Lucy’s character. Lucy’s apathy toward social etiquette: admirable. Charlie Brown’s delusion that all he needed to do was try harder instead of choosing a different, more trustful playmate: pitiful.

Squid’s reminded of that pity watching the saga of California American Water’s flailing effort to build a desalination plant, oppose the Pure Water Monterey expansion, and regain the trust of its customers, who voted for a public takeover of the utility. The California Coastal Commission told Cal Am in April its renewed application for the desal plant remained incomplete. Whiff. A judge later revoked the project’s county approvals for violations of state environmental law. Whiff. On April 26, Cal Am unleashed its legal team to convince the Local Agency Formation Commission that the public can’t afford its self-appraised $1 billion value. Later that same day, Monterey One Water’s board paved the way for a Pure Water Monterey expansion, pressuring Cal Am to now buy water from a rival project it opposes. Squid’s bookie now asks: How many whiffs can an investor-owned utility take?