SQUIDFRY 06.20.19: Real or Imagined

REAL OR IMAGINED… The U.S. Open is over and Squid barely noticed it. Officials issued warnings to brace for crowds and traffic, and then a well-run shuttle system kept Squid’s commute breezy. Squid wonders if another doomsday scenario for travelers will see a similarly smooth transition, or if it will be as disastrous as Squid fears it might: Real ID.

The Monterey Regional Airport sent out a press release encouraging media to stop by on June 17 to learn more, but when Squid oozed over and met two DMV representatives, they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. Oh, well. Squid instead watched them try (and mostly fail) to get the attention of weary travelers disembarking.

Here’s what they would’ve told Squid: Effective Oct. 1, 2020, TSA will only accept federally approved identification, such as a passport or Real ID – your current California driver’s license won’t cut it. It’s the result of the REAL ID Act, passed in 2005 by Congress at the urging of the9/11 Commission to standardize state identification.

It sounds to Squid like a good way to make life harder for people it’s already hardest for (the million-and-counting Californians who have licenses thanks to AB 60, which allows immigrants to receive licenses regardless of legal status? They’re not eligible for Real IDs) and to create havoc at airports. For Squid, it’s just another excuse to avoid air travel.

JOB PROSPECTS… Squid has a great gig writing snarky commentary, but admits to always looking for the next thing. On that, Squid might find kinship with Dan Mitchell, Monterey County Sheriff’s deputy, president of the Deputy Sheriffs Association and plaintiff, along with union treasurer Deputy Ted Avery, in a lawsuit involving the county and their boss, SheriffSteve Bernal.

Mitchell made news last year during the ugly campaign for sheriff between incumbent Bernal and Deputy Scott Davis when a group of commanders openly questioned how Mitchell was using union dues. The Fair Political Practices Commission and the state Department of Justice found no crime had been committed, but things have remained tense. Mitchell and Avery sued Bernal, claiming their rights as union members had been violated. Mitchell also sued the commanders. You’d think a guy with that much litigation going would be untouchable, but you’d be wrong: Mitchell took to Facebook to proclaim he had been demoted from sergeant, then fired and then offered an entry-level job at the jail. Under the post, where Facebook suggested congratulating Mitchell on his new job, he wrote: “I’m DSA president and I’m suing (the) department. I got demoted, fired and brought back as a jail deputy.”

The suit against Bernal has been taken off the court’s calendar because it’s pending settlement. A demotion might be all it takes to spark it anew.