Squidfry 08.16.18: Ghost Ship

GHOST SHIP… Squid is always amused that as Election Day nears, the incumbents start rolling out new (!) initiatives that of course have nothing to do with running for re-election (cough, cough). It was with side-eyes that Squid approached the press conference held by Monterey Vice Mayor Timothy Barrett on Aug. 9, for an announcement about the launch of the nonprofitNeighborhood Housing Fund for Monterey. Barrett stood on the steps of Monterey City Hallflanked by about a dozen props, err, people, including former congressman Sam Farr and Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh.

Barrett opened his remarks with the story of the SS Frisia, which he said, set sail for the first time from Scotland in 1872, with no passengers aboard, but later “came to carry the hopes and dreams” of 47,000 immigrants in its voyages across the Atlantic to America. However, as the press conference wore on, it became apparent that the “fund” was as empty as the Frisia. When Barrett was asked if there was any money yet, he brought up the Frisia again, because, you know, hopes and dreams.

Just as the Frisia’s passengers got the entry to America they wanted, Barrett got what he was after: TV time on KION and KSBW that night and an article in the Monterey Herald on Aug. 11, less than three months before election day.

ITALIAN JOB… The world is changing so fast these days that, as Ferris Bueller once said, “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

But Squid was not about to miss an Aug. 9 court hearing where Daniel Dawson, former city manager of Del Rey Oaks, faced charges the Monterey County District Attorney’s office filed in September 2017; one, a felony conflict of interest charge, and the other, a misdemeanorPolitical Reform Act violation. The felony charge stems from allegations that Dawson, after he was no longer city manager, tried to transfer water credits from the city’s former driving range property on Canyon Del Rey to a vacant property – that he owned – on Portola Drive. Dawson was hoping to build a duplex on the property, but there was a reason he got it for just $50,000 in 2015 – no water credits. At the end of the preliminary hearing, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Andrew Liu ruled there was sufficient evidence to merit a trial. (No surprise there.)

During a courtroom recess, Squid overheard an interesting update: Monterey Peninsula Water Management District General Manager Dave Stoldt – who’d been subpoenaed regarding the water credit transfer – asked Dawson how he was doing. Dawson said he’s doing well, living near Santa Rosa, and “picking apples with Italians.” Sounds like the apple has fallen far from the tree.