SQUIDFRY 09.22.22: Smoked Out

SMOKED OUT… Squid has lived in fire-prone California for long enough to know that even a whiff of smoke is cause for alarm. Sometimes that’s a good thing – like when firefighters responded quickly in the middle of the night (see story, left) to a Tesla battery pack in flames at PG&E’s Elkhorn battery plant in Moss Landing. Sometimes it means Squid starts yelling when the toast is burning.

First responders are used to the whole range of serious calls and false alarms. On Sept. 7, according to California Highway Patrol’s incident page, a call came in at 10:22pm: “Roof on fire.” Within three minutes, someone was assigned to respond. Seven minutes after that, a particularly delicious resolution: No disaster, it turned out. Per CHP’s report: “Neg fire, they are smoking some good ribs.”

Squid was unable to confirm whether the CHP officer on scene got to sample said ribs, but Squid hopes so. Even without a detailed food review, Squid still got more detail about that non-fire from reading the CHP report than Squid got from PG&E regarding the battery fire. A spokesperson put out a statement that said little, and when pressed for more, all Squid could get was: “We have nothing to add beyond our statement at this time.”

Puff, puff, pass.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE… Squid was oozing around Carmel not too long ago, and heard talk of a City Council candidate renting a home from a very rich developer who has a keen interest in his projects winning approval. Squid’s colleague later interviewed the candidate, Parker Logan, owner of Sade’s Cocktails, and Logan readily confirmed that he is renting a home on Scenic Drive owned by Monaco billionaire Patrice Pastor.

Pastor owns what Carmelites refer to as “The Pit,” the giant hole in the ground at Dolores Street and 5th Avenue. He’s tried a couple of times to get a mixed – use commercial project passed by the Carmel Planning Commission, only to be rejected over designs commissioners said didn’t fit village character.

Before Squid’s colleague could ask Logan about his rental situation, Logan began opining about how “a golden goose comes to town and spares no expense,” only to be told he can’t build his project in The Pit. Logan called the designs “architecturally complementary to the village.”

Squid’s colleague asked if Logan would recuse himself if a Pastor project came before council – the billionaire owns over $80 million worth of properties in Carmel. “I would have to look into the legality of that,” Logan said.

Given that any renter would have a vested interest in keeping a roof over their heads – especially in a ritzy neighborhood overlooking the Pacific – Squid bets the lawyers will have something to say about it.