SQUIDFRY 10.06.22: Playing Dirty

PLAYING DIRTY… Squid, like any civic-minded cephalopod, always looks forward to election season, where the future feels like a blank page where the candidates will keep all of their promises (free shrimp-flavored popcorn for all!). Hope is a good thing.

But one aspect of election season that Squid takes no joy in is when the mud slinging starts, and when it does, it often seems to happen when there’s a progressive candidate who might shake up the status quo.

Squid’s seen Squid’s share of smear campaigns, but until recently, Squid hadn’t seen such tactics used in Monterey, where civility tends to win out. That is no longer the case, as Squid recently became aware of an propaganda campaign against Monterey councilmember Tyller Williamson, who is running for mayor against Dan Albert, a fellow councilmember and son of a former mayor. It’s a survey sent out via text or administered via phone call. Four questions into the survey, the questions are predicated on fabrications about Williamson (Squid won’t repeat them, because they’re all false), and for that reason Williamson has nothing to say about them. Albert says he’s aware of the campaign but had no part in it, and that he also condemns it.

The whole thing bums Squid out: Can’t we all just get along? Apparently not.

SHE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED… With vote-by-mail ballots expected to start arriving as soon as Oct. 10, Squid is obsessively checking the mailbox. Free sticker! OK, yes, Squid does love stickers, but Squid is serious about voting.

To that end, Squid has been doing research on a loooong list of candidates, and is consulting various groups’ endorsements.

Squid turned to the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce for ideas, but in a couple of important races came up empty. For county supervisor to represent District 2: “The Chamber had endorsed Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig and regarded Steve Snodgrass as another candidate supportive of business. In the end, the voters chose other candidates with different priorities,” the board of directors wrote. Win some, lose some – then throw in the towel.

For Assembly District 30, in which Democrat Dawn Addis will face off with Republican Vicki Nohrden of Carmel, the chamber similarly had no endorsement. “One candidate has not yet become familiar with issues of importance to the Monterey County portion of the district,” they wrote, presumably referring to Addis, a member of Morro Bay City Council. “The other candidate” – presumably that would be Nohrden – “is supportive of business issues but is not aligned with the mission and vision of the Chamber.”

Less of a mic drop, more of another towel throw.