SQUIDFRY: Cash Out

CASH OUT… Squid’s never been so lucky as to have a company car, and it’s not just because cephalopods aren’t legally allowed to drive. (For the record, cephalopods have superior navigation instincts.)

It’s because Squid’s never had a gig with cushy perks, like the kind with contracts that guarantee a generous severance package if Squid ever quit or was fired.

Former Del Rey Oaks city manager Daniel Dawson, who resigned Jan. 3 after City Council was set to consider his termination, had such a contract, and while it didn’t contain the kind of golden parachute routinely doled out to CEOs, it would be enough for Squid to buy a lifetime supply of shrimp-flavored popcorn. The terms of the contract, which the city agreed to in May 2016, promised Dawson about $260,000 in severance. Given the controversy that’s taken shape in the wake of his departure, which includes being under investigation by the Monterey County District Attorney, Squid was curious if Dawson would get the full amount – so far as Squid could tell, the contract appeared airtight.

But alas, on May 22, Dawson and his attorney Michelle Welsh agreed to settle with the city for $150,000, as well as to return the city-owned 2016 Ford pickup truck Dawson had kept since his departure. Squid can only wonder why he settled for less.

THE 0.1 PERCENT… As pundits declared No. 45’s $4.1 trillion budget “dead on arrival,” Squid watched May 23 as the Carmel City Council fiercely debated $27,500 out of its $23.4 million 2017-18 budget – or about 0.1 percent.

It was really more of a debate between Mayor Steve Dallas and the Carmel Chamber of Commerce. It started two weeks earlier when the chamber got a surprise: zero in the city’s budget. In past years, draft budgets included a $40,000 placeholder from which the council would adjust up or down. Last year the council gave the chamber $55,000, the same amount the chamber is requesting this year.

At the May 23 meeting, a new draft budget was presented with $27,500 slotted for the chamber – half of what it’s asking for. Treasurer Kris Toscano plugged the chamber, noting that volunteers mostly staff a visitors center, to the tune of 1,981 hours a year. While most of council wanted to give more, Dallas was determined to find reasons to give less – even if it meant resorting to nitpicking. Dallas challenged Toscano’s numbers, calling the volunteer hours figure “very, very inflated.” He didn’t want to accept the monthly electrical bill figures, or other operational costs.

The next draft will allocate more like $33,000 – which sounds like a fair compromise, even if Dallas wants to give less: “It’s still the taxpayers’ money and we need to spend it wisely,” he says. All 0.1 percent of it.