SQUIDFRY: Seca Pockets…

SECA POCKETS… Squid woke up on Jan. 1 bleary-eyed and ready to look only way: forward. Then Squid checked the news, and Squid was ready to crawl back into the lair. So too, it seems, is the Monterey County Board of Supervisors when it comes to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The supes called for proposals to compete with the beleaguered nonprofit Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), which manages Laguna Seca, and after seven months and three responses, it seems the county is just spinning its wheels.

Turns out, none of the groups who submitted proposals are impressive. After a special meeting on Dec. 22, now-former supervisor Dave Potter broke it down: Friends of Laguna Seca, a local nonprofit, didn’t have the $10 million in startup capital it claimed; they had $10 million in pledges. The World Automotive Championship of California’s proposal was based on $20 million in startup capital. But that money would’ve come in the form of a loan – a loan the county would be on the hook for if WACC were to fold. Finally, there was a joint proposal by the International Speedway Company and SCRAMP, but ISC wasn’t interested in spending $10-20 million for needed repairs.

That leaves the county with SCRAMP, the partner it tried to reject, like a divorced couple in Monterey County forced to live with each other because rent is too high.

DRO DOWN… Squid was stunned by the events that transpired Jan. 3 at Del Rey Oaks City Hall, where City Council met to consider the sudden termination of City ManagerDaniel Dawson. Dawson provided the Weekly with a copy of a resignation letter he sent City Council Jan. 2, which came after he learned earlier that day he might be fired. In effect, he told council they shouldn’t fire him because he would quit – after six more months of work, with a 25-percent raise.

About a dozen members of the public spoke before the council in support of Dawson, including surly Police Chief Ron Langford, who got so emotional at times he began choking up. “We give more due process to somebody sitting in handcuffs in the back of our jail than you’re giving this man,” Langford said. “What did he do?”

Council accepted Dawson’s resignation – but not the six-month transition plan outlined in his letter. Instead, the council voted 4-1 to appoint Deputy City Clerk Kim Carvalho – who was taking notes during the meeting – as interim city manager. Her eyes started welling up upon hearing the news. Minutes later she was crying by her desk, saying, “I am not a city manager. I do not want to be a city manager.” About an hour later, Mayor Jerry Edelen called Squid’s colleague to say she had turned down the position. The search is on for a replacement; Squid wonders if Dawson will apply, considering his pitch is ready to go.