Take Two

TAKE TWO… Squid believes in second chances – not every first draft turns out just right. In Salinas, Daniel Muñoz, also known by his rapper name Cal Paradox, is swinging hard with his second chance at recall attempts against two of his elected representatives, Salinas City Councilmember José Luis Barajas and County Supervisor Luis Alejo.

This attempt comes about three months after Muñoz tried it once before, but failed to gather enough signatures, not because he didn’t have enough haters in the district willing to sign, but because he misread the Elections Code. Even if this first phase of the notice of intention to recall survives, he has a high bar ahead: To get a recall election against Barajas it will require at least 2,463 signatures of registered voters, and against Alejo, 7,070 signatures.

That’s a lot, but Muñoz is confident he will pull it off. Of course he could wait until 2028 when both are up for re-election and challenge them at the ballot box, but this method – if it works – is faster. Oh, and Muñoz is running for mayor.

It’s all a rather strange way to start a political career. And also a mean one. Especially given that Barajas is currently on medical leave as he recovers from a series of seizures that left him unable to speak or write, even ink-squirting Squid suggests a little grace.

KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSE… Squid is proud of Squid’s self-replenishing ink – it allows Squid to riff on the bizarre world of Monterey County (on land and below the sea) in this column.

But not all sea creatures take a liking to Squid’s work. Ollie the Octopus, for instance, once squirted black ink – imagine inverted White-Out – all over Squid’s writing 10 minutes before deadline. Squid felt the attack was politically motivated by a species that thinks some cephalopods are better than other cephalopods.

Squid may now have a path for financial resolution thanks to President Donald Trump.

The administration announced a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for those who have felt they have been attacked for their political views. The fund was part of a settlement to resolve a $10 billion civil lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS. The worst of the worst are rushing to file claims, such as U.S. Capitol rioters and far-right extremist groups, according to news reports.

But just to troll Trump, many of his perceived enemies are also filing claims.

Squid has so far been unable to verify how Trump himself feels about sea-dwelling creatures, but if Squid collects, Squid will use Squid’s cash to keep printing in ink about how consistently awful this administration’s policies are, for ocean- and land-dwellers both.