Squid Fry 06.30.16: Diamond Trade…

DIAMOND TRADE… Every year, Squid tallies Squid’s meager savings and decides how many duckets Squid can afford to give to charity. Some go to agencies helping the homeless, some to those helping wildlife and others go to those – like Rancho Cielo Youth Academy – that help local youth.

Squid doesn’t expect anything in return for Squid’s beneficence. But maybe others aren’t like Squid, and if they were to, say, donate $15,000 to Rancho Cielo and thereby become a “diamond sponsor,” perhaps they’d want something in return.

What could a youth academy do for Chevron, a diamond sponsor? Not much perhaps, but Rancho Cielo was founded by John Phillips, who’s currently serving as a county supervisor. On June 1, when the supes were presented with a ballot intiative to ban fracking and wastewater injection in the county, they voted 4-1 (Phillips voted no) to send it to the ballot without hiring a firm to do an economic impact report of the initiatve, responding to concerns that such reports are oil industry-friendly. Recently, Phillips made a referral to the board to call another vote on soliciting the report, which will now happen July 12.

Phillips didn’t attempt neutrality in his request to bring it back, writing the ballot measure would “cause significant negative financial impacts for Monterey County and its constituents.” Phillips, the former judge, has already rendered his verdict.

Church and State… Before Squid doles out any charitable contributions, Squid is diligent in setting aside a few bucks for an annual vacation. Savings weren’t great this year, so Squid was thinking about a week in nearby Carmel, where travel, it turns out, is just as controversial as the City Hall scandal of years past.

Former councilwoman Victoria Beach filed a small claims lawsuit against Carmel June 28, seeking $780.10 in travel reimbursement. It’s not that city officials denied her the reimbursement – it’s that they offered to pay her back “off the books,” an offer she refused, according to the complaint.

Beach was slated to represent Carmel at a canonization ceremony for Junipero Serra in Washington, D.C. Former interim city administrator Doug Schmitzapproved the trip, Beach spent $1,373.30, then City Attorney Don Freeman reneged, saying it wasn’t an “official” event, Beach claims. She got a partial refund, then city officials agreed to pay her for the remainder – only if she took the money quietly.

Squid doubted that Beach – an architect, educator, and most importantly, Squid notes, a teacher of professional ethics with a 12-year stint at Harvard to her name – really needed the money. So Squid called her to ask what gives. “As an elected official and professional ethicist, all I ever wanted was to do the public’s business in public,” she says.

Squid has some differences of opinion with Serra, but feels confident the priest would’ve said, Amen.