POWERFUL INK… Squid has always known Squid was destined for celebrity. And finally, about a year ago, Squid’s colleagues realized this (quite obvious) fact, and slapped Squid’s beautiful beak on the cover of the Weekly. So Squid gets it when others – spiritual leaders, bag pipers, activists and kooks – call up and demand a feature story, if not the cover itself.

What Squid doesn’t understand: Candidates, running for schools boards and special districts who were given the opportunity to answer questions about themselves, which would then be printed in the Weekly, who refused to play – let alone return phone calls and e-mails. Free publicity?! What’s not to like?

According to a tipster, Republicans running for the posts were advised not to answer the Weekly’s candidate questionnaire, and were told that the Weekly isn’t a friend to the GOP. Never mind the facts that the Weekly has endorsed Republicans in the past, and the school board and special district seats are non-partisan.

Thankfully, candidates running for the Hartnell and Monterey Peninsula College boards of trustees – Republicans and Democrats alike – were smart enough to grab the free ink. The other would-be elected officials may want to take lessons from Squid.

FEELING LAZY… Squid should seriously take up government consulting. Every action needs a study and every study requires the study of who can do the best study. So it’s no surprise that there is still no market study on mobile home rents in Marina more than two months after residents demanded citywide rent stabilization. The Marina City Council was expected on Oct. 30 to appoint two members to a subcommittee, who will then recommend a consultant. The City Clerk’s Office warned Squid that Squid was too late to submit a proposal. Besides that, the city only accepted typed resumes, excluding Squid’s splattered inkblots of pimped-out trailers. There goes extra cash for Christmas presents.

MONEY MATTERS… Speaking of being broke for the holidays, residents of Lazy Wheel Mobile Home Park are probably saving their pennies. Ken Waterhouse, the park’s new owner, plans to increase rents by as much as $150 a month in December. Squid wonders if the bills will come gift wrapped. Perhaps by the time the city of Marina is done studying mobile home rents there will be a bonus eviction notice in the mailbox for Lazy Wheel residents. Then the city can hire someone to study vacancy rates. With no seniors and families left to house, maybe Waterhouse will convert the mobile home park to yuppie-appealing condos.