A Unique and Special Place To Get Harassed Gadfly David Dilworth is at it again. In a July 14 letter to Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo, Dilworth rats out the Carmel City Council for what he believes are violations of California''s open meeting law that took place during a July 11 council meeting (see "Call In Ranger Rick!," pg 10).

In typical fashion, Carmel isn''t lying down and rolling over. (After all, we''re talking about a city that appealed a court order to grant two of its octogenarian residents an elevator in their home.) The city sent Dilworth its own complaint--a July 26 letter from business license coordinator Cheryl E. Panattoni, which Dilworth believes was sent in retaliation to his complaint to the DA. The letter informs Dilworth he is guilty of operating a business without a license and scolds him accordingly.

"The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea is a unique and special place," the letter sneers in perfect Carmelese. "The privilege of conducting business in the City entails certain responsibilities."

However, it looks like the City is Overstepping Its Bounds. Indeed, Dilworth does have a business, Dilworth Consulting, and the address is a Carmel P.O. box. But his business sits outside city limits. "I made a specific effort to stay out of Carmel," he says.

Panattoni says the letter was standard procedure and is unrelated to Dilworth''s complaint against the city. "Before today," she told Squid, "I''d never heard his name."

Plays Well With Others in Toxic Dumps

Squid''s ghoulish streak kicked in last week with the coincidental release of the Monterey County Department of Health''s annual report card and the news that the Monterey Peninsula Airport is harboring unwholesome material in its subterranean regions (see "Citizen Pain," pg. 8). The knowledge that plumes of TCE, benzene and more are oozing down the hill from the former Naval air base and into local neighborhoods prompted Squid to examine the health report card with morbid interest.

The leading cause of death in county residents ages 45-65? Cancer. Average number of unhealthy days reported by individuals in the past month? That would be nearly seven, two days more than the national average. Percent of Monterey County residents who say they''re in "fair or poor" health? Almost 20, compared to the nation''s 15. Of course, that wouldn''t have anything to do with the fact that the average age on the Peninsula is 183, which grossly skews the county''s statistics.

To be fair, breast and colon cancer rates for the county are average. And most of the indices are quite reassuring. Still, Squid has to wince when reading the report''s summary. "Monterey has a very positive health report card for the year 2000," it says. Sure it does, if you just look at it right and ignore the pain in your kidneys.

Everyone Loves a Know-it-All

It pains Squid to say "I told you so," but the announcement last week that Kmart in Marina is closing came as no surprise here in Squidville. Way back in 1992, the Weekly wrote that the Marina Landing Shopping Center was going to open a 100,000-square-foot Kmart in spite of faltering retail sales in Marina, the imminent closure of Fort Ord and subsequent exodus of some 30,000 people, and the presence of two other Kmarts nearby that weren''t doing so hot. Did developers Lee Newell and Gary Brant listen to the pronouncements of the Cerebral Cephalopod? No, they did not. Is the Marina Kmart closing because it''s making too much money? Mmm...no. It makes a brainiac wonder: When will they start listening?

---

Let Squid set you straight: squid@coastweekly.com