Well, tie me up and grill me in lemon juice and dill. I never knew our very own Jeff Denham (that all-American blond Republican candidate for 28th District Assembly) was a "superstar." But when the rain got the better of me last week, I found myself idly flipping through the pages of the latest copy of California Gun Owners, the trusty publication of the Gun Owners of California. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a short paragraph stating that the Denham-versus-Simon Salinas race is one of the most important in the state, and that Denham would be a superstar if elected.

Squid finds elections just titillating, so I called up Sam Paredes, executive director of the Fair Oaks-based Gun Owners of California to get the scoop. Paredes told me that after an extensive interview, his group decided to endorse Denham because "the gun issue is not about guns, it''s about the Constitution. There are so few people in the political arena that understand the Constitution and its amendments. [With Denham] we won''t have to worry about this issue." Paredes also said Denham understands that gun control does not reduce crime (Squid would like to state for the record that we haven''t exactly tried that tack) and that was why he has so much law enforcement support, like the Monterey County Deputy Sheriffs Association, for example.

So Squid went one step further and checked out the Secretary of State''s home page--I''m all about virtual reality these days--and found out that Denham has indeed received about $15,000 in loans from Gun Owners of California, at least $20,000 in donations from the National Rifle Association, and smaller amount from the Firearms Freedom Fund. The NRA, FYI, gave Denham an "A" rating for his stance on gun control. But with all these rave reviews, there''s at least one group that isn''t so pleased with our local superhero. Handgun Control, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, named Denham one of California''s "Dangerous Dozen" for his threat to gun control laws.

Well, big guy, you can''t win ''em all.

Lien on Me

Squid loves a good, strong dose of irony. That''s why I can''t resist sharing with readers a recent revelation that the California Employment Development Department has filed a tax lien against the Monterey County Business Council. Squid phoned the fine folks at the council, but got no comment, and the guy at the EDD "liens desk" in Sacramento wouldn''t cough up any details. However, according to the lien document filed with the county on Sept. 21, the council failed to pay $3,633 in employment taxes for all of 1998. Now the state wants a total of $5,166 including taxes and penalties from the organization.

Here''s the snorter: The Monterey County Business Council is a private organization dedicated to bringing together the business community and developing consensus on solutions for various problems facing the county, such as water, transportation, etc. Yet they can''t seem to solve their own problems--or so says the EDD, anyway. What''s even funnier is that the council has only employed one--count ''em, one--employee in its entire existence.

Perhaps someone over at the council missed that day in business school when they talked about it not being a good idea to screw the government out of its piece of the pie. But it doesn''t take an MBA to figure that one out. Heck, even squids know that.

School Squid: squid@coastweekly.com.