YOU’RE FIRED?…Deadlines schmeadlines. Who needs ‘em? Certainly not this mollusk. So be advised, Mr. Editor: No more deadlines. Yes, instead of actually putting ink to paper and running with this here weekly (eh-ehm) advice column, Squid’s decided to just sit around and think stuff up all day.

Not to worry, though. It’s not as if shirking deadlines is uncharted water or anything. No, no. Squid’s taking a lead from Would Be/Might Be/ProllyNotGonna Be Salinas Oldtown Developer Gerry Kehoe.

Last month, the Salinas City Council gave Kehoe some clear direction about his fantasy of a grandiose 14-story, not-a-Hilton hotel/condominium complex on the 100 block of Main Street: Put up or shut up. The council, it seems, was irritated by lack of movement on the three-year-old plan.

 “We’ve met, and we’ve given him deadlines, things he has to complete, one a month through May 31,” Salinas Councilwoman Jyl Lutes told Squid.

Two weeks ago, the first of those deadlines came and went. And The Ger, it seems, slept right through it. Only one of the city’s four demands was met.

Salinas City Manager Dave Mora told a local daily that in light of the missed deadline, Mora would recommend rejection of the hotel project by the city’s Redevelopment Agency if Kehoe wasn’t “back on track” by an April 19 meeting.

Huh? Squid had to think about that for a minute. Three years and three months hasn’t been enough time to, say, move some dirt? Rent a dozer? Spring for a hammer? And a few more days is going to do it? The statement also seems to contradict what Lutes told Squid, namely:  “If any one of those [deadlines] isn’t met, we automatically stop the project and find someone else.”

Seems pretty clear to Squid. Deadline missed. Find someone else.

Maybe The Ger Man’s feelings are just hurt. He told another daily rag that he felt “crucified” by a string of stories (told first here by the Weekly, if Squid does say so, Squid’s self) about his company’s deadline-squirmish ways. Like forgetting to pay property taxes, forgetting to un-suspend his company’s corporate license, forgetting to tell Hilton that he’s building one of their hotels and that they’re on board. Ger went on to say that he’s so miffed, he isn’t sure he wants to play in Salinas anymore, and may just pack up all of his toys and go.

No rush, Ger. Squid’s got your back. Feel free to go at any time. No deadlines. Yep, Squid could get used to this.

I’LL BE BACK?…Sniff. Sniff. What’s that Squid smells? Could it be the smell of fear? Squid should know, ferocious predator Squid is and all. Even when it’s emanating from a big, meaty, top-of-the-food-chain type like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. For the first time since Schwarzenegger booted Gray Davis out of office in the 2003 recall election, less than half of California voters say they approve of his job performance, according to a poll released last week by San Jose State University. And—coincidentally?—has also dumped his plan to privatize California’s public employee pension system. Smells to Squid like someone’s worried his sophomore slump may be more of a nose dive.

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