HORRAY FOR OUR SUPES… Maybe it’s the eggnog, or the Christmas lights, but Squid would love to give County Supervisor LOU CALCAGNO and the rest of the Board a big holiday hug. Yes, supervisors, Squid salutes you. (Have you ever seen a 10-tentacle salute? It’s quite nice).

Last week, following a motion by Calcagno, the supes—as expected—unanimously agreed to approve the hotly-debated GENERAL PLAN at a special Jan. 3 meeting. But then they did something unexpected: They decided that the plan won’t go into effect until voters approve it.

That was a bold move. But they didn’t stop there. The supes then said they would consider putting the slow-growth GENERAL PLAN INITIATIVE on the ballot at the same time. And they proposed translating both measures into Spanish.

Squid does not applaud very often (partly because it’s hard to get these 10 tentacles clapping in unison). Today Squid is applauding. Allowing voters to choose a General Plan to govern land-use decisions is a good and courageous thing. The supes make Squid proud to be a Monterey County mollusk.

PLANNING ATTACK ADS… A General Plan election could be an entertaining thing, too. Squid can already see the dueling TV ads:

The 405 in rush hour traffic, horns blaring, people yelling, and the LA sky filled with smog. Voiceover: “Rich, greedy developers want to pave Monterey County and turn it into an environmental disaster. Vote no on GPU 4.”

And then…Close shot of a little girl in pigtails, packing her toys into a moving box. Pan out and she’s (gasp!) not inside a house, but in a dirt field. Voiceover: “Sally’s dad’s a firefighter and her mom is a teacher. They can’t afford to live here because rich, greedy enviros won’t let them build a home. Vote no on the Community General Plan Initiative.”

Voters will be asked to vote yes or no on both plans. If neither wins a majority, we start all over again. That would be tragic and a huge expense to taxpayers. And it would be a little bit funny. Oh, c’mon—you know Squid has a twisted sense of humor.

TOLD YA SO… Squid is also famously good at predicting the future, although Supervisor DAVE POTTER gets the credit for this: In July 2004, Potter told Squid, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see three competing documents on the ballot.” He was talking about GPU3, an earlier slow-growth plan and the pro-growth Refinement Group plan. With GPU4, the County gave the pro-growthers everything they wanted…so now there are just the two competing plans. Squid’s pointy head is now officially spinning. Time for more eggnog.