FIRING AND ICE… Despite Squid’s steady supply of skepticism, Squid tries to hope for the best. So Squid was sad to learn last week the board of brand-new K-5 charter school Bay View Academy fired principal Mitchell Barlas three months into the school year. The school seemed so promising, with its Kumbaya commitment to transcend the petty politics of the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. 


But there’s no shortage of he said-she said scuttlebutt surrounding Barlas’ ouster (though BVA Board President Brian Greenshields says the decision “came down to differing visions on how to take the school forward”). Ex-board member Barbara Bass Evans sent a scathing letter to the Weekly that refers to someone “in the background pulling the strings.” Evans’ target: BVA parent Joanna Greenshields, the board president’s wife. “My dealings with [Barlas] were very limited, but he didn’t like me from the minute he met me,” Greenshields told Squid’s colleague. It seems the feeling was mutual: In an Oct. 11 letter to the BVA board, Greenshields accused Barlas, among other things, of lying repeatedly to her. Barlas called Greenshields’ communication “berating and belittling” and said board leadership shut him down when he expressed his frustration. It’s enough to make Squid go all Helen Lovejoy: “Won’t someone please think of the children?”


GREEN RESUSCITATION… Squid’s never believed much in mysticism, but Squid’s almost swayed by developer Nader Agha’s incongruent dreams for reviving the little engines that couldn’t over at now-bankrupt Green Vehicles. Agha’s so sure of the future that he’s transforming Salinas’ own mini-Solyndra into a happy ending – for the 1 percent, that is. 


At press time, Agha was about to close a deal to take over what little was left of the defunct company, planning to open up shop at his Moss Landing Business Park. “This just fell in our lap beautifully,” Agha says. The catch: Whatever cash Agha forks over will go not to the company’s 30 creditors, including Salinas taxpayers and their $535,000 in grants. Instead, it goes straight to investment firm Nordam, Inc. 


Last week, Squid’s colleague told Nordam owner Tim O’Donnell that Agha was revving up the ol’ business-buying engine. “I’ll sell him my shares,” O’Donnell said – before Squid realized he was serious. Thanks to a security instrument, O’Donnell’s the only investor protected in case of a bankruptcy, meaning whatever’s left of Green Vehicles goes toward the $200,000 he put in. 


O’Donnell calls Nordam his vehicle for “angel investing.” Hmm. If placing suspect investments and protecting one’s own interests are what make an angel, Squid has deserved a halo for years.