BROKEN GLASS… Squid’s known for being a highly efficient door-to-door canvasser, what with Squid’s ability to wield eight clipboards simultaneously. But even during the heated primary season, when Squid’s blood reaches the boiling point rather easily, Squid remains committed to the gentle power of the pen, resisting the temptation to throw clipboards. 


Not so, it seems, for some revelers that might have interpreted the meaning of a party (Democrat, Republican… Tea?) too literally – at the expense of a smashed window at the Alvarado Street headquarters of the Monterey County Democratic Party. Chair Vinz Koller says the Monterey PD is investigating. It may simply be the accidental collateral of downtown debauchery, but it was enough to move a distant voter who got wind of the vandalism. A $20 contribution arrived from Arizona, with a moving letter from a constituent of Gaby Giffords, recalling a broken window at the congresswoman’s office during the healthcare debate. It’s enough to send shivers down a spineless Squid’s gelatinous anterior.


“I was a little surprised it took so long for something to happen,” Koller told Squid. “In the Gaby Giffords attack era, you don’t take these things lightly, if we ever did. People do weird things.” 


Squid’s party affiliation is neither here nor there, but Squid’s a supporter of safety in this democracy of ours. 


JOB INSECURITY… As intimidating as Squid’s brain may be, Squid doesn’t trust it to preserve valuable political information; hence the towering stacks of Weekly archives cluttering Squid’s dank den. Former Seaside Councilman Darryl Choates could use a little more memory, too. He seems to have forgotten that regular city manager evaluations are de rigueur; he insisted to Squid that Ray Corpuz’s Sept. 12 eval was prompted by a red tag on Mayor Felix Bachofner’s Wanda Avenue triplex. (Even the mayor is subject to the city code requiring guardrails during remodels; Bachofner’s family has been camping at his in-law’s.) 


But Squid can understand the spirit behind Choates’ conspiracy theory. Bachofner’s campaign, and that of new councilman Alvin Edwards, was funded and run primarily by people who want Corpuz out by any means necessary. The closed-session eval must have had the city manager sweating. Of course, none of the officials can talk about a confidential personnel issue. But Squid’s voodoo math sees two councilmen ready to axe the boss, two in Camp Corpuz and Ian Oglesby in the swing seat. The council will decide whether to renew Corpuz’s contract by the end of October, Bachofner tells Squid: “Any and all terms of the contract could be revisited if we so choose.”