NO BONO… When Squid retires, Squid plans to shred Squid’s work files and mount Squid’s iMac monitor over the couch like a trophy moose head.


Squid expected the same from Sue McCloud, who after 12 years as Carmel’s mayor is hanging up her hat in April. That means signing off from many boards and committees, including the new Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority.


“I’ll lead a normal life,” she told Squid a few months ago. But water politics must be more fun than they look, because earlier this month she wrote to MPRWA President Chuck Della Sala, offering to become the agency’s pro bono executive director.


“I make no pretense that I have engineering or technical water knowledge, but what I do bring to the table are organizational skills [and] first-hand knowledge of the issues,” she wrote. 


Fair enough; for the past two years, McCloud and Della Sala represented the Peninsula mayors on the toothless advisory board for the now-defunct Regional Desalination Project. And while McCloud’s taken flak for some of her stances as mayor – the Rich Guillen scandal comes to mind – she’s committed a dozen of her golden years to public service, earning a $200-per-month stipend for her trouble.


Still, Squid can understand why the MPRWA board tabled her offer. There’s something off about an outgoing board member volunteering to lead the agency. So why not enjoy the normal life? 


“I won’t lead a normal life if we don’t have water,” she tells Squid. Touche.


RACE TO THE BOTTOM… Squid indulges in a horse race now and again, but even Squid won’t guess at the Monterey County Republican Central Committee’s next faux pas, considering they all seem to be going down together. 


Marc Del Piero – a Republican – is running for County Supervisor against Dave Potter, but his good ol’ party of good ol’ boys isn’t even sure they’ll endorse him. His crime: running without asking.


And Squid’s not sure why anyone would want to lead a group that got a Fair Political Practices Commission smackdown, but 15 candidates are vying for 10 slots on the Central Committee itself. Party chair Paul Bruno’s name will appear on the ballot for the first time in 12 years. “It’s good to see people wanting to serve,” Bruno tells Squid. 


But it’s not all warm and fuzzy. The committee will consider a resolution April 12 condemning Robert Fenton for entering the race; some candidates have extracted a sordid past… via Google. A Bob Fenton was convicted in 2000 in L.A. County for perjury and bribery in cahoots with a court auditor. The problem there? No one’s even verified whether he is the same Bob Fenton.