Fanfare for Common''s Man

You have to give Common Ground credit for knowing how to get what it wants. In an organized effort to worm its way into the mayors'' affordable housing committee, the "smart growth" group of developers and business types wooed Monterey County mayors with an all-out lobbying blitz, firing off letters and even assigning boardmembers to schmooze individual mayors. Once the Commoners secured a spot of their own, they appointed developer John Anderson, owner of Woodman Development, Inc., to the committee.

But the esteemed Mr. Anderson hasn''t shown up for a meeting yet. Instead, he''s sent partner William Silva in his place. Squid understands this piece of maneuvering. If I were him, I wouldn''t show my face either.

As you know, developers must build "inclusionary," or affordable, housing every time they construct a subdivision--or pay in-lieu fees so the cheap housing can be built elsewhere. Well, last year Pacific Grove attorney Jane Haines sued Monterey County for allegedly letting Woodman Development off the hook when it came to providing the required inclusionary housing on a 40-home development in North County. Instead of making them build new affordable housing or cough up any dough, the county let Woodman convert three rental units in Castroville to Section 8 subsidized housing. So not only did the deal not add any new cheap digs to the market, but it allowed Woodman to pull in market-rate rent for the three units. Haines'' suit was dismissed, but it did spur the county to take a harder look at its inclusionary housing regs.

Way to go, Common Ground. Woodman Development is just the kind of company we want advising our mayors on affordable housing. Squid''ll be expecting a great outpouring of compassion and bold new thinking from your delegate.

Wild Kingdom

The harbor seal community of Moss Landing can take down the Neighborhood Watch signs now. Morgan, the sexually violent predatory sea otter who''s been linked to the deaths and molestation of up to 20 harbor seal pups in Elkhorn Slough, has finally been apprehended. He''s living at the Aquarium right now under a kind of comfortable house arrest while his caretakers figure out what to do with a member of an endangered species who stands accused of interspecial rape, sodomy, battery and murder.

No one really knows where things went wrong. Morgan washed up on shore five and a half years ago, a wee little foundling who exhibited no sociopathic traits. He was raised in the Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program at the Aquarium and joined his fellows in the marine wilds in May 1996. He appeared to fit in just fine.

But Morgan was spending an inordinate amount of time visiting Internet pornography sites and ordering chemistry sets online.

Sorry. Let''s try that again.

But Morgan, according to SORAC program manager Andrew Johnson, was glimpsed rough-housing with harbor seal pups last spring during pupping season. Later the bodies started showing up--drowned, bitten seal pups, some of them bleeding from the nether regions. Aquarium and Fish and Wildlife Service personnel finally nabbed Morgan a couple of weeks ago--a day on which, as it turns out, he had picked out a young pup with whom to go a-sporting. The team rescued the pup before any unseemly activity could transpire.

So where are Marv Perkins and Mutual of Omaha now?

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Disturb Squid: Squid@coastweekly.com