Huntington Beach’s first Latina mayor, Gracey Van Der Mark, sworn in after 4-3 vote

With the usual cheers and jeers that have become common in Huntington Beach City Council chambers, the panel changed leadership in a reorganizational meeting Tuesday, naming Gracey Van Der Mark the city’s first Latina mayor and subverting established procedure to appoint Councilman Pat Burns mayor pro tempore.

Outgoing Mayor Tony Strickland led the proceedings by moving the council set aside Resolution 6320, which calls for the most senior council member who has not served as mayor in the past four years to be selected to the pro tem seat.

Huntington Beach residents Russell Neal and Kathy Neal show their support for Gracey Van Der Mark, who was sworn in Tuesday as the city’s next mayor.

(James Carbone)

Once the action was codified with a 4-3 vote among the conservative council majority, Strickland nominated Pro Tem Van Der Mark to serve as mayor, passing the gavel upon a second 4-3 vote and allowing her to recommend Burns’ appointment.

“Gracey is Gracey — she’s a passionate person who deeply cares about people, and she got involved because she saw things were going on the wrong path,” Strickland said of his nomination. “She was willing to fight, and I think she’s the exact right person to be the next mayor of Huntington Beach.”

The transfer of power was swift, despite three failed attempts by a Democratic minority on the dais to place more senior officials from within their ranks to both positions and to adhere to Resolution 6320, passed by city leaders in 1991.

At one point, the series of 3-4 votes drew laughter and derision from a packed council chamber, as Burns communicated his dissent by saying, “Hell no” to the efforts of the council minority.

Huntington Beach residents cheer inside Council Chambers Tuesday as Gracey Van Der Mark is appointed the next Mayor of Huntington Beach.

(James Carbone)

Before the final vote was taken appointing Van Der Mark as the city’s 86th mayor, Councilwoman Natalie Moser read a prepared statement in which she expressed her concern over the council’s continued deviation from established procedure.

“The disruption of these longstanding traditions not only undermines the trust and predictability essential in our governance but also disregards the fair and equitable principles that have guided us over the years,” Moser said.

In her first mayoral speech, Van Der Mark spoke of the long road that led from her childhood, as the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico and Ecuador, to Huntington Beach City Hall.

Gracey Van Der Mark raises her right hand as she is appointed the 86th mayor of Huntington Beach during a reorganizational meeting of the City Council Tuesday.

(James Carbone)

“I would like to sit here and say that it has always been a dream of mine to be the mayor of a city as beautiful as ours. But when you’re living day to day, barely surviving one day at a time, there is no room for such dreams,” she said.

“This city changed my life, my children’s lives and, now, my grandson’s life. I would like to repay that debt by doing what is best for Huntington Beach with fidelity to American traditions and values.”

Van Der Mark listed what she considers the city’s top accomplishments of the past year, including paying a nearly $5 million settlement to operators of the Pacific Airshow, withdrawing Huntington Beach from the imperiled Orange County Power Authority, suing the state over its housing mandates, banning the flying of the LGBTQ+ pride flag over City Hall and creating a council-appointed board to screen children’s library books for sexual content.

“These are just a few of the things we’ve done in the first year that we’ve been serving our community,” the new mayor remarked. “For this next year, we’re going to continue to put our parents, our businesses and our community members first.”