Huntington Beach voters weigh in for last time before library special election

Tuesday night’s Huntington Beach City Council meeting provided residents one last chance to weigh in on the library special election on June 10.

They took full advantage, with 75 public speakers making comments during the meeting at the Central Library theater.

Meanwhile, the council unanimously passed a resolution stating the library would not be sold and books would not be banned. The resolution, brought forward by Councilmembers Chad Williams, Don Kennedy and Butch Twining, passed without further discussion.

“[Huntington Beach Public Library] is a long-standing public institution,” the item reads. “It is funded by our taxpayers and is valued among our residents. Recently, the public has expressed concerns regarding the future of the HBPL and library materials. City Council does not support banning books and books shall not be banned from the HBPL. The Huntington Beach Public Library shall not sold.”

Measure A seeks to repeal a children’s book review board of up to 21 members, appointed by the City Council, whose duties would include reviewing and having final approval of children’s library books brought into circulation. Proponents of the measure say that the politically appointed board’s ability to stop books from entering the circulation is tantamount to banning.

Measure B would require voter approval for any future efforts to outsource operations of the public library. The council voted to seek bids last year, saying it was searching for efficiency in all departments, only to have Library Systems and Services abruptly pull its bid the day before the council meeting when it would have been considered.

Councilmember Chad Williams makes comments during the Huntington Beach City Council meeting on May 6.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Our Library Matters, a political action committee seeking “yes” votes on Measures A and B, issued a statement Wednesday in response to the council item stating books would not be banned and the library would not be sold.

“Extremists on City Council have repeatedly attacked our libraries, the freedom of parents to choose what their children read, and ambushed public servants — our expert librarians — in an attempt to divide and distract us from their real goal: banning books,” the statement reads in part. “These extremists wasted the opportunity to do what’s best for Huntington Beach and pass Measures A & B without a costly special election, but chose instead to take performative, toothless actions to pretend to be on the right side of an issue they are losing.”

Many of the speakers at the meeting supported the measures, some wearing signs that read “Stop corporate takeover and censorship of our public library.”

“Who does the library belong to?” resident Bill Yarchin asked. “If you think the library belongs to [the City Council] as a platform for their political agenda, you should vote, ‘no.’ You should vote ‘yes’ if you think the library belongs to you, the people who pay for it and use it.”

But Kathy Haas, a resident of the city for more than 50 years, said she appreciated the City Council bringing the library issue into the forefront and urged a “no” vote on Measures A and B.

“You and legions of other citizens have been going around showing these books, checked out from our library, to the public,” she said. “We thank you for doing that.”

According to unofficial data tracking by the Orange County Registrar of Voters, slightly fewer than 37,000 ballots had been cast as of mid-Wednesday afternoon in the special election, either by mail or at vote centers that opened last weekend. That number represents less than 24% of registered voters in Huntington Beach.