Mailbag: Huntington Beach leadership needs to do better in 2026

Incompetence has a cost, and Huntington Beach residents are paying it.

Governance is measured by results, but the city’s leadership has repeatedly failed that standard, at a real and measurable cost to taxpayers.

The Pacific Airshow settlement exemplifies this failure. Waived fees, long-term concessions and exclusive rights went far beyond what residents were told. The delayed disclosure of the full agreement undermined transparency and demonstrated poor fiscal judgment.

This was not an isolated error. It reflects a broader pattern. The city’s voter ID ordinance was struck down by the California Fourth District Court of Appeal as preempted by state law, an outcome that was legally predictable from the outset. Taxpayers funded this litigation with virtually no chance of success.

Similarly, the Huntington Beach’s lawsuit challenging California’s sanctuary law was dismissed outright in federal court for lack of standing. The case failed before reaching the merits, reflecting a fundamental misunderstanding of legal authority.

Housing litigation followed the same trajectory. The city’s refusal to comply with state housing law resulted in court orders compelling compliance, stripping Huntington Beach of discretion and weakening local control — the very outcome officials claimed to oppose.

These losses were not forced upon the city. They were the result of deliberate choices that ignored settled law in favor of political signaling. Residents paid the price through legal fees, lost negotiating leverage, depleted reserves (used for balancing the current budget), all diminishing public trust.

As Huntington Beach enters a new year, one can only hope Mayor Casey McKeon governs with professionalism and learns from the shortcomings of his predecessor Pat Burns, particularly the need to avoid vulgar language and disparaging remarks about the city’s residents, whether on or off the microphone. In most jurisdictions, such conduct would prompt serious disciplinary consequences, if not resignation. It was tolerated here only by a council unwilling to hold itself to basic standards of accountability.

Andrew Einhorn
Huntington Beach