Mailbag: True leadership needed on Huntington Beach City Council

Now that we have reached our election year, Huntington Beach voters must decide what kind of leadership they want for their local government. Do they value problem-solving experience? Do they value transparency? Do they value financial accountability? Do they value addressing community needs? Do they value focusing on local priorities over ideological pursuits? Do they value representation for all constituents in the city?

If they do, they should not reelect any of the City Council incumbents. All have fallen short of serving the entire community. Despite their alleged devotion to business (actually their own business special interests) all of them have served the people of Surf City poorly over the last few years. There must be wholesale change in our leadership this November.

We already have two community-oriented candidates with the qualities needed to restore true leadership to Huntington Beach. Taryn Palumbo and Ben Davis have legal acumen and volunteer experience in serving our community. They will serve all of their constituents, not just the ones who subscribe to the MAGA views of the incumbents. They will work to solve problems, not create them. They will actually listen to their constituents, not dismiss or ignore them.

What does the community need from its remaining candidates if the incumbents do not deserve reelection? We need financial expertise, preferably accounting and understanding budgets. We need protection for our community assets and its crown jewel of our library system. We need compassion and understanding. We need courtesy and respect. We need honesty and transparency. We need to pay attention to our budget and not waste money on lawsuits and jousting with the state. In short, we need better representation than the incumbents have provided.

Isn’t that what residents in all Orange County cities should value in electing their local officials?

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

State housing law mandate

Tick-tock. The countdown continues for Huntington Beach to comply with the state housing law that instructs a Housing Element be submitted — even as the city pursues an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Mayor Casey McKeon has openly acknowledged that this “uphill” litigation is intended, at least in part, to delay the immediate impact of state mandates. But is it honorable — or fiscally responsible — to postpone the inevitable with arguments that are performative at best?

The reality is that housing policy is not an abstract legal debate; it has real consequences for our community. When workers cannot afford to live where they work, they are forced into long commutes that worsen traffic, increase pollution and degrade environmental quality. These outcomes directly contradict the values city leaders claim to defend.

Time and again, after loss upon loss in court, Huntington Beach officials continue to defy state law at enormous potential cost to residents. While fines have not yet been imposed, estimates suggest the city could face penalties ranging from $1.2 million to $7.2 million for a single year of noncompliance. That is money that would ultimately come out of our city budget and our pockets.

Beyond litigation costs and looming fines, Huntington Beach is also forfeiting critical state funds that are contingent on having a compliant housing element. These are resources that could support infrastructure, public safety and community services. Instead, we are choosing costly legal battles that leave us with fewer services and greater financial risk.

Rather than continuing down a path that leads only to insolvency and diminished public trust, we ask our NIMBYist city council to be honest with residents. What, exactly, do we gain from continued resistance — and is it worth the ongoing erosion of our city’s finances and credibility?

Delaying compliance does not make the law disappear. It only makes the consequences more severe.

Karen Carroll
Huntington Beach

Affordable housing

Recently, the Huntington Beach City Council revealed its priorities with a 6–1 vote (with one abstention) to rezone the corner of Goldenwest and Garfield from industrial to commercial — clearing the way for a gas station and car wash.

The council could have instead chosen zoning that supports housing, including much-needed affordable or permanent supportive housing for seniors and people with disabilities. That option was not even seriously considered.

This decision reflects a troubling pattern: a lack of commitment to addressing Huntington Beach’s housing needs. The city still has no viable housing plan — neither one that complies with its state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment nor a credible alternative of its own.

By discouraging housing development, the council risks losing local control over planning altogether and inviting state intervention in city affairs. Is trading long-term community stability for short-term commercial projects really what residents want from their elected leaders?

Housing should be a priority — not an afterthought.

Patricia Goodman
Huntington Beach

Wasted tax dollars

The Huntington Beach City Council has squandered our tax dollars on losing lawsuits and unprincipled payouts to their political cronies, while our city’s infrastructure becomes more and more unstable and downright dangerous.

Among the multiple cases of failing infrastructure in H.B.:
— The elevator in the city parking structure, a block off the beach near Main Street, hasn’t worked in months! How can the elderly and those with disabilities park on the upper floors of the structure when it’s impossible to get from there to ground level?
— During the recent rains there was flooding in many areas of northern H.B., causing many residents’ cars to be totaled by rain damage. Apparently, the pumping stations failed.
— City street repairs are several years behind schedule, and the recent rains have created potholes that almost destroyed one of my tires.
— The ceiling in the Central Library leaks, as does the ceiling in the city-owned building that houses the Surf Museum, and even the City Hall lobby near the City Council Chambers needs repairs.
— The fountains outside the Central Library haven’t worked in years, despite commitments by the city to resolve the problem.
Beyond these noticeable problems that are not being addressed by the City Council, there is the longer-term issue of the rapidly aging below-ground networks that provide water, sewer and other services to residents. The city’s own recent Infrastructure Report Card gave it a lackluster average grade of C.

This City Council has raided reserve funds in a transparent attempt to fool city residents into thinking that the city budget is in the black. But we are not fooled. We know they have squandered the surplus that they started with a couple of years ago and dug an even bigger fiscal hole. H.B. faces a decade of budget deficits, while our infrastructure continues to crumble and our quality of life continues to deteriorate.

Huntington Beach residents need new leadership on the City Council and a renewed commitment to the actual needs of residents, not endless failing lawsuits and political grandstanding.

Diane Bentley
Huntington Beach