Mailbag: Huntington Beach’s expensive state housing law delay

Re Forced by courts, Huntington Beach passes its overdue housing element plan, June 17

The Huntington Beach City Council reluctantly approved the 6th Cycle Housing Element on a 5-2 vote, with Councilmembers Chad Williams and Andrew Gruel voting no. This plan was due in 2021, with a couple of extensions to 2023.

As noted by an attorney for the Kennedy Commission during public comment, the council’s years of delaying compliance with the state housing law have cost Huntington Beach millions of dollars in legal fees, penalties, and lost funding opportunities. This housing element is yet to be approved by the judge and the state.

The newly adopted 2025-26 budget reflects a $30-million deficit, much of it structural and caused by the ongoing legal battles chosen by this council to pursue. Rather than addressing the underlying problem, the council chose a one-time fix by reducing transfers to infrastructure, equipment and pension funds while drawing down the general fund reserve by $15.6 million. That’s not a long-term solution — it’s a temporary patch.

Approving the housing element restores eligibility for SB 2 planning grants, and partnering with Newport Beach to provide beds at the Navigation Center shelter would generate additional revenue. Together, these steps will begin to restore the city’s finances, but more needs to be done to plan this recovery.

Residents deserve an honest, transparent multi-year plan to address the structural deficit — not continued reliance on one-time fixes. Sound fiscal management requires leadership, accountability and planning for the future.

Pat Goodman
Huntington Beach

At its June 16 meeting, the 7-0 MAGA Huntington Beach City Council continued to flounder in dealing with messes of its own making since coming to power in 2022. Its ideological idiocy and arrogant antagonism of the greater community is coming home to roost.

Elected to promote change and stability, the incumbents have instead brought chaos and mismanagement. Elected to provide leadership, they have brought incompetent bumbling without offering vision or problem-solving prowess.

The handling of several agenda items bore this out. The budget is a mess with a deficit of several million dollars. The city is under siege by Sacramento over housing mandates, voter ID issues and other concerns.

The council incumbents have chosen to fight costly losing battles with state and county authorities instead of effectively planning to address our government requirements. They have also brought cronyism and corruption into their deal-making from the very beginning. The Pacific Airshow settlement is but the biggest example. The effort to give a six-figure public relations and branding deal to a crony without a city license is a recent example.

Instead, the council incumbents have chosen to make money for the city by pimping out-of-town special interests and local supporters in schemes to sell advertising on our infrastructure (e.g. lifeguard towers and pier steps) for a few thousand dollars. Pathetic!

The council incumbents have repeatedly tried to denigrate treasured civic assets like our library system and even outsource management duties to control them. Outrageous!

Change is definitely needed for our city’s leadership, and, fortunately, positive change is in sight with our November election. A new slate of well-qualified, community-oriented candidates called the Surf City 4 is riding to the rescue. Taryn Palumbo, Ben Davis, Erin Spivey, and Brenda Glim bring a wealth of fiscal, administrative, and legal experience to the table in addition to nonprofit executive skills and a commitment to transparent leadership.

A new council majority could be elected this year that will stop the chaos, clean up the messes and bring efficient and effective progress to our city. We must reclaim decency and respectability for Surf City.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

A heartbreaking loss

Re ‘Heartbreaking’: Body of 5-year-old lost at sea off South Laguna recovered, June 11
As the father of three adult children and a grandpa to three little ones under the age of 4, my heart aches for the mother who tragically lost her young daughter last week in heavy surf. Having been a USC water polo player and decades-long surfer, I know how dangerous the ocean can be.

To the grieving mother, please know I have lit a candle and said a prayer for your daughter — two things I rarely do. My guess is many other parents and grandparents in Laguna have done the same thing.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach