Chaos on the dais: O.C. councilman uses expletive to demean his colleagues
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, June 12. I’m Carol Cormaci bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events.
Caught on a hot mic, Huntington Beach’s ultra conservative mayor pro tem, Pat Burns, last Tuesday night called three of his council colleagues who do not share his political views “pieces of s**t.”
That’s just how foul the air has become in Huntington Beach City Council Chambers, and it’s produced on the highly partisan dais, not by gadflies in the audience on meeting night.
What preceded the former policeman-turned-councilman’s outburst? It came about as the three minority members on the council, who are consistently out-ruled by the conservative majority, stepped out of the chambers during last week’s meeting to protest an agenda item Burns himself had proposed.
A quick recap for anyone not familiar with this council majority’s actions since being elected to office: Among their other successful efforts, the four have banned mask and vaccine mandates, passed an ordinance barring the Pride flag from flying on city property, instituted a panel to review children’s library books for sexual content, and passed another of Burns’ agenda items, one stating Surf City stands with the state of Texas in its condemnation of President Biden’s immigration policies.
The three who consistently vote against such policies, practically begging the majority to focus on the important work of a city council rather than making what they see as unnecessary changes to existing guidelines, seemed to have had enough last week. The new agenda item Burns brought, which predictably garnered the favor of the conservative majority, was for Huntington Beach to affirm the council’s commitment to the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 1st and 2nd Amendments.
Councilman Dan Kalmick, who had satirically proposed a nonsensical agenda item to call attention to the one Burns championed, led the exodus Tuesday night.
“I’m going to continue working to try to find solutions to these budget deficits that actually affect the day-to-day [lives] of residents, instead of national issues or silly issues like this,” Kalmick said. “Call me when you guys are ready to be serious and govern. I’m going home.”
Shortly after he left, Councilwomen Rhonda Bolton and Natalie Moser did the same. And that’s when the demeaning profanity was muttered by Burns, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“It’s just disgusting what’s going on in our whole country,” Burns said, according to the coverage of the debacle by my colleage Matt Szabo. “There’s too many idiots at the top that are screwing this up for many of us. By reaffirming this, it just says that Huntington Beach is going to stand and be strong with our very important foundation of the Constitution.”
Another of the conservative four, Councilman Tony Strickland, said, “Let them leave, because quite frankly, we would actually get more done with four members than the seven that’s currently on this body.”
When Szabo asked Kalmick for his reaction to being derided publicly with an epithet, the councilman said he, Bolton and Moser were not obstructionists.
“It shows they’re not interested in actually working together, in compromise of any sort,” Kalmick told the reporter. “And Pat’s [pieces of s**t] comment is unbecoming of a council member and he should be censured for it.”
MORE NEWS
• About 3,000 onlookers crowded into Newport Beach Saturday, according to police, to try to catch a glimpse of former President Donald Trump, who was attending a fundraiser at a private estate on Harbor Island. Multiple law enforcement agencies were called upon to assist Newport Beach police during the campaign stop, including personnel from the Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa police departments as well as the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
• Anaheim City Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava survived a recall effort at the polls last Tuesday. As reported by Gabriel San Román in TimesOC, pro-recall banners posted around the city in advance of the special election called her “Rubal-cabal” in an effort to associate her with a clique that the FBI alleged ran Anaheim in a political corruption probe that has, so far, led to three criminal convictions since 2022. Voters rejected the recall by a wide margin.
• Orange County Superior Court Judge Randall J. Sherman on Friday issued a temporary restraining order requiring the union representing UC academic workers to halt its strike at six campuses, including UC Irvine. The L.A. Times reports that in his ruling Sherman agreed with University of California, which maintained the walkout appeared to be causing “damage to students’ education” during the critical end of the term when finals are taken. The next hearing on the case was scheduled for June 27, which could effectively end the walkout that was approved by union membership through June 30.
• In case you missed feeling them, Orange County experienced its fair share of earthquakes last week. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake struck Newport Beach (its epicenter was under Mariners Park) on Wednesday afternoon. The next day, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck at 4:52 p.m., along the Newport Beach-Costa Mesa border. That was followed by a magnitude 3.4 aftershock just minutes later, at 5:04 p.m., with an epicenter about three-fifths of a mile to the southeast, beneath the residential street Somerset Lane, a few blocks from Upper Newport Bay.
• Marriott International is poised to take over the management of the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast next month and is expected to rebrand it as a luxury St. Regis property. Irvine Co. will retain its ownership and stewardship of the property.
• At a “Salute to Service” event last week, 34 Orange County graduating high school seniors who have made the commitment to either enlist in the military or attend a military academy were feted by Newport Harbor American Legion Post 291. The teens and their parents were assigned specific dinner tables hosted by a veteran or active duty figure from their chosen branch of military enlistment, enabling them to ask questions of their hosts in a relaxed setting.
• Public officials last week showed off the new the Central Cities Navigation Center, created to address the needs of unhoused people. The center, located in Garden Grove, is a joint effort between that city, Fountain Valley and Westminster.
• Hoping to curb the practice of people cutting in line or saving spots for large groups, Knott’s Berry Farm is encouraging guests to report such activity via text messages to the park’s security team, the L.A. Times reports. Repeat offenders risk being escorted out of the 57-acre amusement park.
• Orange County supervisors on Tuesday preliminarily approved the county’s proposed $9.5-billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, City News Service reported, noting that is an increase from the current year’s $9.3-billion spending plan. Final approval is expected June 25.
PUBLIC SAFETY & COURTS
• The man suspected in the May 31 slaying of a nurse at a residential property in Huntington Beach was arrested Friday afternoon while he was attempting to cross back into the U.S. from Mexico. Christopher Mendez, 35, of Diamond Bar, had earlier been identified by police as a person of interest in the death of Nicole “Coco” Karin Marquises, 35, of Walnut. The two had reportedly been dating, investigators said. Mendez is being held on $2-million bail.
• Here’s a roundup of City News Service public safety briefs from around O.C.:
— A Disneyland employee was fatally injured at the theme park last Wednesday in a fall from a moving golf cart during which she struck her head. Bonnye Mavis Lear, 60, of Fullerton, died of her injuries on Friday. Lear was an administrator of the park’s private Club 33.
— An Altadena man, Dylan Erric James Robinson, 23, man pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to more than five years in prison Friday for a drunken driving wrong-way crash on Oct. 2, 2022 that killed 22-year-old Reinne J. Lim on the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Tustin.
— Gabriel Gutierrez, 19, was charged Tuesday with a gang-related fatal shooting in Santa Ana last week. He is accused of killing 19-year-old Angel Junior Vuelvas of Santa Ana on the night of June 3.
— Laguna Niguel resident Justin Derek Jennings, accused of shooting at an Orange County sheriff’s helicopter on the night of March 9, pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court in Santa Ana.
SPORTS
• Costa Mesa resident Chris Oeding was inducted Friday into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. Oeding, 52, is a former Corona del Mar High boys’ water polo star, who then attended Cal, where he won three national championships and shared NCAA Player of the Year honors in 1992. A captain for the U.S. men’s junior national team, Oeding made the 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams. After coaching at Orange Coast College in the late 1990s, Oeding began coaching at Long Beach City College in 2000. Six state championships later, he’s still there, and he joined the U.S. women’s national team coaching staff in 2013. This summer he’ll be in Paris as women’s water polo assistant coach for his third straight Olympic Games.
• The Angels rallied for a 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday. “We showed some resilience,” Angels manager Ron Washington said, according to this Times’ report on the game. “Got some big hits when we needed it and the pitchers kept us there. Yeah, we gave up seven runs, but when it comes down to it we outlasted them.” The Halos opened a three-game series against the Diamondbacks in Arizona last night.
LIFE & LEISURE
• A father of four, Greg Walgenbach on Sunday became the first married Catholic priest ordained in Orange County under the church’s pastoral provision, according to this TimesOC report. Before turning to Catholicism he was an Anglican priest. “I’m so grateful for the provision and for the opportunity to serve,” Walgenbach, 48, told the paper. “It’s remarkable how the Catholic Church creates space for so many different realities and possibilities.”
• Looking for Father’s Day entertainment ideas? My colleague Sarah Mosqueda has you covered here: “Celebrate Pop with these unique Father’s Day dining experiences in Orange County.”
CALENDAR THIS
• Costa Mesa’s Balearic Park will be transformed into BarbieLand for one night only this Saturday, June 15, as one of the city’s seasonal free Movie in the Park experiences. Barbie or Ken attire is encouraged. The movie “Barbie” starts at sunset, around 8:30 p.m. Beginning at 6 p.m. the public can enjoy mocktails and food while earning raffle tickets at “Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House of Games,” the “Beach Obstacle Course” and more. The park is located at 1975 Balearic Drive. For more information, call (714) 754-5300.
• Also this Saturday, Anaheim will host a Juneteenth Festival, a free, family-friendly day full of good food, entertainment, Black history and educational resources at Pearson Park. For more information, visit the Orange County Heritage Council.
• The 44th annual Baroque Music Festival is set to return to Newport Beach, with the first of its concerts scheduled for this Sunday at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church. To purchase tickets, visit bmf-cdm.org/tickets. For more information on the concerts and events associated with this year’s festival, visit bmf-cdm.org/2024-programs.
Happy (almost) Father’s Day to you dads out there!
Until next Wednesday,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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