Huntington Beach City Council ponders beach reopening
The Huntington Beach City Council addressed reopening city beaches and other parts of the local economy during a three-hour council meeting Monday night.
The city has been in the news lately, as Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a “hard close” of Orange County beaches Thursday. On Friday, the same day that a stay-at-home protest of at least 2,500 people gathered at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, the city was part of a lawsuit seeking to nullify Newsom’s order. An Orange County Superior Court judge denied the request; another hearing is scheduled for May 11.
A total of 126 comments were submitted by Huntington Beach residents to be read at the beginning of Monday’s meeting, more than 100 of which concerned the beach closure. Many of them were critical of the council, which voted 5-2 to file the lawsuit, with Councilwomen Barbara Delgleize and Kim Carr in opposition.
“I wonder if you’re aware how many of your citizens in H.B. do not agree with your decision to shut the beaches,” Colleen Brennan wrote. “COVID-19 is still a deadly virus. It has been proven all over the world that it spreads more rapidly in crowds. Why have you considered not being more cautious with our lives?”
Cynthia Webster wrote in support of the council.
“These are public beaches,” she wrote. “The governor’s office should not be able to supersede what you think is best for your city. Be part of the change to get California moving again.”
Emboldened protesters gathered on Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway Friday to demonstrate against measures in place to fight COVID-19, including economic shutdowns and beach closures.
Some of the other public comments read by City Clerk Robin Estanislau and Deputy City Clerk Tania Moore urged the councilmembers to adapt a resolution supporting the Orange County Board of Directors’ efforts to address commercial business reopenings in response to COVID-19. The council passed the resolution unanimously, 7-0.
Several of the critical comments in regard to the beach closure said the lawsuit against Newsom was a bad use of taxpayers’ money, which led City Atty. Michael Gates to respond after Mayor Pro Tem Jill Hardy asked him how much the city was spending on the lawsuit.
“Just to assure council and the public, the cost of the lawsuit filed against the governor challenging his authority to close our beaches and impose on our local control is zero,” Gates said. “It costs the taxpayer nothing additional for this additional lawsuit filed.”
Carr, however, questioned Gates’ interpretation.
“We as taxpayers pay the salary for you, and for the entire legal department of City Hall,” she said. “Are you telling me we’re not using any staff to participate in this? In fact, we are using taxpayer dollars to fight that lawsuit.”
Gates responded that the lawsuit was filed in conjunction with other parties, including various individual private plaintiffs, who are funding the lawsuit.
“Other than some review time in my office and some appearance time, there is no staff time, and there is no cost to the city for the outside legal services and expertise that we’re getting,” he said.
Laguna Beach city beaches opened Tuesday to active sand and water use and will remain open on weekdays only, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. The city initially approved the limited reopening of city beaches prior to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandated closures of Orange County beaches.
On Monday, state officials allowed Laguna Beach and San Clemente to reopen their beaches on a limited basis. Unlike Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach had its city beaches closed since March 23.
“We’ve had additional conversations related to how we might facilitate the reopening of our beaches here in Huntington Beach,” City Manager Oliver Chi said. “We’re hopeful that this week we’ll make some additional progress on that front.”
Police Chief Robert Handy reported that a few citations were issued over the weekend if beachgoers were uncooperative and obstinate.
Also at Monday’s council meeting, the council unanimously voted to form a nine-member Economic Recovery Task Force, led by Mayor Lyn Semeta, that will meet at least once a month.
The council also approved by a 7-0 vote to allocate Permanent Local Housing Allocation funds to a future homeless shelter at 17631 Cameron Lane. Huntington Beach is entitled to more than $3 million of the Senate Bill 2 funds over the next five years.
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