18 candidates will vie for 4 seats in Huntington Beach City Council race

There will be 18 candidates for four spots on the dais in the Huntington Beach City Council election this November.

Each candidate had his or her nomination papers verified by the Wednesday deadline, earning a spot on the ballot confirmed by the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

The first 10 council candidates to be verified — Amory Hanson, Mike Vogler, Oscar Rodriguez, Tony Strickland, Jeffrey Hansler, Brian Burley, Pat Burns, Vera Fair, Kenneth Inoue and Gracey Van Der Mark — were covered in a Daily Pilot article reporting campaign finances last week.

An additional eight candidates — Bobby Britton, Gina Clayton-Tarvin, David Clifford, Jill Hardy, Casey McKeon, Billy O’Connell, Robert Reider and Gabrielle Samiy — have since been verified.

Emil “Jinx” Varona pulled papers and filed Wednesday but did not have his nomination papers qualified, the city clerk’s office confirmed Thursday.

There are four spots available as Mayor Barbara Delgleize, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Posey and Councilman Erik Peterson are all terming out, while Councilwoman Kim Carr elected not to run for reelection as she pursues a state Senate seat.

Britton, an entrepreneur, reported receiving no cash balance from January through June this year in his financial disclosures. He did make a $450 self-loan.

Clayton-Tarvin, the president of the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees, received $4,369 in monetary contributions from January through June, and made $12,542 in expenditures.

Clayton-Tarvin reported an ending cash balance of $90,465, largely as the result of two self-loans totaling $90,500 that she took out during the first half of 2021. She had three individuals contribute the maximum amount of $620 to her campaign, including her mother Dolores, while the California Federation of Teachers also contributed $620. Clayton-Tarvin is a teacher in the ABC Unified School District.

Hardy, a math teacher at Marina High, previously served four terms on the City Council and was mayor in 2005 and 2015. She reported no monetary contributions or expenditures made during the first half of 2022, and finished the period with a cash balance of $5,571.

McKeon is a business owner and Huntington Beach Finance Commissioner. He reported $7,280 received during the first half of the year, and $3,869 of expenditures. He finished the period with a cash balance of $12,730.

McKeon reported four donors contributing the maximum $620, including former Huntington Beach councilman, county supervisor and state Assemblyman Jim Silva.

O’Connell, the co-founder and executive director of Huntington Beach nonprofit Colette’s Children’s Home, previously served on the City Council in 2014 through 2018. He reported no monetary contributions received and $541 expenditures made, finishing with a cash balance of $2,320.

O’Connell also still has $91,500 of outstanding debt as a result of a $100,000 self-loan.

Financial disclosures were not available for Clifford, Reider and Samiy. Clifford is a transportation executive, Reider a senior business consultant and Samiy a student.

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