Huntington Beach city attorney says state can ‘pound sand’ over latest laws
Two new state laws signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom have their sights set on Huntington Beach.
Senate Bill No. 1174 bars local governments from enacting laws to require residents to show a valid form of identification in order to vote.
Assembly Bill 1825, known as the California Freedom to Read Act, stops library boards from making policies to ban or limit circulation of books because of the views, ideas or opinions in them, or because they contain sexual content. That’s at odds with the city’s to-be-formed parent-guardian review board of up to 21 members, which would screen children’s books before they enter the library.
Huntington Beach City Atty. Michael Gates said in an interview Wednesday that the laws run afoul of the state’s legislative purview.
“The laws that they just signed are unconstitutional as it relates to charter cities, full stop,” Gates said. “It’s not even a close call. The passage of those laws, the signing of those laws is not going to stop us from what we’re doing.”
SB 1174 was authored by state Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who clearly disagrees with Gates’ interpretation.
“We cannot have 100 different charter cities making up 100 different sets of voting rules, based on fringe conspiracy theories,” Min said in a statement in August. “I have repeatedly told the Huntington Beach City Council members pushing this issue that if they were to produce any evidence of widespread voter fraud, I would lead efforts to change California’s voter eligibility rules. They have not produced any such evidence.”
Earlier this year, Huntington Beach voters passed Measure A, which could implement voter ID requirements as soon as the 2026 election. California Atty. General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber subsequently sued the city; Gates said a hearing on the city’s motion to dismiss the state’s case is set for Friday morning in Orange County Superior Court.
AB 1825 was authored by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance).
“Unfortunately, there is a growing movement to ban books nationwide, and this bill will ensure that Californians have access to books that offer diverse perspectives,” Muratsuchi said in a statement after Newsom signed the bill. “Those diverse perspectives include books containing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQ and communities of color.”
Gates said Wednesday the state has no authority to tell the city that it has to spend its tax money on certain books.
“We have exclusive jurisdiction over our money resources in Huntington Beach, and it’s beyond the reach of the state,” he said. “The state can go pound sand. You can’t tell us what to do with our money.”
Council strikes language that it shouldn’t take position on statewide initiatives
On Tuesday night, the City Council voted 4-3 to strike decades-old language that stated it should not take positions on statewide initiatives.
That directive was part of Resolution No. 4344, which was adopted in 1976.
Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark, Mayor Pro Tem Pat Burns and City Council members Tony Strickland and Casey McKeon voted to strike that language from the resolution. Council members Dan Kalmick, Rhonda Bolton and Natalie Moser voted against.
Kalmick made the motion to strike the language from the resolution, though he didn’t support that motion.
“I just figured we should take a vote on it,” he said. “I don’t think we should be taking positions on statewide ballot initiatives. I’m just tired of having to set something aside.”
After the language in Resolution No. 4344 was set aside, the council voted to oppose Proposition 33, the Local Government Rent Control Expansion act, as recommended by the city’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee. The four conservative members voted in favor of the resolution, and the three other members abstained.
That committee is a council subcommittee made up of Van Der Mark, Burns and Strickland. They were joined in voting to oppose Proposition 33 on Tuesday night by McKeon.
Kalmick, Moser and Bolton abstained from voting.
“This is a very high-profile proposition that affects people in Huntington Beach dramatically, it affects how we govern in Huntington Beach,” Strickland said. “I think it’s important that we take an opposition position to this initiative.”
Kalmick said he personally opposed Proposition 33, but declined from voting because, again, he believed that the council should not be taking a position.
Travis Hopkins to become acting city manager
Assistant city manager Travis Hopkins will be named the city’s acting city manager, effective Nov. 9.
Huntington Beach’s current interim city manager, Eric Parra, who is also the city’s police chief, announced the change at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
Hopkins was first appointed assistant city manager in late 2019. He has spent nearly 20 years with the city, joining in 2006 as a city engineer with the Public Works Department before being promoted to public works director the following year.
Prior to joining Huntington Beach, he worked for the cities of Placentia and Carson. He holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Idaho, and a master of public administration degree from Cal State Long Beach.
The council voted unanimously in closed session to approve Hopkins as acting manager, said Parra, who will remain as police chief.
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