Huntington Beach City Council Special Meeting – March 11, 2025: Resolution for Special Election Direction
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Huntington Beach City Council Special Meeting – March 11, 2025
A special meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council/Public Financing Authority was held on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers. The sole agenda item was a resolution providing additional direction to the Orange County Registrar of Voters for a special election on June 10, 2025. The meeting included public comment and a vote that passed the resolution 4-0-3.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Sean (longtime resident): Opposed the special election, calling it a "needless" expense of up to a million taxpayer dollars. He noted that the council could have removed the contested language or placed measures on the November general election at a lower cost. He expressed confidence that voters would defeat the measures in June and November.
- Chris Reaney (native resident): Questioned why the council was spending more money on a special election and raised concerns about item 25-2021 (from a previous meeting) that appeared to propose the city running its own election without discussion. He urged adding the charter amendments to a regular election instead.
- Pat Goodman: Asked why the special meeting was necessary and expressed support for the council adopting the language of the petitions to avoid the special election, noting that the petitions would restore library operations to before June 2023. He urged the council to consider this as a good-faith response to the will of the people.
Discussion Items
- 25-2061. Adopt Resolution No. 2025-27: The council considered a resolution requesting the Orange County Board of Supervisors to render specified services for a special municipal election on June 10, 2025, covering two ballot measures. The resolution was introduced by a councilmember (unidentified in transcript) who made a motion to carry forward as recommended, which was seconded. There was no further discussion among council members before the vote.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on Resolution 2025-27: Passed 4-0-3. Voting yes: Mayor Burns, Mayor Pro Tem McKeon, Councilwoman Van Der Mark, Councilman Williams. Voting no: none. Absent with permission: Councilman Twining and Councilman Kennedy. The third absence was not explicitly accounted for; the roll call listed six members present, but two were absent, leaving four votes. The meeting was adjourned immediately after the vote.
- Next Scheduled Meeting: The next regular meeting was set for Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the same location.
Meeting Transcript
With Lord Tallio Bleezing. Special meeting of the City Council public financing authority to order. City Clerk, may I have the roll call, please? Councilman Twine. Councilman Kennedy. Mayor Pro Tem McKeon. Here. Mayor Burns. Here. Councilwoman Vandermark. Here. Councilman Williams. Here. Pursuant to resolution number two zero zero one-fifty-four. Council members twining and Kennedy requested permission to be absent from the meeting. Okay. Uh please stand for the invocation and uh pledge allegiance by Chad Williams. All right, please join me as we pray. Uh God, we just thank you so much for uh this day and all the blessings that you have poured out on our nation. And Lord, we pray for those continued blessings and and your providence that your will would be done in this nation, that your will would be done in this city. And so, Lord, we just ask for your favor. We ask for your mercy, and we also ask that you would give us uh wisdom. Now we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, please join me as we pledge allegiance, right hand over your chest, face the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Thank you to the Republic for which it stands. Yes, we have two supplemental communications. But first, oh yes, we have we've received one supplemental email regarding the meeting for this meeting, and we have two speak three speakers signed up. Okay. Then I'll read property quorum at the city council meeting is imperative in order to for the public to remain informed about issues pertaining to the city bus city's business. The public comments portion of the meeting is an opportunity for the public to be heard and address those issues in a public forum. Disruptive behavior impeding or delaying our ability to conduct the council's business will not be tolerated. Penal Code Section 403 prohibits disrupting this meeting and the enforcement action will be taken for violations of the law. At this time, the city council will receive comments from the members of the public regarding topics included on this special agenda. Individuals wishing to provide comment may do so in person by filling out a request to speak form delivered to the city clerk. All speakers are encouraged, but not required to identify themselves by name. Each speaker may have up to three minutes, unless the volume of speakers warrants reducing the time allowance. Members of the public who would like to speak directly with the council member on an item not on the agenda may consider scheduling an appointment by contacting the city council's administrative assistant at seven one four five three six five five five three or emailing the entire city council at city dot council at surf city-hb dot org. Okay. Oh my speakers. Sean Roselins, Chris Reeney, Mr. Washington. Good evening. My name is Sean. I'm a longtime resident. And I suppose I should allow the question. To ask the council, uh, what are we doing here? Uh we're about to spend a million dollars in a needless special election because you guys won't admit defeat. Uh you guys are trying to hide from us at a special meeting.
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