Older people shuffle.

They shuffle, that's right, and they have a hard time.

I'd like to call a me a special meeting of the city council public financing authority to order.

City Clerk roll call, please.

Councilman Twine?

Yes.

Councilman Kennedy here.

Mayor Pro Tem McKeon?

Here.

Mayor Burns.

Here.

Councilwoman Vandermark.

Councilman Gruel?

Here.

Councilman Williams.

Here.

Six present.

Councilman Councilwoman Vandermark absent.

Okay, thank you.

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

We're gonna have the new city assistant city manager.

Mercedes, sir, lead us in the Pledge of Leave.

Please stand if you're able.

Place your hand over your heart.

Begin.

All right, City Clerk.

Do we have anybody uh signed up to speak?

Yes, Mayor.

We have thirteen people signed up to speak.

Okay, supplemental.

But we also have supplemental communication.

Okay.

Um for item number twenty-five seven eight zero.

We have eleven emails received regarding the proposed possibility of an artistic expression of freedom and speech, free speech.

That it all right.

Uh proper decorum at city council meeting is imperative in order for the public to remain informed about issues pertaining to the city business.

The public uh comments portion of the meeting is an opportunity for the public to be heard and address those issues in a public form.

Disruptive behavior, impeding or delaying our ability to conduct the city council's business will not be tolerated.

And enforcement action will be taken for violations of this law.

At this time, the city council will receive comments from members of the public regarding topics included on the special agenda.

Individuals wishing to provide a 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.

Please note that the Brown Act is not allowed for discussion or action on topics that are not on the agenda.

Members of the public who would like to speak directly with council members on an item not on the agenda, may consider scheduling an appointment by contacting City Council's administrative assistant at seven-one four five three six five five five three or emailing the entire city council at City.council at surf city-hb.org.

Okay, city clerk just call everybody up.

We'll give each person a minute and uh and uh let's get going.

You want more?

Okay, one minute.

Yeah, it's a good one.

Speakers, please approach the podium when you're called lineup.

Tooney, Chatterjee, Charles Jackson, Patricia Pappas, Mr.

Amory Hansen, Judy Morris, Sonia Beale, Ann Palmer, David Reinerson, Wendy Rincon, Kathy Haas, Gorge Washington, Chris Renee, Bethany Webb, B channel.

Can I start?

Uh you tell me.

Yes, please.

Okay, um, my comment is quick.

I speak as somebody who represents hospitality in Huntington Beach.

We have a really vibrant hospitality community, which means that we cannot be a divisive town.

We are a purple town at our heart.

We don't follow global federal politics like that.

We surf, we have a good time, we spend money at restaurants and bars, and unfortunately, this memorial is so violent.

It depicts violence that happened on a college campus.

It's a family that's mourning, still grieving.

It's just an ugly thing to have in this cool surf town that we all pay taxes in, we live in and we raise our children in.

It perpetuates a harmful narrative about Huntington Beach that harms our hospitality community.

And unfortunately, it doesn't send the right message, although the artist, the art that I've seen has been beautiful.

It doesn't send the right message for Huntington Beach.

And I'm concerned as a citizen.

I don't want any more drama in this town.

I want people to visit and spend their money here.

I know one thing we all agree is we love Huntington Beach.

All right, thank you.

Next speaker.

Honorable mayor and counselors, appreciate you making HP the best run city, 46-year resident in November.

I'm very happy to support the creation of a freedom and free speech mural, memorializing and celebrating the life of Charlie Kirk.

Many of our youth residents of all ages and visitors will need a place to honor their ideas of their great hero and mentor Charlie Kirk.

This is a turning pro turning point for many of our young people.

Please form the ad hoc committee.

Thank you for always standing strong together.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

My name is Mr.

Amory Hanson.

I'm speaking tonight in support of item one, the mayor and councilman Gruell and Williams Item to establish create a free speech mural.

The freedom of speech for all plays a vital role in effective governance and free society.

Justice William O.

Douglas once said, quote, the standard of what offends the common quote, the common conscience of the community, and quote, conflicts with the command of the First Amendment, end quote.

I urge the council to assert its support for freedom of speech by authorizing this mural to be painted.

Once again, IRJ, yes, vote on I am one.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

This is Huntington Beach.

There's no statue or mural of Ronald Reagan.

At least he was a Californian.

Charlie Kirk didn't live here.

Okay, he rarely came here too.

We don't need a mural of Charlie Kirk.

After school shootings, we are cautioned to let emotions calm down.

But on the other hand, think of all those statues of Lennon, Stalin, and others that were pulled down after the fall of their regime.

Think of the statues of facade that were pulled down last year.

Anyway, if you have to make a mural, please don't put it on City Hall property.

Put it in one of our parks.

Yes, sir.

Next speaker, please.

Hi.

I'm here to acknowledge and support the ongoing efforts of our mayor, city council staff, and volunteers to manage improve and beautify our city.

The premise of a memorial to celebrate our freedoms, including free speech and honoring Charlie Kirk, is a good one, especially in a center that is a center for free speech and discourse.

However, I'm not a fan of outdoor installation art unless it was planned when the space was built.

And the reason for that is I've fought long and hard for open spaces, blue skies, and uncluttered streets.

So I love the artwork, but I don't know where you're going to put it.

I would suggest we dedicate one of the fountains that we already are going to be that we've already created at the library and are reworking.

Dedicate one of those or something that really fits murals like in Venice and Long Beach.

There's a lot of maintenance, and after a while, it just looks like noise.

So it's beautiful art, but I just don't think the artwork itself is necessarily great for the outdoor spaces we have.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Mayor Burns and members of the city council.

My name is Kathy Haas.

My husband and I have been residents for over 52 years in Huntington Beach.

And I first want to start off by thanking you all for the hard work that you're doing and for your commitment to serve because I know that there have been some very trying times for each and every one of you.

So we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I'm here to express support for directing staff to explore the creation of a mural as an artistic expression, honoring freedom and free speech, memorializing Charlie Kirk, and to form a city council ad hoc committee authorized to identify a location, artists, and artwork for the mural.

Please vote for this.

Please honor our freedom of speech.

And I would add that maybe we ought to consider some other options besides a mural.

That is possibly a good idea as well.

So let's keep it open and do something to honor freedom of speech because that's what we're all here and we're all about.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Having a discussion about whether or not to honor someone isn't a cause for an emergency meeting, unless, of course, you're into performative politics.

Holding that emergency meeting at four in the afternoon with barely 24 hours notice wreaks of the desire to have no public input.

Perhaps that's because this city council has repeatedly shown that they don't give a damn what the community thinks.

Typically, the honor of being enshrined in the public square is reserved for people the vast majority agrees are heroes deserving of that treatment.

Does Charlie Kirk qualify?

Certainly many Christian nationalists think so.

However, one digs into his many opinions and many statements that he's made, a great many people are equally convinced that he's a hero only for a minority of people who refuse to accept that people of other faith, sexual orientations or economic viewpoints have an equal right to exist and to their own happiness.

Consequently, you're personally free to honor Charlie Kirk in any way you see fit.

It is inappropriate to use taxpayer funds to do so.

Just uh for a clarification, this is a special meeting, not emergency meeting.

Next speaker, please.

Okay.

We're here to discuss the idea of having a mural for honoring freedom and free speech while memorializing Charlie Kirk.

Doing any sort of artwork to express an abstract concept goes right into allegorical, and it's hard to do that, and they usually do not age well.

There aren't that many people that are interested in 18th century classical revival art these days, and that's all allegorical.

Now, as for Kirk, he did not honor free speech in his life.

He was a fraud.

He said he was a debater, but he took students, trapped them into false arguments, and yelled at them until they gave up.

That's not a debate.

That's an ambush for clickbait.

We as Americans can do better.

And furthermore, taking a popular figure for a divisive minority political position and turning them into a saint.

That's not American.

That's the kind of things that communist Russia does.

Next speaker.

I vehemently oppose the mural in honor of Charlie Kirk in the city of Huntington Beach.

He used his deceptive devotion to God to spread hate speech aimed against vulnerable vulnerable people.

His distorted, limited idea of freedom, which excludes certain people is touted by the current regime on the federal and local level.

Huntington Beach City Council's idolization of Mr.

Kirk and Mr.

Trump is not representative of the opinion of all citizens in Huntington Beach.

And no Huntington Beach taxpayer resources should be used to create a mural in honor of Mr.

Kirk.

Such a mural might be viewed as an open invitation to further visits by our city to our city by neo-Nazis.

While everyone has the freedom to openly express their views, this will simply create even more division than you have already achieved within our city.

The two-hour window to submit a communication for the city council to see prior to this special meeting is appalling, and in direct opposition to the idea of free speech.

Next speaker, please.

She's speaking for me.

It's in direct opposition to the idea of free speech.

Point of order.

Can she pass off for a minute to somebody else?

Speak for yourself, ma'am.

Can somebody read this because my glasses aren't working right now for me?

City attorney.

Okay.

Please read that one.

It's in direct opposition to the idea of free speech as is your less than three minute limit on public speaking at council meetings.

An alternative to achieve your performative goal is for you to place a bust of Mr.

Kirk on the dais along with your bust of Mr.

Trump at city council meetings.

Would be less less use of of uh city resources.

That should get you the press you need to once again shamelessly promote yourselves.

Your hypocrisy and ability to sow division within our city never ceases to amaze and disappoint.

Next speaker.

I'm I have 15 or 30 seconds.

I just want to say that I agree with you know, maybe you want to honor him to some level.

Maybe how about next to a mega plaque?

It would go well together with you guys because it doesn't represent everybody who lives here, and I didn't appreciate the time frame that we were allotted to do this today.

Next speaker, Wendy Rencon.

This mural is a disgraceful idea.

Let's call it what it is, a blatant attempt to turn our public walls into partisan propaganda.

Charlie Kirk did not unite this community, he divided it.

His rhetoric field culture wars, targeted vulnerable people, brought extremists out of the shadows, and now you want to immortalize him as a symbol of freedom that is not freedom, that is political idultery.

You know what this mirror will do?

It will deepen the wounds in this city.

It will be a rallying point for hate groups who already exploited his death.

It will make Huntington Beach a national punchline known for its beauty and for its people, but also elevating a figure of division.

With one minute, there is no level of shame that you guys will ever feel.

You drag us down here.

You could have waited until next Tuesday, but instead you had to make a special meeting for this.

Ridiculous.

Next speaker.

So you want to put up a mural to express freedom and freedom of speech, huh?

That is the height of hypocrisy.

As you limit the speech of your constituents to 60 seconds.

Pat Burns, you moan and groan about the number of people about physically pained to listen to your residents speak.

You threaten speakers with being removed for offensive comments, while you get caught on a hot mic calling your colleagues pieces of shite, and a young woman another effing cow.

We don't support a mural for a podcaster on a public space.

What happened to him was tragic, especially for his children.

If you want a mural, put it up in your own backyard or at your own church.

If you insist on a public mural, let's honor the countless children that are victims of gun violence, like from Parkland, Sandy Hook, or Uvalde.

Stop chasing the latest tragedy to create headlines for yourselves.

Next speaker.

So the cultural Marxist that uh Charlie Kirk uh combated with his voice and his free speech is the same type of uh rhetoric that it comes from the left in Huntington Beach here, and they attack every single one of uh our council members members up here on the dais.

So let this stand as a reminder that the cultural Marxists of the insanity of the left will never silence us ever.

It'll never silence us.

And I'm proud of each and every one of you guys for standing up and fighting this culture war.

Cause without fighting the culture war, that's the soul of our country, and without the soul of our country, there is nothing.

There is no America without our soul.

So I'm proud of you guys, and uh I will not I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world, and that's what each and every one of you are upholding.

Our Republic, our great republic, Skywalker over and out.

Next speaker.

Bethany.

Ma'am, please don't uh interrupt the meeting.

Next speaker.

Bethany Webb, anti-fascist, daughter and sister and friend to gun violence victims.

I want to address the lie that has been perpetrated that everybody on the left is celebrating an act of vi of gun violence.

I've spent the last 14 years using every time I had a chance to speak to speak out against gun violence.

My family was devastated by gun violence.

If I saw anyone applauding gun violence, that is a deal breaker.

It is not true.

There is a difference between not mourning the death of someone who was not a good human and celebrating the way in which they were murdered.

So stop again trying to separate us with your lies that we were celebrating that.

No, we were not.

Next speaker for the five.

That's it.

There are no more speakers.

Okay.

No more speakers.

Okay.

We'll move on to uh council member items.

Item 25- is that 7 30?

Uh to discuss the possibility, the possibility of an artistic expression of freedom and speech.

Mural memorializing Charlie Kirk.

Please, if you guys want to talk, please exit the room.

Yeah.

Bye.

Alright.

Councilmember Chad Williams, please present it.

Okay.

If we could pull up the first slide there, Shannon.

Sorry.

There we go.

You guys got me.

If we could pull up the first slide, um, this is uh just a handful of photos that came from the vigil that took place uh the previous Sunday before on the 14th, and uh this was something that really came together at the the drop of a hat, and and so this I think this is representative.

I asked a lot of the folks here if we can go to one of the next slides here just to kind of get an idea of how many folks are there.

It's a shot from Pierre Plaza, CBS News is reporting.

Next slide.

Uh, you can see the pier in the background just loaded with folks, shoulder to shoulder.

Next slide.

Um, and then this was really, I think the inspiration that started it.

Uh there was a woman that began to paint a mural there on the spot, and it was very powerful and moving.

And I began to ask people in that large crowd uh what they thought about the possibility of maybe doing something like this to memorialize not only Charlie, but it's a memorial, really to free speech, a reminder that this is one of the core values of what it is to be an American, and we shouldn't be robbed of such things.

Go back to the next slide.

It was next slide just kind of shows a larger the crowd shot again.

Um but what happened on September 10th?

Uh it's it was unbelievably tragic, and I hope that we all can agree on that.

Uh an innocent man was murdered.

You know, that was somebody's baby boy, still their baby boy, such a young, young man, 31 years old.

Uh, that was somebody's husband.

Uh, that was the father of two children, and and and why did they do it?

I mean, he's so gifted, the the the knowledge, his retention, his ability to regurgitate information.

Why did they do this to him?

He offered a microphone to those that disagreed with him, and this happened here in America, and these are the types of things that should not be happening, and so somehow somebody was able to rationalize, they were able to conceive in their mind that this man is so evil, he is so bad, he is such a fascist that I would be doing my country a service if I end his life with a bullet.

How did we get here to this place in America?

I've been overseas in places that are vile and violent, where I've seen men that have been ambushed and dismembered and their cell phones taken off of their bodies and pictures of them be taken from their own cell phones as these terrorists go through their contacts and find their wives in the contacts and then text message from the husband's phones, these dismembered bodies.

These are the types of things that happen in places where you are not free to express yourself because violence is used to suppress that freedom.

And so I see doing a mural, a memorial, this is so much bigger than just a memorial to Charlie Kirk.

It is a reminder.

And so, just by way of reminder, this is a core American value.

It will be a visible representation of that freedom.

It's a symbol that will stand against the use of violence or intimidation to try and shut down free speech.

Americans should be full of courage to speak in the face of intimidation.

Suppression through fear has no place in America.

It's also an artistic expression of freedom that really makes all artistic expression possible.

How could you express yourself without freedom?

And so, this in itself is a foundational, fundamental expression of free speech, the freedom of expression.

We're celebrating the ability to express all types of other values.

And it also has educational and generational impact.

You know, I think most of us here in the room or maybe watching right now, remember exactly where they were during 9-11.

You know, what they were doing, how they felt when they heard the news.

It leaves an impact.

And it really hit this last 9-11 following this tragedy with Charlie Kirk.

I speak to a group of young adults, college students, and none of them were alive at the time when 9-11 had happened.

You know, none of them were around at that time to remember what it was like.

And what I learned on 9-11 when that happened was really a gratitude and appreciation for the freedoms that we have.

You know, I was uh 16, 17-year-old kid at the time.

For the first time, I really woke up and realized wow, freedom is not free.

There are those that are willing and wanting to take those freedoms away.

And so that was the seed thought that initially led to me wanting to live for something bigger and greater than self, but now we have a generation that's coming up that wasn't around during those days of 9-11, just like some of us went around, you know, during the days of Vietnam.

And what happens is is we run the risk of forgetting.

And there is that proverb that goes, you know, that a nation or a people that forgets its past is doomed to repeat its mistakes.

And I was confronted with this on a college campus not many years ago when I was involved with a documentary that was being filmed called 180 Movie, and one of the initial questions that we would ask people, these students on the college campus, just to get the conversation going, just to get things off the ground.

This wasn't a gotcha question.

This was just to get it going was who is Adolf Hitler to you?

Or what do you think about the Holocaust?

Not a gotcha question.

I was shocked by how many college students, without fail, within a couple hours, we'd have a half a dozen of them that had no idea who Adolf Hitler was.

And so remember, a nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat its mistakes.

They ask questions.

This is on video.

They go, I don't know what is he, is he an actor?

And so you can see the importance why we have something that we leave behind, something monumental where people can remember, especially generations to come that weren't there, that weren't around September 10th to remember the day.

That's why when you come up the stairs of City Hall, we have a memorial for all of the Vietnam, Iraq war veterans.

We have a memorial for the 2,977 people that died in 9-11, and so many afters after that.

And so I see this as so important, so much bigger than just being a memorial to one person.

We are honoring his life, but it's bigger than that.

This is an expression of free speech, and it is a reminder that freedom doesn't come free.

And so this is why I wanted to bring this item forward.

It's not something that's intended to be a divider of people at all.

I hope that it's a visual that starts conversation and gets people talking about these things, so that when children look at it and ask one day, mommy, daddy, who is that man?

Who is that image?

They could retell the story of there was a time, there was a tragedy in our nation at one time where a man was trying to have a conversation and offer a microphone to others, a core foundational principle.

A core foundational principle here in America, and he was assassinated, he was murdered, and there were thousands upon thousands of people, and the digital imprint will always be there that were celebrating and gloating over his death.

It was a tragedy.

And so if you guys would like to deliberate a little bit more, um, I have a motion that I can move, but I want to open it up to everyone else.

I yield back the time mayor.

Butch.

Chad brought up, Chad brought up something really good there.

There's times in your life, and I'm the oldest one here, so I remember things, you know, farther back than than many that are in this room, but I remember exactly where I was when the Challenger exploded and the tragic deaths of the space shuttle uh astronauts.

I remember exactly where I was.

I remember exactly where I was on 9-11, and I'll always remember exactly where I was when Charlie Kirk got assassinated.

Charlie Kirk left an indelible mark on the American public life in both the intensity of his convictions and the breadth of his reach.

As co-founder of Turning Point USA, he galvanized a generation animating classrooms, campuses, youth rallies, with a message rooted in free speech, faith in God, and patriotism.

He was never content with the status quo, insisting that dialogue must be bold, that ideas should be tested, and that young people have the power to reshape the civic landscape.

Kirk's voice at times was polarizing.

Many admired his clarity and his fearless willingness to confront what he and many of us believed were threats to the American identity, culture, and values.

Some found his views controversial or divisive.

But for even those who disagreed, his engagement forced a reckoning.

In a democracy, no movement remains worthwhile unless it demands conviction.

Whether in his speeches, media appearances, or the organizations he led, Kirk's influence extended far beyond politics.

He drew up, he drew upon his Christian faith, politics, and beyond, his conservative principles and fervent optimism that America can and must recover its virtue and purpose.

His tragic assassination on September 10th, 2025, at Utah Valley University, cut short a life of activism.

A lone assassin took away a son, a husband, and a father of two very young children.

The grief, the memorials, the tens of thousands, if not hundreds and hundreds of thousands, who gathered this past Sunday to honor him, all speak to the magnitude of what we all lost on September 10th, and the depth of what he inspired.

Yet in the forgiveness offered by his grieving widow, Erica, and the young people who recommitted themselves to Charlie's ideals, it's easy for anyone to see the legacy he's left behind.

Charlie Kirk may be gone, but his voice will live on forever.

In every campus debate, in every prayer, and in every generation stirred to act.

On September 10th, Charlie Kirk was assassinated and died.

On the same date, one million Charlie Kirks were born.

I am one of them.

Please.

Can some play, please, people.

Yeah, bye-bye.

Okay.

And you and you you're you're it like in hospitality.

I don't want to go where you are.

I don't want to go where you are.

Get out of here.

Okay.

I will all I will also embrace my Christianity and strive to be the best soldier for Christ I can be.

I unfortunately can't support this agenda item in its current form.

I'm all for an ad hoc committee.

My mind remains open to discussing ways that we can honor Charlie Kirk and those incredible voices before Charlie, who also promoted peaceful and respectful engagement and debate.

Such names that come to my mind include Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr.

and Eleanor Roosevelt, all who promoted reconciliation rooted in non-violence and love.

I envision a place here in Huntington Beach somewhere.

I don't know if it's going to be a wall or a park or what, but I envision a place here in Huntington Beach where we can all go and pay homage to the great peacemakers of our time.

And I also want to, I just want to point out.

She painted it.

And it's Charlie Kirk standing holding two microphones, one for him and one whoever wants to debate him.

He wasn't shutting anybody's voices out.

He wanted to hear them.

So, and that's what I think that we have to get back to here in Huntington Beach and our country.

And the guys are up there shaking their heads, no.

No, we have to engage with each other, and we have to engage civilly and respectfully.

Thank you.

Ma'am, ladies, please don't interrupt again or leave.

Go ahead, Donald.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just wanted to touch on a couple of points.

Me personally, being at the end of the baby boomer generation, old, uh, I've never seen one human mobilize so many different generations around his common principles, the common principles of so many faith, Jesus, open debate, freedom to speak, freedom to debate.

So, in that context, in my lifetime, and I've been around through many great people, I've never seen one human being again mobilize so many people across so many different generations.

That's that's my first observation.

Secondly, no matter how great the person, no matter, just no matter how great the person, I think we witnessed it in uh the COVID era, that even some of our greatest Americans who are more memorialized with statues, some a gentleman said something about it, it'll get ripped down.

For whatever reason, there's certain aspects of people that will destroy anything and everything if they don't agree with it, and that's just not the American way.

You can disagree, but you don't need to destroy if you don't agree.

Third, the size and the scope of the project, if it was to come to fruition, have not even yet been defined.

And the hope might even be that there's not one taxpayer dollar expended to bring this to light.

Regarding representing all sitting on the dais, I do my best to represent all, but let's face it, there is no way to represent all because there's never a way to ever complete a unanimous consensus.

So, with that said, the representation of all is a false premise.

It sounds good on paper, but it's not achievable.

So we have to make decisions based on what we think is best for the city at this period of time.

I have just a quick video, uh, if Corbin, is it ready to play?

It's just a couple of minutes.

The only reason I wanted to show it, it's Charlie Kirk answering a couple questions, but it really shows the basis for for all the constitutional aficionados and how we formed our great country, the basis of where Jesus Christ lied back in the founding fathers' days.

So go ahead, Corbin.

Remember that we were a collection of states and colonies.

Can you turn it up?

You need to read the state constitution before anything else.

13 out of 13 required a declaration of faith.

Nine out of 13 required you to be a Protestant, except Maryland, which was Catholic, which still required a declaration of faith.

Every single one of the original state constitutions, Pennsylvania included, they had I profess Lord in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in the original state constitution.

Secondly, 55 out of 56 of the original signers of the declaration were Bible-believing church-attending Christians.

You ask about common law.

So common law is inherited from Blackstone, who was Christian.

A common law is an outgrowth of the scriptures.

So let's go to three principles of common law.

Presumption of innocence, due process, and jury of your peers.

All three are biblical principles.

So and all wrapped into the ultimate biblical principle that you shall not favor justice if you are richer or poor, which is in Leviticus 19, right before.

Most famous part of Leviticus 19, which is that you should love your neighbors yourself.

But before that is that in the administration of justice, you shall not favor the rich or the poor, which is the idea of blind justice.

We get that in the West.

Which is incorporated also in the New Testament ideal, neither slave nor Greek nor Jew, you're all one in Jesus Christ.

These are all biblical ideas, they're not enlightenment ideas.

But more importantly than that, they say that God was only mentioned four times in the Declaration of Independence.

Well that's a big deal.

Okay.

Laws of nature and nature's God.

The last paragraph of the declaration reads as a prayer.

It says we appeal to the supreme judge of the universe.

Who's the judge of the universe?

Jesus Christ, it says in Revelation that Jesus will judge the earth on his throne.

So in the declaration, they were praying to Christ our Lord as a prayer very specifically.

Thirdly, as I said on stage yesterday, Deuteronomy was by far the most quoted book, religious or non-religious, in the time of the founding when they were putting together Constitution.

More than John Locke, more than Montesquieu, more than Blackstone.

So the Book of Deuteronomy, which talked about laws, customs, traditions.

It was Moses' farewell address, as he's about to say goodbye, say, hey, good luck in Canaan, guys.

Here's how you should set up your form of government.

But finally, and most importantly, let's look at actually what the founders said.

John Adams seamlessly said the constitution was only written for a moral religious people.

It was wholly inadequate for the people of any other.

The body politic of America was so Christian and was so Protestant that our form and structure of government was built for the people that believed in Christ our Lord.

One of the reasons we're living through a constitutional crisis is that we no longer have a Christian nation, but we have a Christian form of government, and they're incompatible.

So you cannot have liberty if you do not have a Christian population.

Our country was found on common law.

The problem with some people is that the reason they may disagree with Charlie is he had such command of his ability to recall, and his belief in Jesus Christ was so strong that his frame of context is always going to be based around the principles of Jesus Christ.

So anybody who doesn't believe that, right off the right off the bat during a debate, will not have the opportunity to really overcome him because he can cite things so quickly that are factual or drawn from the Bible, and that's why he was not only a great debater, but he was a very fair man.

But you know, we are a competitive nature, and when we lose something, even a debate, we might frame our perspective of a person or an opponent differently because maybe we felt like we lost.

All I can say is he is a polarizing human, and if you were to govern by general consensus, I would say he stands in favored status by more than 50 plus 1% of the United States.

So by general consensus, I would say he stands in the favor of the majority.

With that said, I will be supporting the ad hoc committee to move forward.

And um, God bless America.

Okay, so I I'm actually trying to look at everything through a positive lens.

So I actually saw a lot of positive things here, even in the midst of everybody's visceral reactions, both positive and negative.

So there were a few things.

Number one, I'm proud of Huntington Beach for not being one of those cities where people come up in public comment and say disgusting things about his death.

Actually, everybody who spoke against this did say and talk about what a tragedy it is, and I'm glad that we can all kind of have that alignment on on Moral Compass.

I'm not going to use my time to kind of pontificate specifically on Charlie Kirk's viewpoints.

My other co-counsel people have already done so.

You know, like I said, and and like Don said, so a common refrain is kind of unity and decision.

The reality is we're humans we're always going to disagree you know we could be talking about you know a stick in on Main Street and somebody would argue with me about whether or not it's a branch and not a stick.

I mean there's really never going to be alignment but how can we find some sort of common ground so everybody supports kind of freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

Perhaps it's a different character in which they feel as if that's being represented and they feel as if Charlie Kirk isn't the right representation of that character.

So let's let's put that aside that's obviously a central disagreement.

One of the things that I heard everybody talk about is the use of private funds.

I think that that's something that we should consider here as we kind of reshape this.

I do think that we should be using we should just procure private funds.

We should not be using any city funds for this or public funds.

We do want to be able to you know I've always been an advocate of removing government from these conversations and that's one way in which we can do it.

The second piece I think of contention once again moving away from the reaction to the character but the conversation that we're having is the the mural element I know I've spoken to other residents since this was announced and they gave me some stories about just the inability for the city to agree upon certain elements of murals in the past that which were issues non-controversial issues.

So we should consider perhaps expanding this whether it's whether it's maybe a plaque or maybe it is something outside of the mural piece.

I think the ad hoc committee that's something that we should be looking at taking the public's input into consideration in that regard and then obviously the location the location's going to be a key point of this and we we really need to be particular about the way in which we position and center this so those are the those are kind of the three big points that I'm looking at this through in trying to find some form of consensus and being sensitive to everybody's emotions and feelings regarding the subject but ultimately the expression and the celebration of freedom of speech and everything that we believe that Charlie Cook stood for and as you've seen in many of the videos is the centerpiece of what we're trying to do right now.

It just happens to be in a moment in time in which this is very it's amplified by virtue of what we've seen over the past week.

Chad is uh I've seen some misconceptions on on email do you mind just reading the issue statement and then the recommended action just to cool uh and one of those misconceptions that you might be spotlighting is concerns about whether or not this will be funded through the city and and so you'll you'll see that this project is proposed to be funded through uh private contributions but the issue statement says this item proposes a consideration of a mural project as an artistic expression honoring the principles of freedom and free speech while memorializing Charlie Kirk the project is proposed to be funded through private contributions to avoid impact to city resources the proposal includes the formation of a city council ad hoc committee comprised of three council members authorized to identify a suitable location select the artist or artists and review artwork design ensuring the project complies with city guidelines and I can move on to the recommended action if you like with a slight adjustment I'll read the adjustment in there and I'll I'll highlight where the adjustment is so the recommended action is to direct staff to explore the creation of a mural as an artistic expression honoring freedom and free speech memorializing Charlie Kirk and form a city council ad hoc committee and then I'm I'm going to suggest comprised of mayor Burns councilman gruel and myself councilman Williams to be authorized to identify a location artists or artists and artwork for the mural and then some people had asked why not a monument why not a plaque so I just want to have the flexibility here.

So I'm going to add uh this language andor monument and plaque so that would be the the recommended action.

Chad do you mind if I make uh one more tweak I was uh talking with Andrew about it when you guys are doing this um exploring can you also look um at you know other I guess additional locations like both on like private and public property to maybe do like additional artistic, whether it's murals or or dedications to other, as Butch mentioned, maybe like national and like local people as well.

I mean you guys are already doing the work, so it'd be good to kind of identify like all options.

I mean, I've had um and also really work with other a lot, you know, multiple artists if we can, but I've had requests recently from people to get involved in doing some murals in town, whether it's on like a little utility box or something like that.

So I thought if you guys are doing this exploration would be cool to maybe identify like multiple locations and maybe do some other cool like artistic murals or whatever.

So as far as locations goes, everything's on the table.

As far as artists, yeah, we're not nailed down to one.

I was thinking of the possibility of you know collaboration with with multiple artists to pull this off, and then I think there might be a point of order that CD turn I can hear him talking about.

I I I just would suggest we bring it back to council for final approval.

Yeah, that went for final approval, but just my thought is I know there's been some concerns from the community, but you know, option other options as well or maybe additional murals for other figures, so that'd be kind of cool to once you guys are doing this exercise.

Yeah, I like it.

My only um I'm supportive of this of course, but it's not direct staff to explore the creation of a mural.

Let the ad hoc committee create it, try to leave staff out of it, and when necessary, include staff in some of the planning.

They work with staff.

Yeah, work with staff to do this, but really let the ad hoc committee do the work and kind of keep staff that way again, city found funds are not involved and uh uh and to keep plaque the uh an option.

But okay, so we could fix that by just simply adding the first two words instead of direct, we can add work with work with staff.

And so if you like, I could read the recommended action, I think as then suggested.

So recommended action would be work with staff to explore the creation of a mural as an artistic expression, honoring freedom and free speech, memorializing Charlie Kirk, and form a city council ad hoc committee comprised of Mayor Burns, Councilman Gruel, and myself, Councilman Williams, to be authorized to identify a location, an artist or artists and artwork for the mural and/or monument or plaque.

And return to council and return to council for a final vote.

I'll second it.

Anybody else?

Okay, city clerk, please call a roll.

Calling the roll for recommended action as amended, bring back to council with an updated recommended action.

Councilman Twine.

With those amendments, yes.

Councilman Kennedy, yes, Mayor Pro Tem McKean.

Yes.

Hi.

Councilman Gruel?

Yes.

Councilman Williams?

Yes.

Item passes 601.

Okay.

With that, uh, I'll make the motion uh to adjourn the meeting.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Okay.

Uh do I uh the next regular scheduled meeting of the Huntington Beach Council, City Council, public financing authority.

It is Tuesday, October 7th in the Civic Center Council Chambers, 2000 Main Street on Beach, California.