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Home My WebLink About2023-09-14 Special Agenda PacketIN-PERSON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Members of the public are welcome to attend City Council meetings in person. Alternate ways to view meetings live or on -demand include: livestreamed on HBTV Channel 3 (replayed on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. and Thursday at 6:00 p.m.); live and archived meetings for on-demand viewing accessed from https://huntingtonbeach.legistar.com/calendar , https://bit.ly/SurfCityTV, or the City's YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/cityofhb , or from any Roku, Fire TV or Apple device by downloading the Cablecast Screenweave App and searching for the City of Huntington Beach channel. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Individuals wishing to provide a comment on agendized or non -agendized items including Study Session, Closed Session, and Public Hearing, may do so in person in the City Council Chambers by completing a Request to Speak form delivered to the City Clerk. SUPPLEMENTAL COMMUNICATION: Members of the public unable to personally participate in the meeting but interested in communicating with the City Council on agenda -related items are encouraged to submit a written (supplemental) communication to the Council via email at SupplementalComm@Surfcity-hb.org . Supplemental Communications are public record, and if received by 9:00 AM on the day of the meeting, will be distributed to the City Council prior to consideration of agenda -related items, posted to the City website, and announced, but not read, at the meeting. Communications received after the 9:00 AM deadline will be incorporated into the administrative record. Members of the public are also welcome to communicate with the City Council (and staff supporting Council) at City.Council@surfcity-hb.org . MEETING ASSISTANCE NOTICE: In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, services are available to members of our community who require special assistance to participate in public meetings. If you require special assistance, 48-hour prior notification will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements for an assisted listening device (ALD) for the hearing impaired, American Sign Language interpreters, a reader during the meeting and /or large print agendas. Please contact the City Clerk's Office at (714) 536-5227 for more information. AGENDA City Council/Public Financing Authority Thursday, September 14, 2023 Special Meeting Council Chambers 2000 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL TONY STRICKLAND, Mayor GRACEY VAN DER MARK, Mayor Pro Tem RHONDA BOLTON, Councilmember PAT BURNS, Councilmember DAN KALMICK, Councilmember CASEY McKEON, Councilmember NATALIE MOSER, Councilmember STAFF AL ZELINKA, City Manager MICHAEL E. GATES, City Attorney ROBIN ESTANISLAU, City Clerk ALISA BACKSTROM, City Treasurer AGENDA September 14, 2023City Council/Public Financing Authority 6:00 PM – COUNCIL CHAMBERS ROLL CALL Kalmick, Moser, Van Der Mark, Strickland, McKeon, Bolton, Burns PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ANNOUNCEMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS (Received After Agenda Distribution) PUBLIC COMMENTS (90-Second Time Limit) At this time, the City Council will receive comments from members of the public regarding the discussion of potential charter amendments for the March 5, 2024, Statewide Primary Election . 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 90 seconds unless the volume of speakers warrants reducing the time allowance. Please note that the Brown Act does not allow discussion or action on topics that are not on the agenda. Members of the public who would like to speak directly with a Councilmember on an item not on the agenda may consider scheduling an appointment by contacting the City Council's Administrative Assistant at (714) 536-5553 or emailing the entire City Council at city.council@surfcity-hb.org. While the City Council welcomes public involvement and supports and defends free speech, the City Council rejects comments from anyone that are discriminatory, defamatory or otherwise not protected free speech. Those comments will not inform nor be considered by the City Council and may be cause for the Mayor to interrupt the public speaker. Such public comments will not be consented to or otherwise adopted by the City Council in its discussions and findings for any matter tonight. ADMINISTRATIVE ITEM 23-7651.Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments for the March 5, 2024 Statewide Primary Election PUBLIC COMMENTS (90-Second Time Limit) At this time, the City Council will offer the public additional opportunity to provide comments related to the discussion of potential charter amendments for the March 5, 2024, Statewide Primary Election. 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 90 seconds unless the volume of speakers warrants reducing the time allowance. ADJOURNMENT Page 1 of 2 AGENDA September 14, 2023City Council/Public Financing Authority The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council/Public Financing Authority is Tuesday, September 19, 2023, in the Civic Center Council Chambers, 2000 Main Street, Huntington Beach, California. INTERNET ACCESS TO CITY COUNCIL/PUBLIC FINANCING AUTHORITY AGENDA AND STAFF REPORT MATERIAL IS AVAILABLE PRIOR TO CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AT http://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov Page 2 of 2 City of Huntington Beach 2000 Main Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 File #:23-765 MEETING DATE:9/14/2023 Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments for the March 5, 2024 Statewide Primary Election City of Huntington Beach Printed on 9/12/2023Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments for the March 5, 2024 Statewide Primary Election Special Meeting of the City Council September 14, 2023 @ 6pm ~ ))'j :------.. ~~::,s::: _:;::::::::.; -~~========-==~1. .. , Background •A charter is akin to the U.S. Constitution – it is a city ’s foundational document that lays out the big picture policies for how a city should operate. •Sample policies: election of Council Members, roles and duties of City representatives, fiscal administration, etc. •Approximately 121 out of 482 California cities have Charters; the rest are General Law cities. •Charter cities have the authority to establish many of their own rules and regulations, giving them more autonomy in governing themselves.__.r • Background •The first recognized Huntington Beach Charter was established in the 1930s. Since then, it has been amended several times to reflect the evolving priorities of the community and changes that occur over time. •All Charter amendments must be approved by a majority of voters at an election. Background •Last amended in 2010 •Last completed review in 2021-22 by the Charter Revision Citizen Committee, which recommended several amendments to City Council. •The City Council approved some of the amendments, added a few and voted to place them across 3 ballot measures on the November 2022 General Elections. •All 3 measures were defeated. CIT ~HUNTINGTON BEACH City Charter Incorporated February 17, 1909 Timeline Leading Up to Today •June 6, 2023: City Council formed the Charter Review Ad Hoc Council Committee (comprised of Mayor Strickland, Mayor Pro Tem Van Der Mark, and Council Member Burns) to recommend Charter amendments for the 3/5/24 Statewide Primary. •Summer 2023: Committee worked with the City Attorney to prepare 7 amendments. •August 1, 2023: City Council approved the 7 amendments, added 3, and directed the City Attorney to prepare all materials necessary to place them on one or more ballots. •August 2023: City Attorney’s Office prepared the required materials to place the amendments across 3 ballot measures. •September 5:Following discussion of the 3 ballot measures, City Council voted to host 4 Special Meetings to gather more public feedback before taking any further action. •September 14, 21, 28 and October 5:Special Meetings to gather public feedback and propose Charter amendments. 2023 Charter Review Process SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 (TONIGHT) •During public comments (before and after discussion), City Council will gather feedback from the community on any Charter amendments; staff will document them. •Staff will provide a Charter overview and the steps required to amend it. •Afterwards, Council will discuss potential amendments, based on the feedback received. 4 Special Meetings on September 14, 21, 28 and October 5 at 6PM in the Council Chambers to discuss the Charter and consider amendments for placement on the 3/5/2024 ballot. Community can attend all meetings and provide public comments (90 seconds per speaker) both prior to and immediately after City Council discussion. • 2023 Charter Review Process SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 •City Council will consider the amendments and use “straw votes” to identify those that should be placed on the March 2024 ballot. •City Council will bundle the amendments into ballot measures, and direct staff to prepare ballot measure language and other materials for consideration.* SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 •Council will continue discussion on feedback shared to date and recommend amendments. •Proposed language for Council-identified amendments will be drafted and other information will be assembled and returned to City Council at the 9/28/23 meeting.* *City Council may suggest any Charter amendment to be categorized into one of the following: (a) place on the March 2024 ballot (b) consider for a future ballot or (c) address through other legislative means like ordinances/resolutions. • • 2023 Charter Review Process DECEMBER 8, 2023 •From October through November, staff will gather the Resolutions, Impartial Analyses and Arguments and submit them to the Registrar of Voters before their 12/8/23 filing deadline. OCTOBER 5, 2023 •City Council will review the ballot measure materials for the March 5, 2024 elections and conduct formal votes to place them on the ballot. •Council will then identify City representatives to prepare the Impartial Analyses and Arguments and Rebuttals. • • 2023 Charter Review Process MARCH 5, 2024 •HB residents will vote on the Charter amendment ballot measures. •If approved, they will be incorporated into the Charter after the County certifies the election results. • Moore, Tania From: Sent: To: Subject: Chris Varga < christopher J.varga@gmail.com> Wednesday, September 13, 2023 5:06 AM supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Charter Changes 9/14/23 NO on any Charte r changes. The Fascist 4 campaigned on keep no changes to the charter. Stick with that plan. No changes are needed Chris Varga Huntington Beach 1 SUPPLEMENTAL COM~UNiCATION ~~~:._~q~/4if~b~RR-~-s _, __ I _,_, Agenda ltemNo.:_ / {:p3 -?~2_ 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 10:21 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: Charter Changes From: Shawn Hollub <shawnhollub16672@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2023 5:02 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: Charter Changes Dear Council Members, My name is Shawn Hollub. I am a HB business owner, an HB homeowner and a 30 year+ resident. My family and I feel VERY strongly that the vote to change the charter should be a resounding YES!!!. This is a huge benefit for many reasons to the people lucky enough to call this beautiful city home. Only positive benefits can come from voting yes. One must question the motives of any council members that oppose amending the charter. Thank you for your time. Shawn Hollub Huntington Harbour 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 1:15 PM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:City charter amendments From: Jennifer Wilson <jwilly1068@yahoo.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 12:42 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: City charter amendments Dear Councilmember McKeon, Although this email is going to all City Council, I'm addressing you directly as you seem to be not only the most reasonable of the new members, but also the one that cares the most about this town. You're from here, have family here, are raising children here, so the future of our city matters to you. Once the Mayor has left this city behind, likely in shambles, you'll still be here to clean up the mess. Of course I'm referring to the charter amendments. After telling the community we are heading into a budget deficit, how can this council recommend spending $1.2 million on a special election for amendments that fix nothing, solve no actual problem, and are clearly unnecessary. What if they actually pass, which is highly unlikely? How much money will implementation take? Where will that money come from? I think before this council takes up issues you all should be asking yourselves what problem does this fix? So far, I haven't seen evidence that your work is solving problems. What problem did the new statement on Human Dignity fix? There was no problem there. What problem does restricting and rating books fix? The public told you there was no problem there. No parent said their child has been harmed. We have actual problems in this City and I think your focus should be on those. Do you want to be remembered as someone who creates problems or fixes actual problems? As someone who helps build this city or leaves it a bankrupt mess with a ton of lawsuits? Please live up to your potential and your care for our town. Thank you, Jennifer Wilson 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 4:36 PM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: General Comments Regarding Charter Amendments From: Rob Pool <rob.pool.oc@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 2:11 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Cc: Fikes, Cathy <CFikes@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: General Comments Regarding Charter Amendments Mayor Strickland and Fellow City Council Members, What conservative among us would ever agree with the notion that the U.S. Constitution be amended to preserve the salary of an elected government official or the size of a government agency? No One! Such a foolish idea would be anathema to any clear minded, principled conservative thinker. What conservative among us would ever increase the size and scope of a smaller government agency simply to make a point, and to virtue signal to their supporters? Again, no clear thinking, principled conservative. No true conservative would exchange one bad policy for another. It would not be the way to create good, principled policy. Policy built upon sand will not last the test of time. It will crumble to the ground like the careers of those who enacted said policy. But clearly the populism that has invaded our city is not based upon true conservatism. It’s based upon what the Oxford Dictionary says: a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups. And, while I acknowledge that many in our city have felt our concerns have not been heard for a long time, the correct approach is not to begin governing in ways that are harmful to our city simply to show constituents that their voices are now heard. And what about the voices from the other side? Do we want to enact policies that are as tone deaf to them as the policies that we felt were tone deaf to conservatives by prior city councils? Simply said, is revenge the new underlying conservative principle upon which we should base policy? I hope not. In the past, it was explained to me (possibly by our current city attorney) that the city charter should remain as a foundational document, rarely changed. It was told to me that, if we wanted standing in the state courts, it would be important to not make changes to it that would diminish the fundamental reason that it was created in the first place. That made sense to me when I voted against the charter amendments in 2022. But apparently new council majorities bring new principles. Not only is that sad, it’s a fundamentally wrong way to govern. And, as someone that proclaims to follow principles over people, I cannot support the path on which some on the current city council are leading us down. I will oppose these changes- and everyone of you should as well- for a variety of reasons. 2 We should never govern differently when we have the majority as we would when we were in the minority. To do so is not representative of freedom. It is simply another form of tyranny. Racking up wins, especially when many of those wins will be overturned when the pendulum swings the other way (and we all know it will) is shortsighted. Further, it is a poor example of leadership lest any of you have aspirations for higher office. I encourage you to simply examine your hearts and minds. Follow your principles. Base your decisions on those foundations. Thanks for listening! Rob Pool 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 4:36 PM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: City Charter Amendments From: K Carroll <kcrissie7@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 3:31 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: City Charter Amendments Greetings Mayor Strictland, Pro Tem Gracie Van der Mark and Councilmembers. Me and my family (and neighbors) support all of the charter amendments. Although, I had hoped that the motion would pass to get these on the ballot, I do understand Casey's concern and thought it was a good compromise to gain additional input from citizens. Many of the people that showed up and spoke were obviously from a cattle call by Moser, Kalmick and Bolten and affiliates and many from outside HB. That is clearly the trend now. I do hope the people that people who reached out to Casey in opposition will come to the special meetings and present their opinions and logic or send e-mails that can be shared with citizens so we can understand their logic. Amendment 1: Voter ID contributes to eliminating voter fraud. City Atty.: Will prevent council members interfering with the ability of City Atty. doing his job effectively/efficiently. Staff or positions (Titles) may not be tampered with or attempted to handicap City Atty. by decreasing the budget or expertise level for staff. The oldest game in the book to create a handicap to set up someone for failure. Take away their budget, expertise, cut their staff as the previous majority attempted and current Moser, Kalmick and Bolten. Update Qualifications of City Clerk: Too vague currently (coming from a retired Career HR Director). Amendment 2: Flags: These flags represent all Americans. Two Year Budget: Increased, long term planning, control, projection and scrutiny when Board Members change. One of the companies I worked for did a five year budget. This company was very successful. Move City Clerk and City Treasurer to Gubernatorial election cycle: Yes. Makes total sense and should not be packaged with City Council elections. Amendment 3: Voter approval for transactions that forgives,....collection of property in excess of $100,000/yr.: This loophole should be closed. The CURRENT citizens and taxpayers should benefit from taxes revenue in their quality of life. I would also like to see, in the future, an item that would eliminate a property purchase such as Pipeline for a homeless shelter that lost the City Taxpayers over a million dollars because the City turned around and had to sell at a loss bc the council said it could not be used for a homeless shelter. The industrial park rules (for this and regulations for this property prohibited overnight accomodations. Chi said that there was a flaw in the process and that it had been corrected. (That's the 'ask for forgiveness later' game) I would like a guarantee. Children's Playgrounds: Slam dunk YES! Procedures to cancel CC meeting. Yes. On a side note, I was at the last council meeting. Thank you for having Michael Gates present part two of his informative series at the beginning of the meeting. I would like to see this trend continue so that when there is a cattle call, people interested won't have to wait until the end of the speakers. Although, I did see first hand the -------------------------------------------------- 2 shenanigans of undermining that occurred by attending or watching the council meetings, I was not aware of ALL of the details and appreciate the additional insight. I am looking forward to part 3. Since Kalmick continues to try to discredit Atty. Gates facts, I urge the Council to take the next steps mentioned in Atty. Gates presentation so that the citizens fully informed and lies are discredited. Most importantly, those involved need to be held accountable. Thank you very much! Please put ALL these amendments on the ballot. Making milestones at lighting speed! Keeping promises!!! THANK YOU! Best regards, 1 Moore, Tania From:Douglas Hart <dbhart2001@yahoo.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 3:53 PM To:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org; CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) Subject:Comments on Proposed City Charter Amendments I am writing concerning the proposed Charter Amendments that the Council plans to put on the ballot in March 2024. General - The Council wants to place these amendments on the March 2024 Primary Ballot. Historically, primary elections have less participation than general elections. For something as major as the proposed changes to the charter should require the maximum participation by the voters. There is nothing in the proposals that require the vote to be held in March. In fact, it has been suggested that State Law prohibits charter amendments in any election besides a general election. The Council needs to defer these proposed amendments to the November 2024 General Election to assure full scrutiny by the voters. - The packaging of the 3 Charter Amendments as they would appear on the ballot (as presented at the 9/4/23 council meeting) are confusing and possibly misleading. The 3 amendments, as written, are a compilation of several unrelated topics that I believe can lead to voter confusion. I fail to understand why topics as diverse as Voter ID, giving the City Attorney new powers, prohibiting Pride Flags, changing the terms of the City Clerk and Treasurer, changing from an Annual to a 2-year budget, tax waivers, and how to cancel City Council meetings can be put together the way they were. They need to be repackaged into amendments that have related topics to avoid misleading the City voters. - The City Council has failed to provide any justification for the changes that they are proposing. While I understand that there will be short statements for and against on the ballot, before the City spends a lot of money on an election, the voters deserve to hear the justification for spending that money. The Council, at a minimum, owe the voters that. Section 705 The addition of an undefined Voter ID requirement should be removed. It is a violation of California law and will subject the City to legal challenges that will unnecessarily spend the taxpayers’ money. I am also concerned about the undefined monitoring of “ballot drop boxes”. As the county is in charge of elections, the county is responsible for security of the drop boxes. Any other “monitoring” could be looked at as potential interference with a citizen’s right to vote. Both of these sound a bit like voter suppression methods that have been implemented in other areas of the country. I don’t see any need for any of those items since there isn’t a problem that they are solving. Section 304(b) & Section 309 The proposal to give the City Attorney unprecedented powers with very limited oversight from the Council is worrisome. This essentially gives the City Attorney power to do whatever he or she wants to do in the name of the City without any checks or balances at all. Regardless of whether the City Attorney is elected or not, since he/she doesn't pay for the City Attorney's office or any legal losses by the office out of their own pocket, oversight by the Budget Authority, the City Council, is required. In addition, the amendment gives the City Attorney the power to prevent the citizens of the city from finding out what the City Attorney has done in the City’s name due to "attorney/client privilege". As we have seen with the Airshow fiasco, this can easily be abused. This seems like nothing but a power grab for the City Attorney and goes far beyond what anyone outside of the City Attorney would believe reasonable. Just because the current City Attorney had a disagreement with the previous City Council is no justification for this power grab. Section 310 It is unclear why the qualifications for City Clerk are being reduced. The qualifications currently in the Charter are reasonable for that position. This proposed change should be eliminated. 2 Section 806 This addition is completely unnecessary and it certainly doesn’t belong in the City Charter. Just because some people seem to fear a rainbow-colored flag is no reason to change the City Charter to politically placate a small minority. And the need for a unanimous city council vote to add any other flags when all the other provisions require just a majority makes this seem even more politically motivated and unnecessary. Section 401(b), & Sections 601-605 It is unclear what problem making the City budget biennial instead of annual actually solves. It would seem to limit the flexibility of the City to adjust the budget based on changing conditions in the City and in the economy. There needs to be a better justification of why this is necessary. Section 300 It is unclear why it is necessary to change the terms of the City Clerk or Treasurer to sync up with when the 4 Council members and City Attorney are elected vs. when the 3 Council members are elected. This seems to make one election more important than the other and has no other apparent justification. If this change is implemented, however, the one- time change in terms for both the Clerk and Treasurer should be 2-years and not 6-years. Section 618 Requiring taxpayer approval of property tax waivers seems to be a bad way to conduct business by the City. Since each one of these waivers, which are often granted to businesses as incentives to establish their businesses in the city, requires a potentially costly election, it could take years for approval, by which time, the businesses will have moved on to another city. Section 303(a) While the basic ability to occasionally cancel a City Council meeting could be desirable, this provision as written seems to give the Mayor or Council majority the ability to cancel Council meetings as many times as they like. This is not good for conducting City business. There should be a limit to how many meetings in a row that could be cancelled, perhaps 1 or 2. I hope the members of the Council will take the time to reconsider some of these proposals and to repackage the amendments into sensible ballot measures before implementing them. Thank you. Douglas Hart 5221 Chadwick Drive Huntington Beach, CA 92649 1 Moore, Tania From:Judith Lewis <judilew22@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 4:34 PM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:Special Meeting re March 2024 proposed charter amendments City Council Huntington Beach I write to oppose your proposed charter amendments in their entirety because you have not done due diligence to research their impacts nor costs, nor have you provided a reasonable effective way for citizen participation in their promulgation. I attended and spoke at your Council Meeting on September 5th as did over a hundred speakers and hundreds more emails and letters, most opposing Council actions. Despite that, the majority on the Council totally ignored any input they had received and voted to proceed with their ideological and questionable changes. Some were even crass enough to allege that although the majority present opposed their actions that we did not in fact represent their constituencies. There is no opportunity for citizens to question Council Members to get their justifications and rationale for recommended changes in these three minute comment sessions. There should have been a Charter Committee or Commission to develop the proposed charter amendments, not a three person Council committee who have provided no information or justifications for these proposals. These four special meetings are a farce. You can claim you did allow lots of citizen input— which you will again likely ignore. There is no clear document I can find with your charter proposals so I am still unsure exactly what you are proposing. From comments I think the following are in the mix:  Voter ID required for City elections  Ballot Box Monitoring in HB elections  Giving City Council power to censor books in the public library.  Changing the minimum requirements and voting sequence for City Clerk  Changes to the power and authority of the City Attorney  Banning the Pride Flag on City property First, I have not seen or heard justifications for any of these. These are my reasons for opposing them. 2  The cost to HB citizens of these ballot initiatives is unnecessary and wasteful.  Voter id and ballot box monitoring are not now the purview of the city and were it to pass, would require a large sum of money to administer to fix a non‐existent problem. No one has identified any voter fraud in HB.  Third, the changes in the requirements or authority of elected city officials are not justified and are suspicious.  Fourth, are we to become a City that explicitly discriminates against the LGBTQ community? Who will we choose to discriminate against next? ‐‐ Judith A. Lewis 4057 Warner Avenue Huntington Beach CA 92649 714 742 5444 Captain, Retired, L.A. County Sheriffs 38 years public service Served on Huntington Beach, Los Angeles and Orange County Citizen Advisory Committees 36 year Huntington Beach Resident 1 Moore, Tania From:MEG ROBINSON <twokyu@aol.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 3:09 PM To:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:Ballot measures It is extremely ﬁscally irresponsible to propose ballot measures without a cost analysis. It also sounds like we expect to hire the OC registrar to perform a large part of the voƟng segment thereby paying them for what they do for free or a nominal fee. And they do a superb job as well. And since you are proponents of “transparency” where is the adopted budget? Margaret “Meg” Robinson 8788 Coral Springs Ct 206G 92646 1 Moore, Tania From:J C <qhlady@me.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 5:07 PM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) Cc:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:9-14-23 City Council Meeting, 6pm I support Voter ID for elections I support more in‐person voting locations I support monitoring of drop‐boxes I support Resolution Numbers: 2023‐42 2023‐43 2023‐44 2023‐45 I support the submission of 3 Charter amendment ballot measures for voter approval at the March 5, 2024 Statewide Primary Election. 1 Moore, Tania From:SallySanders <sally_sanders@cox.net> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 5:19 PM To:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:City charter changes Hello, My name is Sally Sanders and I live in Orange County, California. I’m wriƟng to ask that you please do NOT make changes to the city charter. These changes would compromise residents’ voƟng rights, make our elecƟons less secure, and signiﬁcantly alter the balance of power in city government. Please do the right thing. Thank you, Sally Sanders 1 Moore, Tania From:Isabella Ford <issyford@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 5:22 PM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:Why? What is your concern with the election process? Are you saying the process was not fair last year? If that is the case, all newly elected officials should resign. Why do you want to give the City Attorney so much power? Is he all knowing? Is he perfect that he never makes a mistake? Is it that difficult for you, our City Council members, to question anything he does? Is he threatening you somehow so you must kowtow to his every wish? Why do you want voter approval for certain City transactions that forgive, waive or forgo property tax collection by the City in excess of $100,000 ‐ without both Counci and citywide voter approval? Are you going also ensure at least 50% of our population votes to ensure the vote is indicative of citywide approval? Have you lost all sense of morals and ethics that you really think he is so incredible? What is the purpose of allowing City Council meetings be cancelled as needed? These meetings are for the public and you decided you wanted to be a public servant. So serve the public by doing your job as scheduled. If you didn't like this, why did you run? What is the purpose of moving the election of the city clerk and treasurer to the same cycle as the city attorney? Staggering elections for certain seats ensures there is someone with experience at the helm instead of all new people coming in at the same time. Casey McKeon gave a little hope that he might actually have a brain, conscience and free will. If he will take a step back and listen to what's being done and said. Maybe Casey is the youngest so can process what has happened. The newly elected had a campaign saying "No changes to our charter", yet less than a year, that is exactly what you're proposing? If you made it to the end of my email, thank you for reading. I hope you will remove all these and actually work on doing things that will bring our community together. Isabella Ford 714‐308‐0660 1 Moore, Tania From:Tamantha Bowman <tamanthajbowman@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 11:03 PM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:Thursday September 14 City Council Meeting I oppose all changes to our City Charter. As a retired veteran of the armed forces I'm appalled by the audacity to suppress votes by pushing for in person voting and monitoring of ballot drop boxes by intimidation. This hurts our Active Duty and Reserve community members that often do not take time off from an operational duty day that lands on election day.The regulations state a military member could request 2 hrs off back in my day. However, none of us would dare ask the Chief for time off when resources are limited and time off is not an option. As a veteran that served on active duty, and as a reservist that was activated several times, absentee voting was essential for me to participate in our democratic system. Are you telling our community that you do not support our active and reserve duty military members to their right to vote? Dropping off our ballots at the ballot box is efficient and allows us to participate in all elections. Furthermore, it limits those who work as civilians in our community that do not get Election Day time off. Most full and part‐time workers have significant commute times to their place of employment. Voting by mail and dropping off my ballot at a drop box allows me the opportunity to exercise my right to vote without requesting unpaid time off on Election Day. Voting in person suppresses our younger voter population that also votes by mail. Parents like me, ensure my college student receives their ballot at college and that it's either mailed or we return it to a drop off ballot box. Will we be turned away at the ballot box for returning our family's ballots? Many in our community use ballot boxes and we should not limit accessibility or allow voters to be intimidated by unnecessary guards. I have used drop off boxes at our City center or at 5 points while on break from my job because it is convenient for my employer and myself. Working in HB I have limited time off. The disabled in our community also depend on those ballot boxes. Are we going to limit their access or right to vote? Are you going to make disabled people vote in person and waste an unnecessary amount of time in line? Requiring in person voting limits the votes from our disabled and/or elderly that struggle to stand or wait for long durations. VOTING IN PERSON is a LUXURY for those that do not report for duty and serve our country. The only community members that have the luxury in time are retirees that no longer have to work to support their families. This ballot measure is unnecessary and is voter suppression if approved. I OPPOSE LOCAL CONTROL our OC Registrar's systems are top rated. All city meetings should have published agenda's transparent to our city citizens. No to cancellations to scheduled meetings without a published agenda. Do not change City Clerk position qualifications. Not everyone with a 4 year degree is qualified to serve in this position. The specific requirements should not be changed or lowered. 2 The only update to our City's flag policy I approve is BRINGING BACK THE PRIDE FLAG to our pier during the month of June. We have many LGBTQ+ members in our community including LGBTQ+ that serve in our armed forces that live here in HB. Our city should be INCLUSIVE and supportive to our LGBTQ+ community members. HB resident and Retired Veteran, Tamantha Bowman 1 Moore, Tania From:StarsStripes <starsstripes@me.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 13, 2023 11:45 PM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) Cc:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:9-14-23 City Council Meeting I do support Voter ID for elections I do support more in‐person voting locations I do support monitoring of drop‐boxes I support Resolution Numbers: 2023‐42 2023‐43 2023‐44 2023‐45 I support the submission of 3 Charter amendment ballot measures for voter approval at the March 5, 2024 Statewide Primary Election. Rob Cloyd Huntington Beach Resident 1 Moore, Tania From:nora pedersen <pedersennor@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 7:58 AM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:City Charters Please vote no to changing our Huntington Beach City charters. Seriously, how does it look when it takes a majority council vote to make a charter change to the flag policy but to reintroduce the Pride Flag to the charter requires a unanimous vote? I'm telling you, it looks like the council majority is stabbing its constituents with their narrow personal beliefs. Instead, why aren't the four fixing the homeless issues that they were elected to fix? Don't change any Charters! Nora Pedersen Huntington Beach 1 Moore, Tania From:Devin McBride <devinmcbride13@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 7:58 AM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:HB Charter and Elections City Council, Stop trying to change the Charter. And if you can’t help yourself, Tony, at least do it cost effectively in November not March of 2024. Screwing around with elections in a county that has a stellar record for clean and clear elections is nuts. Get back to what you promised us. Deal with homelessness, street ruts, downtown rabble. Devin McBride Resident, Huntington Beach 1 Moore, Tania From:buzz mccord <buzzmccord@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:00 AM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Cc:opinion@scng.com Subject:Dumbing down City Clerk Good morning City Councilmembers. Dumbing down the qualifications for City Clerk! No wonder the OC Register Editorial Board yesterday called Mayor Strickland’s tenure a “descent into madness.” But then, as long as the Majority Four appear to be personally leading the dumbing down of City government, you might as well change the Charter to make room for Tony Strickland’s wife or other currently unqualified people to be responsible for little things like elections. Buzz McCord Huntington Beach resident and business owner Retired 1 Moore, Tania From:Cooper Carrasco <askcpr@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:00 AM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:Charter Amendments Meeting Dear City Council, As you all know, thousands of Huntington Beach citizens have been demanding rent stabilization for quite some time (I have met many myself) notably the Mobile Home Resident Coalition. In 2022, the Mobile Home Advisory Board recommended a carve out of Section 803. https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily- pilot/news/story/2022-04-27/huntington-beach-board-recommends-enabling-rent-carveout-for-mobile-home- owners Since it has come time to discuss City Charter Amendments, I feel someone must bring this up! Upon researching the origins of section 803, I found even more reason for a carve out or even to remove it entirely. When collecting signatures for the ballot initiative, a petitioner so egregiously misled an HB Resident that they complained to the City Clerk. How many other people signed based on misleading words? Here's the complaint: November 41 , 2000 Connie Brockway ,' City Clerk City Clerk's Office . . City of Huntington Beach P O Box 190/2000 Main St Huntington Beach, Ca . 92648 Re : Proposal 803 to City Charter of Huntington Beac h Dear Ms. Brockway As a followup lo our telephone conversation on Monday November 20, 2000 , I am directing th is letter to you to express my disagreement with the way the petitions for th is measure are being gathered . My wife and I were entering the Vons Grocery Store on Springdale & Warner on Sunday afternoon November 19, 2000 around 5:30 PM and were greeted by a lady petitioner and asked if I was a registered voter res iding in Huntington Beach-the following conversation ensued . 1. My question -What am I signing for? 2 . Her Answer -The truth on Rent Control 3. My question -Is ii for or against Rent Control? 'A . Her Answer.'-Its justto getto the truth on Rent Control 5. My question -So its to put the question of Rent Control on the ballot? 6 . Her Answer -Yes to get to the truth on Rent Control 7. My Question -Who are you working for/ who pays you to collect signatures? 8. Her Answer -I work for the people to get to the tru th of this matter. f I originally signed the petition thinking it was to put the matter to a vote, before return ing to her I read the measure, which of course is nothing li ke she told me. I asked her directly why did she feel she had lo deceive the publ ic lo gel them to sign th is petition ? Her answer said it all as far as I was concerned , she said what I told you was what I was told to say. I then asked her who told her to say that and she refused to tell me. By now she was beginning to get a little irritated and started in on my wife and I by saying this was her first day at this and had met a really lot of very nice people and she was going to be praying to God for them. I said I guess you will not be praying for us and she said tha!'.l,_right We asked her what any of this had to do_ with religion? I fou nd th is a little odd for a. petrtionedo be bri nging up relig ion . At th is point I was getting a little irritated myself and decided to go into the store and complain to the Manager, got our groceries and left. I have no problem with this petition and the right for Property Owners to circulate th is petiti on but I do have-'a problem with misleading the public and a lot of people probably went ahead and signed th is petition , thinking it was something different than what it actually is because she was not telling the truth . If someone is telling all of the petitioners to present the petition this way then I feel the City Legal Department should look into this matter. Also I scratched my name off of the petition. Thank you for your assistance. 2 Ironically, the supporting argument given in the newspaper was that seniors & young people would be most- hurt by rent stabilization, however it is a coalition of seniors now asking for it. Since 2000, has Huntington Beach seen a decline in the number of family households with children? The answer is yes. (The overall % of under 18 residents in Huntington Beach has declined from 22% in 2000 to 18% in 2020 according to census.gov) All of this points to the case that it's time for the voters to have another chance to vote on this. Side Note: If you're wondering if Santa Monica currently has more affordable housing than HB, as of right now Santa Monica has more total <$2000 rentals than HB on Zillow, with less than half the population. (For a variety of reasons. Huntington Beach is of course better so it makes sense.) Another claim from the original advertisement for the ballot initiative that has since been disproven. -' (Paid Advertisement) NOTICE OF INTENT TO CIRCULATE PETITION Notice 1s hereby given by the person whose name appears hereon of his/her intention to circulate the petition within the City of Huntington Beach for the purpose of qualifying the Property Rights Protection Measure. A statement of the reasons of the pro- posed action as contemplated in the petition is as fol- lows: There is strong and convincing practical evi - dence which shows that pnce controls on the sale or · rental of any residential accommodation does noth- ing to preserve or maintain affordable housing . In fact the evidence in Southern California appears to show that rent control destroys affordable housing and accelerates development pressures to turn old- er rroperties into new and higher density commer- cia and so-called "up-scale" housing. To pick just one of may ex;imples--m the City of Santa Monica with its rent control regulations Santa Monica has seen a decline in the number of family households · with children which is larger than any other compara- ble city in Southern California without rent control. Under rent control , Santa Monica's elderly popula- tion {age 65 or over) declined by 1.7 percent be- tween 1980 and 1990 , whereas the elderly popula- tion of Los Angeles County rose by more than 15% over the same decade . The elderly population in- creased over this period in every comparable city without rent control in Southern California. The result of social experimentation with rent control in South- ern California produces the following conclusion: Rent control does not provide more or better afforda- ble housing for anyone--especially the elderly and young .families. The imposition of rent control forces some property owners to change the use of their property and this change of use often can result in more development and pressures which cause the destruction of existing neighborhoods. Unnecessary and complicated government interference m private property transactions and homeownerships and rent- al decisions produces wasteful lawsuits and impos- es needless costs on all taxpayers. We the people find that the best means to assure that our communi- ty and neighborhoods are preserved is to protect property rights and to allow owners to make their own . decisions about the price and other terms on which they can sell or lease their · residential PtOperty. 3 20 years after Santa Monica was used as an example of rent control failure to justify the city charter amendment, SM residents voted to lower the rent cap to a max increase of less than 3%! (Measure RC) https://smdp.com/2023/06/23/rent-control-increase-capped-at-dollar67/ So apparently, they don't hate it! These mobile home park residents are being gouged, not by Huntington Beach residents. They're being gouged by corporations who buy up tons of mobile home parks as investments. So to defend the residents of Huntington Beach from corporate greed, I argue for Local Control of Rent! I hope you'll consider this. 1 Moore, Tania From:jodykyle1@aol.com Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:17 AM To:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org; CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) Cc:Jody Kyle Subject:City Council Meeting for Sept 14, 2023 - Proposed Changes to City Charter Dear City Council Members, I am a 25 year resident of Huntington Beach and am writing regarding the upcoming City Council Meeting on September 14, 2023. I strongly oppose the proposed changes to the City Charter. These proposed changes grant unprecedented powers to the City Council and especially to the City Attorney. The current city attorney has abused his position (and tax payer money) to pursue politically motivated lawsuits including suing a private citizen and Huntington Beach resident for circulating a petition for a ballot measure banning assault weapons in the city. The city attorney has also flouted California state law regarding housing and the California Values Act. There are doubtless many other examples of his disregard for the law when it suits his political ambitions. These actions have cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars that are needed elsewhere. Enough is enough. Yours, Mary Kyle 1 Moore, Tania From:Monika Calef <mcalef@soka.edu> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:40 AM To:CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:charter amendments Dear City Council, since I cannot aƩend the Special City Council meeƟngs just scheduled on Thursday evenings, I wanted to express my strong opposiƟon to any changes to the city charter via this email. ‐ I am against interfering with our current (legiƟmate) elecƟon system which includes posƟng people near dropboxes or polling locaƟons, voter IDs, and any other ludicrous and probably illegal changes you are proposing. ‐ Changing the qualiﬁcaƟons, elecƟon cycles, and length of term for the city clerk, the city aƩorney and city treasurer. ‐ As a mother of a gay son, I would like to see the city support LGBTQ+ members of this community and ﬂy the pride ﬂag. Why not use ﬂags to show the city's support and welcoming of many different groups? I strongly oppose all changes to the city charter. If it ain't broke, don't ﬁx it. Sincerely, Monika Calef Robert Lane HB 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:39 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: City Charter From: HAROLD AND CHERYL COOK <ramstock1971@msn.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 4:46 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: City Charter We are a family of 4 voting adults and have owned our home for 45 years. We are against a special election to place unnessessary Charter Amendments on the ballot for March 2024. We are demanding full transparency of what you are trying to do and why. We are totally against requiring voter identification and monitoring ballot boxes, changing requirements to be the City Clerk, movin g the voting for the City Treasurer and City Clerk to the same year in which the City Attorney is on the ballot to align with the gubernatorial elections. Leave the Charter alone. We do not want to permanently restrict which flags are flown on public buildings. Our city has gone from a place that welcomed all to one of intolerance against people that are different in race, religion, lgbtq and political views Sent from Mail for Windows 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:40 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: For the Record on Thursdays Discussion on the City Charter Amendments. From: larry mcneely <lmwater@yahoo.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 7:01 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: For the Record on Thursdays Discussion on the City Charter Amendments. While I see these City Charter Amendments as a timing and consistency issue, I feel that when it comes to changing our City Charter it should be driven over time by the community input and not be a Three Person Council Member Ad-Hock Committee for something this important and costly, I am grateful Casey brought up the change for public comments, but Why the Rush? While I do not see the need to raise the listed items in the proposed Charter Amendments here is why. 1. To Stop Any Further Purchases of Private Property by the City of HB and convert them as Tax-Free. This is already covered in our "City Charter Section 803. Property Rights and Protection Measure". (a) The city shall 'Not' enact or enforce the Sale, Lease, Rent, Exchange, or Transfer of Real Property. (Our previous council Broke This Law by trying to avoid these restrictions by using an Illegal Straw Buyer, These city council members for doing so can be prosecuted under our City Charter Section 309. (b) Violation of the Charter and prosecution on behalf of the people of any or all criminal cases arising from violation of this charter.) (BTW this same statute can be applied to their hiring an outside attorney outside the Elected City Attornies Preview in the case of handling his staff) 2. The Amendment to require Voter ID, adding In Person Voting places, and cameras at our voting locations. On the Voter ID requirement, what type of ID would be required a California Drivers License? That is freely handed out to any person without proof of legal status in the US? or maybe the Real ID that many have yet to apply for as they do not come into full practice until 2025? And at What Cost to Administer? "Currently Section 702. of our Charter, Procedure For Holding Elections". Have worked well over the past many years using "All Elections Shall Be Held in Accordance with the "State of California Elections Codes" and the requirements set forth. Have we had any demonstratable proof of Voter Fraud that would sway the outcome of our local elections? NO, then why add any new Charter Amendments? Now as far as adding In Person Voting Locations and Cameras, that is allowed using the "City Charter Section 502. Resolutions". The City Council may act by Resolution or Minute Order in all actions not required by This Charter to be taken by Ordnance., I feel the same applies to No#4. the Flag Amendment that was already passed and no need to bring attention to the subject with a Charter Amendment. (The same applies to the Flag Issue) On Item 4. The Charter Amendment changed the requirements to become a City Clerk. Why are we having problems finding candidates to run for this office? This Whole Effort can Backfire and open the door for all future city councils to take action to change our City Charter as they tried to Kneecap our City Attorney and change our charter that Failed, so then allow other councils to change our Charter at will and in support of their political party and the head cases power grab, as we saw with the past "Most Corrupt City Council SIX in or Cities History" I feel our City Charter is a document that changes as needed but is rarely changed for good reason, and we should not set the standard to change it with each new city council majority. 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:40 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: In opposition to the Proposed Charter Amendments From: Carol Daus <caroldaus@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 8:21 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: In opposition to the Proposed Charter Amendments Dear Council Members, The OC Register Editorial Board is generally very conservative, so sadly the following editorial is a testament to how bad things are with Huntington Beach's city government. https://www.ocregister.com/2023/09/13/huntington-beach-council-majority-picks- culture-war-battles-over-governing/?share=eosmnreatkwoaanlckcg Spending money on more polling places, installing cameras in voting areas, and implementing voter IDs makes no sense. For last year’s midterms, in Orange County, 83.5 percent cast a vote by mail and only 16.5 percent cast an in-person ballot. Huntington Beach numbers reflect this growing trend. And even if you insist on increasing the number of polling places (which is unnecessary), how will you recruit and train these poll workers? I have served as a poll worker and election judge and it's a complex process, between finding bodies who will work for peanuts, training them on the process and the equipment, delivering the vote, etc. How would you audit the election? The county has been doing a superior job with Huntington Beach elections, so why fix something that isn't broken? And if you feel there's been election fraud, you need to tell the public about those instances. You promised transparency, but I'm not seeing it at all. I'm also deeply concerned about removing requirements for the City Clerk position. This is an extremely important job and is one that should not be "dumbed down." Finally, if these 3 amendments end up costing over a million to put on the March ballot, I'm deeply opposed to this move. It appears that the expense of placing these on the March ballot was not officially budgeted, and yet in June we learned that the city needs to make budget cuts. What gives? It just looks like another political stunt on your part, and the end result could be that our city suffers from more litigation. Sincerely, 2 Carol Daus Huntington Beach resident for 28 years 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:40 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: proposed charter amendments for 2024 ballot From: marykay pink <marykaypink@hotmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 8:55 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: proposed charter amendments for 2024 ballot September 13, 2023 To: HB City Council Proposed Charter Amendments for March 2024 Ballot I write to oppose the unnecessary and costly proposed ballot measures for March 2024 being proposed by the City Council. It is my understanding that these amendments were written by four Council members with no input by the public or staff. This is just wrong. We don’t need to take over the expense of voting administration to require voter ID or monitoring ballot boxes where there has been zero evidence of voter fraud in Huntington Beach. We definitely do not want to become the City that censors books in the public library based on the ideological beliefs of four Council members. Nor do we want to close libraries because of wasteful bad financial decisions by this Council. And given rumors that changes to City Clerk and City Attorney requirements are to favor certain individuals, we definitely don’t want to make changes without a rational explanation of the need given to HB citizens. I ordinarily don’t closely watch City government, but now, having been alerted to these political actions having potential detrimental effects to us as taxpayers, I will be watching. Mary Kay Pinkston 3941 Aladdin Drive Huntington Beach, CA 92649 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:40 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: Changes to the Charter From: MARILYN Boehm <beachmama7@msn.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 9:04 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: Changes to the Charter I am OPPOSED to changing our current Charter. It's an unnecessary and expensive proposition which benefits no one. This appears to be part of the four new Council members' agenda which is more focused on culture wars than on taking care of the needs of Huntington Beach residents. Marilyn Boehm, HB resident 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:41 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: Charter meeting 9/14 From: ellen riley <2ellenriley@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 11:13 PM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: Charter meeting 9/14 I would like to attend but need to know what charter items will be reviewed or if all, that would be great to know also. Will someone kindly email me the Charter amendments to be discussed 9/14 at 6pm? Many thanks, 2ellenriley@gmail.com 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:41 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: Our City From: vanessaweb@aol.com <vanessaweb@aol.com> Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 7:03 AM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: Our City Dear City Council Members, I am unable to be at the meeting tonight, however I was there last week to protest there following items that have been proposed. How can the council propose closing library branches and cutting hours, cutting funding to our senior center one month, then propose spending $1.2 million for a special election that can easily wait until November? I am against all of the following:  Reducing the qualifications for serving as Elected City Clerk  Making the City Attorney not longer accountable to the City Council, and effectively relinquishing budgetary power control.  Stopping all non-profits or government agencies from partnering with the City on real estate projects without a vote of the people (no more affordable senior housing projects).  Having local elections conducted by the City instead of the County Registrar  Requiring voter ID for elections - this is voter suppression and will likely result in costly litigation  Allow for "poll-watchers" at ballot drop-off locations  Changing the election cycle for City Clerk and City Treasurer to occur with the City Attorney and Four Councilmembers  Giving the Clerk and Treasurer a one-time six-year term, allowing that newly Elected person to vest in CalPERS in their first term Our city is heading down the wrong path. We’ve lived here for 40 years and are senior citizens. Thank you, Vanessa and Jeff Webster Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS 1 Moore, Tania From:Fikes, Cathy Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:41 AM To:Agenda Alerts Subject:FW: Comment on HB charter amendments From: Dan Jamieson <danjamieson4@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 7:55 AM To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) <city.council@surfcity‐hb.org> Subject: Comment on HB charter amendments Sept. 14, 2023 Dear HB council members: None of the charter amendments are needed. Please do not proceed with them. Any amendments that are ultimately proposed will be tainted, due to the underhanded political process used to develop them. The ad-hoc committee of three like-minded council members who met behind closed doors developed a set of amendments that has been met by stiff resistance from a cross-section of residents who did not trust the process and did not like the outcome. Now, the council licks its wounds and hastily offers two public meetings to further discuss charter changes. This process remains flawed, as the same like-minded council members will still be in charge of any ultimate changes. Unlike the 2022 charter proposals, no diverse group of citizens is running point in coming up with proposed charter changes. Those 2022 proposals were produced by a seven-person citizen committee appointed by council members, which met publicly several times a month from December 2021 through May 2022 in open meetings with public input and guidance from an experienced consultant. The council took those committee recommendations and reviewed them in a series of public meetings, and together with staff feedback, put three items on the ballot. All three failed. The current process will not fare any better, especially considering that the current council majority promised not to make any more charter revisions. Rushing new changes onto the primary ballot will inflame opposition even more. Please stop the political gamesmanship and end the current charter review process. Sincerely, Dan Jamieson Huntington Beach 2 1 Moore, Tania From:Harry McLachlan <mclachlanharry621@yahoo.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:46 AM To:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org; CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) Subject:Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments Attachments:Huntington Beach City Council Sept. 14, 2023.docx Please see attachment from HB resident Harry F. McLachlan. Huntington Beach Special City Council Meeting September 14, 2023 For Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments My name is Harry F. McLachlan, I am a resident of Los Amigos Mobile Home Park in Huntington Beach. At the September 5th City Council over 100 citizens aired their views on the council’s agenda, including the 3 proposed charter amendments. Of this number a mere 19 citizens spoke in favor of the agenda, mirroring the August 1st and August 31st 31st meetings where the overwhelming majority of citizens spoke out against the authoritarian overreach of the conservative majority’s personal and politically motivated agenda items. All of the items were passed I lockstep by the conservative majority on a 4-3 vote, with the exception of the charter amendment proposals. In an effort to avoid a future legal issue and as a result of even their supportive propaganda group “Save Surf City” urging them not to proceed without public input, if only to avoid the “perception” of a blatant power grab. So now we have a four-meeting fig leaf called the “Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments” after which they will have absolutely no problem when the conservative majority votes 4-3 to approve them. Regarding all the proposed Charter Amendments, after the charter review and citizen input, I am hopeful the council will decline to consider submission of ALL of these amendments for voter approval, some of which reek of the actions a fascist government would endeavor to see implemented. With regard to Chater Amendment No. 1, make no mistake. The majority on this City Council are following the nation-wide Republican playbook by continuing to cast doubt on the security and legitimacy of our elections. No good will ever come of letting power-hungry authoritarians anywhere near amending the city charter in an effort to control the voting process. “Local Control” is merely an Orwellian euphemism for a blatant “Power Grab.” Dumbing down the qualifications for the City Clerk position in an effort to enable currently unquailed candidates to run for this position should be an obvious red flag to opening the door to political favoritism and even nepotism. Giving the City Attorney more power and the ability to run his own little fiefdom unbeholden to the City Council, especially if he ran for election in cahoots with them as an enthusiastic member of their team should alarm every reasonable voter in this city. Drop this entire amendment from consideration. Charter Amendment No. 2 is ridiculous on its face and a faux-patriotic jingoistic effort to ensure that the Pride Flag is permanently excluded from being displayed at City Hall. Again, it is right out of the playbook used by fascists world-wide: pick a scapegoat, an “other” and attempt to rile up the masses against them. In this case, it’s the gay, lesbian, and transgender segment of our population that is being marginalized. So I ask, just as many earnest speakers asked of the conservative majority at the meeting on September 5th, “Why do you hate them?”. Drop the vindictive amendment in it’s entirety! In closing I would urge the council to better and more clearly explain what would benefit the citizens and City of Huntington Beach if Charter Amendment No. 3 were approved. 1 Moore, Tania From:Steven C Shepherd Architect <steve@shepherdarchitects.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:48 AM To:citycouncil@costamesaca.gov; supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:OUR FAMILY OPPOSES THE PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS Our family opposes all the proposed City Charter Amendments both in terms of their substance and based on the deeply flawed process employed to bring these proposals forward. In completely ignoring the recommendations and efforts of last year's resident‐led Charter Revision Committee, you insult our community's intelligence and undermine trust in competent local governance. Steve Shepherd Huntington Beach, CA 92646 1 Moore, Tania From:Harry McLachlan <mclachlanharry621@yahoo.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:56 AM To:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:Public Comments Set. 14, 2023 Attachments:Huntington Beach City Council Sept. 14, 2023.docx Please see attachment from Harry F. Mclachlan Huntington Beach Special City Council Meeting September 14, 2023 For Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments My name is Harry F. McLachlan, I am a resident of Los Amigos Mobile Home Park in Huntington Beach. At the September 5th City Council over 100 citizens aired their views on the council’s agenda, including the 3 proposed charter amendments. Of this number a mere 19 citizens spoke in favor of the agenda, mirroring the August 1st and August 31st meetings where the overwhelming majority of citizens spoke out against the authoritarian overreach of the conservative majority’s personal and politically motivated agenda items. All of the items were passed in lockstep by the conservative majority on a 4-3 vote, with the exception of the charter amendment proposals. In an effort to avoid a future legal issue and as a result of even their supportive propaganda group “Save Surf City” urging them not to proceed without public input, if only to avoid the “perception” of a blatant power grab. So now we have a four-meeting fig leaf called the “Discussion of Potential Charter Amendments” after which they will have absolutely no problem when the conservative majority votes 4-3 to approve them. Regarding all the proposed Charter Amendments, after the charter review and citizen input, I am hopeful the council will decline to consider submission of ALL of these amendments for voter approval, some of which reek of the actions a fascist government would endeavor to see implemented. With regard to Chater Amendment No. 1, make no mistake. The majority on this City Council are following the nation-wide Republican playbook by continuing to cast doubt on the security and legitimacy of our elections. No good will ever come of letting power-hungry authoritarians anywhere near amending the city charter in an effort to control the voting process. “Local Control” is merely an Orwellian euphemism for a blatant “Power Grab.” Dumbing down the qualifications for the City Clerk position in an effort to enable currently unquailed candidates to run for this position should be an obvious red flag to opening the door to political favoritism and even nepotism. Giving the City Attorney more power and the ability to run his own little fiefdom unbeholden to the City Council, especially because he ran for election in cahoots with them as an enthusiastic member of their team should alarm every reasonable voter in this city. Drop this entire amendment from consideration. Charter Amendment No. 2 is ridiculous on its face and a faux-patriotic jingoistic effort to ensure that the Pride Flag is permanently excluded from being displayed at City Hall. Again, it is right out of the playbook used by fascists world-wide: pick a scapegoat, an “other” and attempt to rile up the masses against them. In this case, it’s the gay, lesbian, and transgender segment of our population that is being marginalized. So I ask, just as many earnest speakers asked of the conservative majority at the meeting on September 5th, “Why do you hate them?”. Drop the vindictive amendment in it’s entirety! In closing I would urge the council to better and more clearly explain what would benefit the citizens and City of Huntington Beach if Charter Amendment No. 3 were approved. 1 Moore, Tania From:Carol Daus <caroldaus@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:59 AM To:supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org Subject:For tonight's City Council Meeting-in opposition to Proposed Amendments to City Charter Dear Council Members, The OC Register Editorial Board is generally very conservative, so sadly the following editorial is a testament to how bad things are with Huntington Beach's city government. https://www.ocregister.com/2023/09/13/huntington-beach-council-majority-picks- culture-war-battles-over-governing/?share=eosmnreatkwoaanlckcg Spending money on more polling places, installing cameras in voting areas, and implementing voter IDs makes no sense. For last year’s midterms, in Orange County, 83.5 percent cast a vote by mail and only 16.5 percent cast an in-person ballot. Huntington Beach numbers reflect this growing trend. And even if you insist on increasing the number of polling places (which is unnecessary), how will you recruit and train these poll workers? I have served as a poll worker and election judge and it's a complex process, between finding bodies who will work for peanuts, training them on the process and the equipment, delivering the vote, etc. How would you audit the election? The county has been doing a superior job with Huntington Beach elections, so why fix something that isn't broken? And if you feel there's been election fraud, you need to tell the public about those instances. You promised transparency, but I'm not seeing it at all. I'm also deeply concerned about removing requirements for the City Clerk position. This is an extremely important job and is one that should not be "dumbed down." Finally, if these 3 amendments end up costing over a million to put on the March ballot, I'm deeply opposed to this move. It appears that the expense of placing these on the March ballot was not officially budgeted, and yet in June we learned that the city needs to make budget cuts. What gives? It just looks like another political stunt on your part, and the end result could be that our city suffers from more litigation. Sincerely, Carol Daus Huntington Beach resident for 28 years