Last Night’s City Council Circus in Huntington Beach

Forced Religion.

Censorship.

War on the Community.

Last night’s Huntington Beach City Council meeting, May 20, 2025, was nothing short of a circus — not just in tone, but in the blatant disregard for decorum, the public’s voice, and basic decency.

From the moment I walked in, the atmosphere was thick with hostility. It’s undeniable: these meetings are no longer community spaces — they’ve become battlegrounds. What’s most disturbing is that the battleground is being created by those elected to serve us.

Let’s start with the now-familiar and inappropriate religious grandstanding. Councilman Chad Williams once again hijacked the Pledge of Allegiance, using it as a platform for a mini-sermon and war story performances. His Christianity-only narrative is alienating, imposing a single religious worldview onto a city of diverse faiths — or none at all. When your prayers are wielded like a weapon, it’s not faith — it’s authoritarianism.

Then came the censorship. Mayor Pat Burns, yet again, tried to gag speakers by demanding they not address councilmembers individually — even though the Brown Act clearly states the public has the right to direct comment to elected officials. Even after last week’s clarification, he doubled down, even dragging the city attorney into it. The attorney rightfully clarified that this was merely a “request,” not a mandate, and affirmed public rights to free speech. But it was telling that Pat still tried to silence dissent with authoritarian glee.

And then there was Councilman Don Kennedy’s bizarre Facebook rant at the dais — whining about Zuckerberg suspending his account for posting a blurred photo of a “gender queer.” That was his priority. Not housing, not safety, not equity. No, just bitterness over facing the consequences of posting content that violated platform rules. What does that have to do with governing a city?

So naturally, Chad Williams took that as an opening to bash Facebook and our public libraries, all while sitting inside the very library whose staff had graciously hosted the meeting. He called into question the children’s book selection — while supporting people who read so-called “porn” aloud in a public setting, in front of kids, during a public meeting. What happened to “protecting children”? It is THEY who expose teens to graphic content — not the books they complain about.

After all that, Mayor Pat Burns warned the public not to “disrupt” the meeting with outbursts or “lewd” gestures — while ignoring his own supporters who were yelling slurs, calling residents pedophiles, and fostering an atmosphere so toxic I watched people wince just sitting in their seats.

He then continued to violate the Brown Act, telling the crowd again not to address members individually. He interrupted speakers, slashed their time, and claimed the clock was broken — a pathetic excuse to pick and choose who got to speak, and for how long.

Pat Burns isn’t concerned with decorum. He is concerned with control.

I also noticed repeated violations of ADA compliance. Disabled residents were forced to use their seating area as a pathway, not given space to speak clearly or be seen. This is a city that prides itself on liberty and justice — but can’t even accommodate its disabled constituents?

And what about transparency? HB Treasurer Alisa Backstrom announced her resignation, citing personal reasons, but also faces pressure from a California State Auditor subpoena regarding the Pacific Airshow settlement. Why hasn’t the city complied with the audit request yet?

One Huntington Beach resident nailed it when he said the book-banning ordinance — Municipal Code 2.66 — is “ill-conceived, poorly written, impossible to implement, and designed to be litigated, not to solve a problem.” The ordinance was never about protecting kids. It was about controlling culture.

Last night, they handed a plaque to Jennifer Carey for her “service” — while she leaves for Tony Strickland’s office, a clear reward for defending a fully partisan failing regime in the name of “M.A.G.A”. Treasurer Backstrom is stepping down. Gracey Van Der Mark is running for State Assembly. Casey McKeon is missing in action. Rats jumping off a sinking ship?

• This Council has bankrupted our library’s trust.
• This Council has poisoned our civic discourse.
• This Council has hijacked public faith to score political points.
• This Council has pushed our city to an $8.8 million deficit.
• And this Council has declared war on Huntington Beach’s LGBTQ+ community, public education, and the very concept of public comment.

This is not leadership. This is tyranny in diapers.

To the many brave community members who came out, who spoke up, who stayed civil in the face of vile attacks — thank you. You remind us what true democracy looks like. And to this council? We see you. And we will not be silent.

Stay loud. Stay vigilant. Stay with the Orange Juice Blog!

— Tory D. Johnson, Huntington Beach Resident, Columnist, founder of Black Lives Matter Huntington Beach.