Mailbag: Readers question motivation behind H.B. recall effort

The people behind the “Save Surf City” recall revealed their true purpose when they served “Notices of Intention to Recall” to six of the seven sitting members of the City Council on Aug. 3. The fact that Rhonda Bolton had been on the job one week and would not then be eligible for a recall for another six months just underscores the base motivation of the entire enterprise. The recall attempt was never about actual events. It was all about concocting fear, and one suspects the candidacies of several 2022 Huntington Beach City Council hopefuls will be predicated on the same.

This is not a movement of people who want to save this city from anything. They shout at the top of their lungs that they are being silenced, but the reality is their aim is to shut everyone else up and shut everything else down. Now that the recallers have turned in their signatures, it is time to face the fact that many signatures were solicited under color of deception and outright lies. An egregious example is the outrageous claim that this council is intent on destroying the wetlands, when even Janet Nguyen agrees that it was the H.B. City Council led by her current opponent for the assembly, Kim Carr, that and acted heroically to preserve our wetlands.

The recall is about making the council too cautious to conduct the business of the city, giving the sore-loser candidates of 2020 a chance to charge the council as “do nothing.” This council showed considerable courage and the commitment to engage with the community in forging solutions to the various issues facing the city. Again and again, this council has made consensus even in the heart of ginned-up conflict.

Had the recallers had their way there would be no readily accessible emergency mental health care available in the city, there would be no navigation center, and there would be permanent and untouchable encampments in Edison and Central parks, the city would be buried in unwinnable lawsuits, and our local control of land use would have been wholly taken over by Sacramento. We need look no further than the characteristically silent Erik Peterson to project exactly how much harm the recallers intend to do to this city and its fortunes.

Galen Pickett
Huntington Beach

In the effort to recall five Huntington Beach City Council members — and now three — the residents of H.B. are being given disinformation on all points. Before signing a petition, it is important to fact check, using reliable sources. Our City Council does not support high-density housing, and two lawsuits, appealing the RHNA numbers, have already been lost. Now our city is joining an appeal with other O.C. cities to appeal the RHNA numbers. The City Council is doing something but is sensitive to the financial penalties by the state if we don’t comply.

On another note, Carr, Posey, Delgieze, Moser and Kalmick received a majority of votes that shouldn’t be invalidated. By the way, the cost of a recall could be up to one million dollars, which can be better used for the needs of our community.

Cheri Atkinson
Huntington Beach

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