From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: General Comment: Lack of Transparency and Rampant Cronyism Date: Saturday, May 16, 2026 2:40:47 PM
The lack of transparency by this city council just continues, as does the questionable management of city funds:
Councilmembers McKeon, Burns Van der Mark, former councilmember Peterson, and former city attorney Gates were all fined by the FPPC for failure to disclose one or more gifts from the Pacific Air Show in their filings. (This is the very same Pacific Air Show that got an egregious settlement agreement approved by all of the above people except Mr.
Peterson.) Mr. McKeon tries to blame this on a city agreement with Pacific Air Show despite the fact that the violation took place before he was a council member.
The ad hoc committee composed of city councilmembers has apparently just decided to scrap the RFP for PR services that, just several weeks ago, they were prepared to award to Wolfhaus for $720,000.
I guess the public outcry over cronyism was finally enough to make them reconsider, but if the current decision is that there are “more efficient ways to do this”, shouldn’t that have been figured out before even considering the sweetheart deal?
Make you wonder what else slides through if there’s no public outcry.
The city has been fined $170,000 plus a monthly fine of $50,000 for every month it does not have a compliant housing plan.
HB was fortunate to avoid back-dated fines that
could have been as high as $100,000 per month going back to March of 2023.
The city is staring down a fine of $960,000 for legal fees in the loss of the book banning case, which the city council continues to pursue despite resounding losses in the vote on Measure A, wherein the citizens clearly stated they did not want book banning.
The city council decided to take $15,000 away from local charities All for Kids and Robyne’s Nest and give that money to Save the Brave, a Temecula-based non-profit without disclosing that Councilmember Andrew Gruel is executive director of the organization. While both All for Kids and Robyn’s Nest have a documented history of providing services in Huntington Beach, Save the Brave has no such track record. Per their web site, they host an annual event at Sea Legs and have a planned fundraiser at Mr. Gruel’s restaurant. Additionally, Save the Brave’s program of treating PTSD via fishing trips with other veterans is not recognized at a valid treatment for PTSD by the VA – the world’s leading authority on treatment of PTSD. Nor is there any documentation of how many HB veterans are being served. Given that the Oak View community is the reason that HB qualifies for the CDBG grant money, it would seem to be logical to use that grant money to support the Oak View community, as both All for Kids and Robyne’s Nest do.
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Lack of transparency, cronyism, and a willingness to use public money to advance their personal agendas seems to me to be the common thread.
SUPPLEMENTAL COMMUNICATION - Meeting Date: 5/19/2026 Item No. 16 (26-457) We deserve better.
David Rynerson
Huntington Beach
From: Paula Schaefer
To: CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF); [email protected] Subject: Vote YES on Agenda Item 26-457
Date: Monday, May 18, 2026 2:32:47 PM
Mayor and Council Members:
Vote Yes on agenda item to close the RFP process for the Creative Strategy proposals.
This will put a stop to the ridiculous contracting efforts that you approved in the past few months.
I hope that there are no more $30,000 contracts to the likes of Wolffhaus in the future to avoid the public relations nightmare that you brought on yourselves. I am pleased to see that the ad-hoc committee has proposed disbanding.
This was a tremendous waste of the City Council's time and City Staff time.
Unfortunately,
for the 11 firms responding to the RFP, you have also wasted their time.
Paula A. Schaefer