Mind the dang store. Huntington Beach voters didn’t elect a City Council to audition for flashy cable news. We want them to run a stuffy service business: streets, safety, facilities, finances, and risk mitigation. Our current council keeps running up public relations bills before paying for the daily wheat bread. And we taxpayers fund their fun.
Start with basics: our own city documents acknowledge deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs—this isn’t rumor, it’s published in city materials. Potholes linger and facilities age out. “Deferred maintenance is just debt with potholes.” Huntington Beach residents can feel it: aging facilities, stressed infrastructure, and a city budget that always seems one surprise away from panic.
The city has started to acknowledge this openly. Huntington Beach’s 2024 Infrastructure Report Card describes major components of backbone infrastructure dating back decades and being extended beyond intended useful life—an explicit warning about deferred maintenance and underinvestment over time. That’s not political commentary; it’s the city’s own documentation. Even without mentioning disasters, homeowners know: pay me now or pay me more later…