Max Daffron, in his first week on the job as president and chief executive of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, was put to work right away as the emcee of Wednesday morning’s State of the City breakfast at the Huntington Beach Senior Center.
Daffron and the other breakfast attendees listened as city officials not only tackled business issues, but played hardball against state policies they consider to be at odds with the conservative Huntington Beach City Council, such as housing mandates and voter identification laws.
“The state, I make no bones about it — I hate Sacramento,” Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns said in his address. “I think they’re pieces of crap, I think their intent is definitely party before people. Their agenda is before service, and I think it’s a dangerous existence in any level of government.
“They’re really overreaching; we have little control over our zoning. I believe in local control.”
Huntington Beach City Councilman Andrew Gruel and his wife, Lauren, were featured in a video presented at Wednesday’s State of the City event.
(Matt Szabo)
That theme was highlighted throughout the 90-minute event. Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a Republican like Burns, thanked the all-MAGA Huntington Beach City Council for making her life “less hectic.”
As a state senator last year, she said all her bills were killed “because I represented Huntington Beach.”
The event included a presentation of a video in which members of the City Council highlighted various aspects of the city.
Councilmember Andrew Gruel, a restaurateur, told the story of how it took him two years to open Calico Fish House in Sunset Beach. He said that experience led to the council’s seeking to better streamline permitting services within the city.
“We’re going to become the Silicon Valley of Southern California, the economic hub of Southern California,” Gruel said in the video. “Everybody’s going to want to do business in Huntington Beach, because of these procedures and mechanisms that we’ve put in place. It’s a white-glove service. We’re looking at bringing in some of the best business minds, having conventions and bringing them all together.”
Fire Chief Eric McCoy highlighted that for the first time in seven years, there have been no ocean or pool drownings reported in Surf City. Police Chief Eric Parra discussed how new drone usage could cut down on crime.
City Treasurer Jason Schmitt and City Clerk Lisa Lane Barnes, among others, also led presentations in the video.
Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns, Mayor Pro Tem Casey McKeon and City Manager Travis Hopkins, from left, are featured in a video played at the State of the City event on Wednesday.
(Matt Szabo)
Burns said he was “not heartbroken” about passing the mayor baton on to Casey McKeon next month, calling it a lot of work.
“All of our electeds are dialed in to serve the people the best we can, and we don’t need Sacramento to sit there and come up with crap,” he told event attendees. “In every session, they come up with more and more stuff to invade us on local control. I’m telling you right now, it’s costing us. … I really, truly believe that we’re trying to do our best for all you guys in our business community and our residents.”
McKeon said an update on a newly created Business Development Task Force would be presented at Tuesday night’s council meeting, as part of a strategic plan update.
“We’ve fulfilled our campaign promise of cutting the red tape and rolling out the red carpet for businesses,” he said.