The Huntington Beach City Council will decide Tuesday, Sept. 5, whether to ask voters if they want identification checks and monitoring of ballot drop boxes in city elections, when it considers placing several proposals onto the March primary ballot.
If the ballot measures are approved Tuesday, voters will be asked to consider three amendments to the city’s charter. The first would require Voter ID for city elections, more in-person voting locations and the monitoring of ballot drop boxes. The other proposals limit the types of flags that the city can display, and move the city to a two-year budget cycle and mandate voter approval if the city engages in a transaction that would force it to forgo property taxes.
Placing the three items on the March 5 California primary ballot is expected to cost the city almost $1.2 million.
The three proposed charter amendments are bundled in a lengthy agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, which includes new ideas to make Huntington Beach a “no mask and no vaccine mandate city” and to require licenses for e-bikes.
There has been a proliferation of electric bikes in Huntington Beach. Councilmembers Pat Burns and Casey McKeon want staff to develop an e-bike license program for those without a driver’s license.
They are asking the city manager to work with the Police Department and the city attorney to come up with the details, but the license would come with a fee and mandate businesses to show customers a safety video to get a one-day license to ride an e-bike if they don’t already have a driver’s license.
“E-bikes have not only become a nuisance to drivers, but those driving the e-bikes have become a danger to vehicles and a danger to themselves,” the two wrote in their proposal.
The proposal comes as part of a growing trend in the city to regulate e-bike usage. The Huntington Beach Union High School district is now requiring students to apply for a permit if they plan on riding an e-bike to school. The Ocean View School District is requiring students to complete online training for permission to ride bikes or e-bikes to school, as well.
Also included in Tuesday’s agenda is a proposed declaration of policy on human dignity for the city, created by a committee composed of three councilmembers.
The proposed update begins by stating that “everyone should be treated with courtesy and respect” and the community has a responsibility to “protect children from abuse of any kind, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, exploitation, and sexual grooming.”
It then moves to weigh in on what could become the city’s formal view on gender and sports, stating, “Each sex carries advantages and disadvantages that warrant separation during certain activities (ie. sports)” and explains that it’s the city’s policy to “aggressively pursue” criminal investigations and prosecutions.
The proposed declaration is far shorter and substantially changed from previous versions.
Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark submitted the proposal to declare Huntington Beach a “no mask and no vaccine mandate city.” Due to the spread of a new COVID-19 variant, the proposal aims to get ahead of “additional discussion of possible new broad (universal) mask-wearing mandates and pushes for vaccination boosters.”
An exception to the rule would be for those who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Councilmembers will also vote Tuesday on a proposed ordinance that would ban people from sitting or occupying medians in roadways for any purpose other than to cross the street.
Also on the agenda is city staff asking for more time to come up with ideas for a controversial proposal to make it harder for children to access sexually explicit books at city libraries. Staffers want to present their ideas at the Oct. 17 council meeting.
The City Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, at City Hall, 2000 Main St.
