Mailbag: Don’t be fooled, Huntington Beach

Don’t be fooled by the ‘protect our kids’ signs covering Huntington Beach. There is no porn in the library, no matter what the City Council is saying. There has never been porn in the library. Our chief of police would arrest the library staff if this were true. All the books have been positively reviewed by accredited sources.

This is about controlling the library book collection. Council wants an one-sided collection reflecting their point of view — only. The 21 politically appointed review committee is just a way for our Council to get its foot in the door. They have yet to explain how refusing to allow residents to vote before Council can privatize our library protects children at all. This is just another attempt to ensure they can control the book collection should Measure A pass.

The Council’s fight against Measures A and B is all about limiting access. They will decide what books can and cannot be in the library. Recently, at the City’s Easter Egg Hunt, our Council handed out fliers with illustrations taken from young adult books to prove there was “porn” at the library. If our Council really cared about protecting children from seeing these images, why were they handing out these fliers at an event geared for children 10 years and younger? Young adult books are geared for young adults. These books are shelved within the adult section of the library. They are nowhere near the children’s section. Young children had more chances of seeing these pictures on the fliers than they ever did while at the library. This is just political theater. All a ploy.

Council’s actions speak louder than signs or words. Don’t vote away your rights. Let the parents choose what books are best for their children. Let residents have a say in what happens to their library. Vote “yes” on Measure A and B by June 10.

Barbara Richardson
Huntington Beach

I would like to applaud all the writers to Mailbag on Sunday, April 27 who were concerned about the current Huntington Beach City Council.

The latest horror of seeing their “porn” political campaign poster near elementary schools is the last straw! I’ve become irate over the actions against the H.B. Library, which makes absolutely no sense because it is a beautiful facility that is doing a wonderful job for all the children and adults who have enjoyed the library for many years. It would be helpful if the City Council members got back to work on their real job, which should be improving the lives of people who live and work in Huntington Beach.

Veronica Allen
Huntington Beach

Let us begin with one simple fact: It is illegal to have pornographic materials in the library.

Still, signs from Chad Williams line every street in Huntington Beach that tell children about “porn” in big bold red letters. Chad has done more to teach kids about porn in one day than the library has in 50 years. Good Job, Chad!

Let’s not forget Pat Burns, holding up a sign written like a first grader would create with crayons that says, “I’m just a kid – Protect Me.” Hey Pat, maybe you can help protect kids by getting Chad to stop making signs.

Anyone who thinks that the Huntington Beach City Council cannot possibly do anything more demeaning to our city only has to wait 10 minutes. This Council will find new ways to embarrass Huntington Beach in an effort to divide its citizens through actions like these signs. They lie to us because we let them.

However, this rises to an entirely new level. Here’s the truly hypocritical thing: Our City Council is raving that they want to protect children from material that, by their own judgment, is inappropriate for kids. They claim to protect these kids by exposing every single child to the very indecency they protest. It is wrong, and they are wrong for doing it.

Let me be clear – the fault is not with the City Council; it is with us. Huntington Beach residents voted them in. We have enabled this kind of behavior.

It is time for Huntington Beach to wake up and realize that the Council does not have our best interests at heart — they only represent themselves.

This election is not simply about libraries. It is about our community, our neighborhood, our kids. It is a referendum on how we want our city to be governed — by reason or by fear mongering. Whether you are on the left or the right, it is time to stand up together and put an end to this type of playground bullying. Let us be the grownups in the room.

Vote “yes” on A and B.

Larry Hersh
Huntington Beach

Like the late songwriter Cole Porter wrote in his 1934 song, “I Get a Kick Out of You,” I got a kick from Patrice Apodada’s write-up on penguins. Her descriptions of the various personalities and behavior of other animals in her article were nothing less than top-notch reading. For starters on penguins, she declares, “penguins are awesome.” When talking about otters, she claims that some people say they are “murderous psychopaths.” Pandas have the moniker of, “lazy, arrogant jerks.” When describing dolphins which she used to believe they deserved the greatest admiration, now says that some of them treat female dolphins horribly bad. Sea lions whom she calls “Blubber Blobs” show some questionable behavior like chasing surfers out of the water in Newport Beach. Poor sea lion, maybe he had an off day. But getting back to the penguins, she says that they ooze charisma, are birds that can’t fly and swim so fast they make Michael Phelps look like a snail trying to swim. And per Patrice, they are lovers, not fighters who stay true to their mates and are great parents. So any penguins who attended law school for penguins who specialize in divorces, would do well to find clients in other venues not happy with their current spouse. She ends up surmising her take on these flightless birds as “penguin perfection.” It’s too bad that the bulk of penguins are only found in cold weather. Here in Newport we see ample dolphins and too many sea lions, but never any penguins. Well, who knows, maybe if we have another ice age then there will be penguins on the beach.

Bill Spitalnick
Newport Beach

If Measures A and B fail, extremists get a green light to gut our libraries, censor art and rewrite history.

What’s next — scrubbing slavery from textbooks? Silencing Jim Crow? Erasing civil rights? Ignoring veterans who fought abroad and faced hate at home?

This isn’t conservative. It’s not patriotic. It’s un-American.

Dodger fans — be outraged. Trump pulled Jackie Robinson books from military libraries. Books about an American icon who faced racism with courage. When the Dodgers visited the White House, they should’ve handed him a Jackie jersey and asked: ‘Why erase that story?’

History isn’t meant to be comfortable. It’s meant to be told. Every chapter, every voice — preserved, not purged.

This is not alarmist. Hitler didn’t start with ovens. He started with books. First banned. Then burned. Then, people.

Huntington Beach must not be the first domino. Stand up for truth. For our kids. For our country.

Vote “yes” on Measures A and B. Because if we don’t protect history now, we may not have a future worth saving.

Andrew Einhorn
Huntington Beach

“Mommy, what’s porn?” my neighbor’s little girl asked on her way to school. Her stimulus was the huge posters referring to pornography near her elementary school. There are “porn” posters on public streets all over town thanks to Chad Williams, councilman and youth pastor. It is amazing that someone in these positions doesn’t have the moral conscience to know this is plain wrong, if not criminal. It created very uncomfortable moments for parents and most certainly caused children with cellphones to search “porn.” Imagine the chatter on the school playground this week. Was this Chad’s intent? If not, Chad needs to remove all his posters and apologize to the parents and children of Huntington Beach.

Nora Pedersen

Huntington Beach

NMUSD candidate support

As a Costa Mesa parent, I strongly support Andrea McElroy for the NMUSD School Board.

Andrea is the kind of leader our community needs – someone who represents the values of voters and families like mine. I want common-sense leaders who prioritize academic excellence and school safety, Andrea embodies these qualities.

Recent shifts on the school board have influenced policies in ways that are deeply concerning to many of us. Andrea is the candidate I trust to join like-minded trustees in halting the behind-the-scenes push for progressive policies that don’t align with our community’s priorities. She will focus on what matters: ensuring our schools are safe and our students are set up for success.

I urge my fellow voters to support Andrea McElroy for school board. Let’s elect a leader who will put our students and families first.

Tracy Rath
Newport Beach

Change still needed for homeless advocacy

It’s Leigh the advocate once again, and I just saw on the Fullerton Police Department’s Instagram their declaration of anti-camping by the homeless.

I’ve been doing direct homeless outreach in Fullerton for more than 11 years. Let me remind you of pertinent things that this Fullerton declaration deliberately neglects to tell you.

When homeless folks get “camping in public” tickets, they lead to bench warrants, arrests and homeless court. The people do not have the money to pay for the tickets. This cycle from tickets to release from homeless court is chronic and cyclical. This has not changed in years. It’s just a revolving door. So tell me how making camping in public illegal is fixing the problem? It’s just more paperwork and busy work for the police.

There are still no walk-up homeless shelters in Fullerton or in all of Orange County. It is a reservation system only. These reservations need to be made by the police or case management. They are very hard to get.

The Fullerton HLO(S) only work shifts Monday through Friday, not at night, and not on weekends. Are they truly available as they could be to help the nearly 300 homeless folks in Fullerton? The last time I checked, homelessness does not stop at night and on weekends.

Also, no one audits the police or case management for their so-called work. This declaration by the city is only for optics, once again.

The Hope Center case management only works Monday through Friday and not on weekends. Again, this limits the possibilities of homeless folks accessing the shelters and ultimately into case management and housing.

Even if you are homeless and on the waiting list — the list is huge — and people have been waiting for years to get connected to services and housing. During my outreach, I engage with these folks all the time. They report that case management is terrible or ghosts them.

This is local government once again pretending to care but not caring at all. And need I remind you that six of Fullerton’s police officers beat, tazzed, and smothered homeless man Kelly Thomas to death in July 2011. They want you to forget or think they have changed. They have not.

Leigh White
Costa Mesa