They are called the “Maga-Nifimate 7.” They posed once for a photo inside the town hall wearing red caps with the slogan “Make Huntington Beach Super again” again.
But the municipal council of Huntington Beach, in southern California, had even more Maga in store. The organization of seven members, who are all Republicans, have decided to transform an apparently human municipal task – commemorating the 50th anniversary of the city’s central public library – into a political declaration, using their favorite acronym.
The design approved by the plaque advice describes the library in this daring way:
MActical Allurant Galvanizing Adeventureux
“It’s a historic moment,” said advisor Gracey van der Mark, who had the idea of the plate. “And if people do not think that America is great and does not want to make it great again, they are in the wrong country – because millions of people risk their lives to come to this country.”
The Label of the Plate launched Huntington Beach – a County Orange surfing city with 192,000 residents which is around 30 miles south -east of downtown Los Angeles – under national spotlights. But the dispute is part of a one -year battle on the political and cultural identity of the city.
Huntington Beach has become one of the redest cities in one of the most blue states in America. Before and after the voters, in November, ousted the last three remaining Democratic members of the Council, the municipal leaders pushed a series of Trump style policies and tangled before the court with state officials.
They adopted a law on the identification of voters. They prohibited non-governmental flags from being transported by plane on the property of the city, after the former members of the Council voted to pilot an rainbow flag during the month of pride. They have prohibited mask and vaccination mandates linked to COVID. They modified the city’s declaration on human dignity to eliminate references to hatred crimes, recognized “genetic differences between men and women” and adopted A resolution supporting the movement of the Governor of Texas To deploy the National Guard to the southern border. They voted to eliminate a number of commissions, including a human relations committee This was created after two hatred crimes perpetrated by white supremacists in the 1990s.
Michael Gates, the elected city prosecutor who led several legal battles against the state, left the post this year and joined the Ministry of Justice of President Trump. The city continued the state concerning its law “State of the sanctuary”, which prevents police in many cases from keeping people at the request of federal immigration agents. California, on the other hand, continued Huntington Beach about its law on the identification of voters and its refusal to adopt a plan of new housing mandated by the State.
The recent push to the right sparked a vocal reaction from liberal residents, independents and anti-Trump republicans. Disputes are in contradiction with the sunny framework and generally scare the vibrations of a city with 10 miles of Open Beach, A protected estuary And a rich surf scene.
Former municipal councilor Dan Kalmick, a democrat who lost his re-election last year, said that he had heard people who put their homes on the market due to the city’s pro-Trump trends. He himself planned to leave the city he calls at home for 20 years.
He and other criticisms of the council said that city leaders were trying to distract more serious problems, including a Budget deficit forecasts for the coming years And the accusations that they did not manage the regulations of a trial by the organizer of the city’s annual air show.
“These people will” own the Lib “, and it’s absolutely wild,” said Kalmick, referring to the city’s financial challenges.
Kim Carr, a former adviser and mayor, said that the members of the council understood that once the public began to “look under the hood”, they would find “that the city is a hot mess”, adding: ” We lack the purpose of the municipal council is supposed to do. These are not these performative buffoonemeries. »»
The director of public works and other heads of department have left in recent years while the Council has rallied behind the Maga Agenda. People opposed to the council had their biggest moment so far last week.
During a crowded municipal council meeting, a former player and resident of the NFL, Chris Kluwe, described the Nazi Make America movement of Mr. Trump a Nazi movement. Before going to the platform, Mr. Kluwe, who was a bettor of the Minnesota Vikings, announced that he was committed “to the centuries -old American tradition of Pacific Civilian disobedience”. While he was standing before the members of the council, he was Taken to the ground and arrested by the police.
A few days later, an opposition group called Protecthb, newly energized by the demonstration of Mr. Kluwe, gathered at the home of a member for a writing and public language workshop on refreshments and a spread of cheese. Outside, a lawn panel said: “The wars of chaos culture – and – higher costs. Are we still great?
“We become known nationally as a bit like Central Nazi and, as a city that depends on tourist income, it’s not good,” said Dave Rynerson, member of the group who has lived in Huntington Beach for 28 years. Friends outside the city have stretched out to ask him what’s going on in his city, he said.
The members of the council defended their initiatives and their program, calling Huntington Beach a proudly red city and rejecting the indignation of the plate as coming from a vocal anti-top minority. They blamed the previous advice for the deficit and said that the relaxed way in which their opponents used the Nazi label were offensive for the Jewish voters who supported them and Mr. Trump in November.
Mayor Pat Burns, who is one of the seven members of the Council, said that national political issues had affected the quality of life in the city.
“I had a boyfriend who said:” What’s going on in Texas has nothing to do with what is happening at Huntington Beach “,” said the mayor, referring to the resolution of the council supporting the deployment of the Texas of the National Guard. “I’m going,” like hell. »Do you think these people stay in Texas? You do not think that these migrants are sitting there saying, “Hey, let’s go to California.” “”
The political realignment of the Council began in 2022, when the Republicans won a majority of four members.
“We had people who said they were republicans, but they always voted against what we wanted, so we transformed a 6-1 to a 4-3,” said Van der Mark, describing makeup of the Council before the November elections, which did it 7-0.
Ms. Van der Mark keeps a giant model of the library plate in her office. Last week, he relied against a shelf lined with library books – sticky notes marked the pages with what she described as pornographic equipment. Nearby was a supervised image of Mr. Trump with his fist in the air after his assassination attempt during a Pennsylvania rally last year.
Like other public libraries across the country, the Huntington Beach library was at the center of the political division. Last year, the Council examined the privatization of library operations, a decision met with a generalized opposition. And Ms. Van der Mark led an effort to create A parents’ examination committee To remove the books deemed inappropriate from the children’s children’s section, including some of those she keeps in her office.
The discharge of the plate is scheduled for April. It is still only at the design stage; The council collected $ 8,000 in private donations to do so.
The council seemed to make a bipartite attempt in the design of the plate, although the meaning is not clear. The plate can be read as follows: “Thanks to Hope and Change, our nation has recognized better in the golden era to make America again! »» “Hope and Change” and “Build Back Better” seem to be references to slogans linked to the former presidents Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr.
City councilor Chad Williams, who was elected last year, said that he did not consider slogans as political. He said that the plaque was to represent the moment of the public library.
“The golden era in which we are at the moment is an era to make America again large,” he said. “And so it turns out that the 50th anniversary coincides with the era in which we are.”