Will Huntington Beach voters have a say on the Library Review Board?

A measure that would eliminate a controversial rule that allowed a board of residents to approve or reject children’s books at Huntington Beach’s public library has garnered enough signatures to qualify for a vote.

But will it?

The Orange County Registrar of Voters notified the city earlier this month that it had finished counting and verifying signatures.

The city now needs to make a decision at its next City Council meeting, likely on Jan. 21. The city could eliminate the board, known as the Community Parent Review Board, entirely or leave it up to voters, which could happen in the spring. There is also a possibility that the popular vote could be postponed to the 2026 general election.

What is the review committee?

In late 2023, the Huntington Beach City Council voted to create a Parent Review Committee to review children’s books in the city’s public libraries and remove those deemed to have sexual content or references. Examples of sexual content and sexual references listed in the ordinance are “textual or graphic content that includes sex, genitals, sexual acts, relationships of a sexual nature, or any form of sexual relations.”

Under the ordinance, each city council member can appoint three people to the board.

Advocates, led by City Councilwoman Gracie Van Der Mark, want the books selected by a review committee to be distributed to the city’s five public libraries to reflect community values ​​and to protect children from age-inappropriate content. He said he would guarantee to protect them.

Critics of the review board say it would allow a small, select group of residents to ban books from public libraries based on vague criteria. According to the ordinance establishing the committee, members are to review books based on determining whether they meet “community standards,” which include “potential sexual content or sexual references.” defined as “books that are acceptable for children to access, including books with or references to genitals.

Based on this definition, librarians earlier this year identified books about puberty and the menstrual cycle aimed at teenagers and moved the titles to the top of the library’s adult section.

what the critics say

Opponents of the review committee argued that the job of organizing library books should be left to professional librarians, and launched a petition to abolish the review committee.

The state also passed a law called the Freedom to Read Act, which is in clear conflict with Huntington Beach’s new library regulations. Among other things, the law prohibits cities from banning books from public libraries because they contain sexual content unless they meet the Supreme Court’s long-standing definition of obscenity.

Meanwhile, more than a year has passed since the city council voted to establish the review committee, but it is still not operational.

Jennifer Carey, a spokeswoman for the city of Huntington Beach, said LAist city officials are still considering how to incorporate parent review panels into the existing process for procuring books for the library. .

Can residents vote?

In a Dec. 10 letter, the Orange County Registrar of Voters notified the city that opponents had collected enough signatures (a minimum of 13,247 signatures) to be considered for the ballot. Collected 7,034 brushstrokes). The registrar said the city would then receive an invoice for nearly $50,000 to cover the cost of verifying the signatures.

Under state law, the city must now decide whether to eliminate the commission entirely or leave it up to voters. It can also order a report on the ordinance before making a decision.

If it appears on the ballot, it could happen in a special election this spring or on the ballot for the November 2026 general election.

The City Council is scheduled to take up the issue at its first meeting of the new year, scheduled for Jan. 21.

Determining the voting scale

State law also requires cities to take citizen-initiated measures to be voted on at the first regularly scheduled City Council meeting after signature verification. Huntington Beach met its council on Dec. 17, a week after receiving the results from the registrar, but did not discuss or vote on the issue.

City spokesperson Carey told LAist that the City Council will not discuss the measure until its first meeting of the new year in late January. City Attorney Michael Gates said that’s because city officials, the city’s elections director, are still evaluating the results. “If the requirements are met, the first opportunity to bring this to the board will be in January,” he wrote in an email.

Why timing is important

Kathy Ryder, director of the signature drive, told LAist that several days after OC Registrar Bob Page reported the signature verification results to the city, LAist announced that the measure was on the ballot. He said he was not informed until after he reported it. qualified.

Ryder said he suspects the city’s delay in voting on whether and when to put the repeal on the ballot is intentional. “I feel like some of this was strategic on the city’s part,” she said.

For example, if the statutory period for placing a library bill on the same ballot as the next election to fill a former state senator’s seat expires, the city could decide to hold a costly stand-alone special election. She said there is. Janet Nguyen will replace Andrew Do on the OC Supervisory Board. “And of course they’re going to use that against us,” Ryder said of the high cost of holding a solo election.

The primary election to fill Nguyen’s seat is scheduled for February 25th, and the general election is scheduled for April 29th.

Ryder is also sponsoring another ballot measure that would prohibit the city from contracting out library services to private companies. The measure is still awaiting signature verification by the OC Voter Registrar.

Fredrick Wucher, a Los Angeles-based election lawyer, said it’s not unusual for interested parties to try to manipulate voting measures or the timing of special elections.

“Various games are always played on these things,” he said.