The Brief

Huntington Beach voters have spoken: Yes, yes and no on Measures A, B and C.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters released its latest count as of 5:43 p.m. March 22, and reported that all outstanding ballots had been processed. The measures have been framed as one of the first big tests of residents' feelings about the city's sharp turn to the right under the leadership of an ultra-conservative city council majority, elected in 2022. Here are the results on the three measures that have roiled this beach community:

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There were no surprises as the leads were established shortly after election day, and the gap held steady. Opponents of Measures A and B conceded defeat a few days into the vote counting process.

The election was March 5. You might be asking yourself, why does it take so long to make it all official?

As a recent LAist story explained: Californians overwhelmingly vote by mail — more than 87% of votes cast in the 2022 general election were mail-in ballots. Those ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days (for the primary, that was Tuesday, March 12).

It's all part of the long and meticulous voting process in California: The Secretary of State is slated to certify the final primary results on April 12.

Here is a closer look at the measures that went before Huntington Beach voters:

Measure A

Measure A would change Huntington Beach's charter (like a constitution for cities) to allow the city to require voters to show identification in municipal elections starting in 2026. It would also allow the city to monitor ballot drop boxes and add 20 new voting locations dispersed throughout the city.

Supporters said the measure would restore voters' trust in the election process and ensure that only verified registered voters are casting ballots. 

The proposal set off alarm bells among voting rights advocates and state leaders, who point to evidence that voter ID requirements disproportionately affect low-income people and non-white voters. They say the state and county already have robust measures in place to ensure voters are who they say they are.

Bottom line: A court challenge is all but guaranteed.

Measure B

Measure B would add a section to Huntington Beach's charter to limit the city's display of flags on city property to government and military flags, along with the POW/MIA flag, and, around the Summer Olympic Games, the Olympic flag.

Supporters say government flags best represent unity and equality, and that the measure will ensure no flags are flown that favor particular groups

Opponents, however, say the real purpose of the measure is to make it nearly impossible to fly the Pride flag on city property. (The current city council rescinded an earlier council's decision to fly the rainbow Pride flag each spring.)

Measure C

By contrast to A and B, Measure C struggled out of the gate.

The measure was an in-the-weeds initiative that would address the inner-workings of the city government. The measure would change the rules for filling city council vacancies, require the city to adopt a two-year, or biennial, budget, and change the rules for canceling city council meetings.

For example, Measure C would allow the mayor or a majority of city council members to cancel a city council meeting. It also specifies that at least one city council meeting must be held each month. Currently, the city's charter requires the council to hold meetings twice a month.

The measure would also require the city to adopt a two-year budget rather than an annual budget. According to an analysis of the proposal by city staff, half of the biggest cities in Orange County make their budgets on a two-year cycle.

Supporters say adopting a two-year budget cycle would give city departments greater stability and allow for longer-term planning. They also say it would give city leaders more time to debate priorities in the budget and give residents more transparency into how the city is spending public dollars.

How we got here

The measures are considered one of the first big tests of residents' feelings about the city's sharp turn to the right under the leadership of an ultra-conservative city council majority, elected in 2022. The council's work has since been closely watched an analyzed. A headline earlier this week in the Washington Post put it this way: "How a laid-back beach town because California's MAGA stronghold."

What's next

The Secretary of State is slated to certify the final primary results on April 12.

Tracking your ballot

Use this tool at the Orange County Registrar of Voters to track the status of your ballot, and more.

Further reading

• LAist's Orange County Voter Game Plan Guide: Huntington Beach Ballot Measures
• Huntington Beach election page — official ballot statement, impartial analysis, arguments for and against
• Protect HB, a group opposed to the ballot measures
• Huntington Beach’s New Conservative Council Bans Pride Flag On City Property (LAist)
• The Pride Flag Is Gone. Library Books Are Under Review. It’s A New Era Of Backlash Politics In California (CalMatters/LAist)

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Public officials across California are contemplating what to do with dozens of streets, parks and libraries named in honor of civil rights icon César Chávez in the wake of allegations he sexually assaulted two girls and a woman decades ago.

The allegations surfaced in an investigation by the New York Times published earlier this week that sent shock waves across the country.

Chávez, who was head of the United Farm Workers union, is widely recognized as one of the most influential labor leaders in U.S. history, known for founding the union and for leading national boycotts of grapes to improve working conditions for farmworkers.

Chávez died in 1993.

Many state and local leaders, including L.A.’s mayor and county supervisors, suggested changing the César Chávez holiday on March 31 to Farm Workers Day. March 31 was Chávez’s birthday.

In Sacramento on Thursday, Democratic leaders of the state Legislature said they would push for such a change.

“The farmworker movement was never ever about one man,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said at a news conference. “It was built by tens of thousands of workers. People who labored in the fields, people who organized, people who sacrificed and who stood up when it was hard.

“We have a responsibility to remember the movement and to move it forward with integrity.”

Also on Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a proclamation renaming the city's César Chávez Day holiday as “Farm Workers Day.” The city recognizes the holiday on the last Monday of March.

“I grew up as a child admiring the farmworker movement,'' Bass said. “I didn't think I was ever going to eat grapes again because my family boycotted grapes.”

The grape strike, organized in part by Chávez, lasted five years from 1965 to 1970.

Multiple allegations of sexual assault

The New York Times investigation uncovered multiple allegations that Chávez had sexually assaulted girls and women in the 1960s and ‘70s, when he was head of United Farm Workers, including union co-founder Dolores Huerta.

Huerta, now 95, told the Times the rape and sexual assault resulted in pregnancies that she kept secret. Huerta said she gave the children up for adoption after birth.

In a statement, Huerta said in part: “... for the last 60 years [I] have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”

Bass said Thursday she met Chávez once and “thought it was an opportunity of a lifetime.” She said her heart “broke” this week when she heard the allegation that Chávez had raped Huerta.

The mayor said renaming the holiday would allow people “to reflect on how the struggle of farmworkers has elevated working people everywhere.”

She added that the city would need to consider changing the names of buildings, streets and other things named in honor of Chávez.

For example, César Chávez Avenue runs through the heart of the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Several murals of Chávez dot the city.

Bass said she had been in contact with Chávez's family, and they supported her action.

The mayor was joined at the proclamation signing by Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who said in a statement that the farmworker movement has always been about the power of the people, “especially the women whose labor built it and too often went unseen."

“As we honor that legacy, we also have a responsibility to tell the truth about harm and stand with survivors,” Hernandez said.

Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado also attended the news conference. She said the movement doesn’t belong to one person.

“Farm Workers Day honors the workers, families and organizers still in the fields and still fighting for fair wages, safe conditions and dignity,” the statement from Jurado read. “And it recognizes that this movement is carried forward every single day by people whose names we may never know but whose impact continues to define the spirit of Los Angeles.”

Other cities and counties 

Many other cities and counties are considering wiping Chávez's name from public spaces.

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said she would introduce a motion looking at renaming the county’s César Chávez holiday.

Supervisor Janice Hahn suggested the county consider renaming Chávez day “Farm Worker Day.”

“For those of us who grew up admiring the farmworker movement, today's news is heartbreaking,'' Hahn said in a statement Wednesday. "But as in any other civil rights movement, men were only half the story. The abuses of one man will never diminish the extraordinary sacrifices, accomplishments, and legacy of the women of the farmworker movement.

“It's time we put them first.”

The process for renaming streets and other public structures varies from city to city and school district to school district. It could take months before many cities move to erase Chávez's name from public spaces.

You can follow your city council agenda to keep up with what’s going on, or better yet, reach out to your representatives on the council and county Board of Supervisors to make your voice heard on the issue.

California, along with a coalition of 23 other states and a dozen cities and counties, sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday for rolling back the scientific finding requiring it to regulate greenhouse gas pollution.

“This isn’t a small technical change,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a press conference in Sacramento. “It’s a sweeping decision that would increase pollution, worsen climate change and put the health of millions of Americans at risk. And it’s not based on any credible science.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeks to reinstate a 2009 conclusion known as the endangerment finding — that carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases threaten public health and welfare.

The climate rule served as the scientific basis for the agency’s ability to limit emissions under the Clean Air Act.

The Trump administration finalized the repeal of the endangerment finding Feb. 12. A post on the EPA’s website stated the change would also dissolve restrictions on vehicle emissions and save Americans $1.3 trillion.

“As a result of these changes, engine and vehicle manufacturers no longer have any future obligations for the measurement, control and reporting of GHG emissions for any highway engine and vehicle, including model years manufactured prior to this final rule.”

Sanchez said California’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the landmark 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, signed into law by then-Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “remains unchanged.”

Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties also were parties to the suit.

KQED’s Laura Klivans contributed to this report.

California voters are split along party lines on two controversial proposed ballot measures — a billionaire tax and an initiative requiring voters to show government ID when they cast a ballot — according to a new poll.

The survey from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found 52% of voters backing a proposed one-time, 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires. The money would be used to fund health care programs, which are being cut by the Trump administration; 33% of registered voters said they were opposed and 15% said they are still undecided.

Whether voters back the measure, which is being pushed by a health care labor union, is highly correlated to their partisan leanings: 72% of Democrats said they’d support the billionaire tax if it qualifies for the November ballot, while the same percentage of Republican voters are opposed. Voters with no party preference were more split, with 51% backing the wealth tax.

The voter ID ballot measure is more evenly divided, with 44% of voters in support and 45% opposed. Republican voters said they would overwhelmingly vote “Yes.” Democrats are unified in opposition, with only 19% in support.

IGS co-director Eric Schickler said that while neither measure has qualified yet for the ballot, most voters surveyed said they are aware of the proposals.

“The Billionaire Tax Initiative starts out in a relatively strong position, but with it polling just above 50%, that still leaves room for what will be an intense, expensive campaign,” he said. “The Voter ID Initiative looks like it faces an uphill climb: given the strong Democratic opposition, it needs very strong support among nonpartisan voters, and it currently seems to be falling short. But it is still very early.”

If they move forward, the campaigns around both measures are expected to be expensive and bruising. Democrats are split on the billionaires tax: Gov. Gavin Newsom is opposed, Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna said he’s in support, and many other Democrats — including legislative leaders and candidates for governor — have offered support for the concept but expressed concerns with the details of this proposal.

Some billionaires have already left California, and others, like Google co-founder Sergey Brin, are lining up huge campaign war chests to fight the measure.

And Democrats are gearing up to fight the voter ID measure, which several Southern California Republican lawmakers are pushing. The proposed ballot measure comes as the U.S. Senate debates what’s known as the SAVE Act, a far more draconian voter ID measure.

Backed by President Donald Trump, that legislation would require a passport or birth certificate to register to vote, essentially eliminate mail-in ballots and require states to hand over their voter rolls to the federal government. It already passed the House but is facing a steep climb in the Republican-led Senate.

The poll was conducted between March 9 and 15 among more than 5,000 registered California voters. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 2 points.

The Los Angeles Unified board members who represent schools named for César Chávez are calling for their renaming.

A New York Times investigation published Wednesday found the famed labor leader Chávez sexually abused girls and women including United Farmer Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta.

“In light of this information, we believe it is necessary to move away from traditional César Chávez-centered celebrations and lessons tied to the state holiday and instead prioritize student safety, dignity and truth,” read a statement from board member Kelly Gonez and Vice President Rocío Rivas.

The renaming process would likely take months and include meetings with school staff, students and parents. In the meantime, district leaders and educators are grappling with how the allegations of abuse change lessons about a figure who helped galvanize generations of activists.

“ I think we are all deeply, deeply troubled by the allegations that have come forward over the last couple of days,” said Andres Chait, the acting Los Angeles Unified superintendent.

Chait said that March 27 will continue to be a school holiday (the currently named César Chávez Day, on March 31, falls during LAUSD’s spring break).

A district spokesperson provided a statement Wednesday that said a review of curriculum and resources related to Chávez is underway “to ensure the emphasis remains on the important work of the farmworker movement, not on any one individual.”

How are community members and educators reacting?

Last semester, students at STEM Academy of Hollywood learned about Chávez and the movement to unionize farmworkers in Irene Atilano’s ethnic studies class.

Atilano said students walked into her classroom Wednesday with questions after seeing the allegations of Chávez’s abuse on social media.

“ They were just like, ‘What do you think?’” Atilano said. “And I'm like, 'It doesn't matter what I think. What do you guys think? Let's learn together.'”

Their reactions ranged from “this really sucks,” to a sense of loss.

“This is why we don't try to idolize people,” Atilano said. “We want to make sure that we focus on the community, we focus on the movement.”

Atilano said she plans to teach ethnic studies again and is thinking about how misogyny and patriarchy intersect with political and social justice movements.

“It can be found everywhere,” Atilano said. “I’m trying to see how I can make those connections in the future, but it's a work in progress.”

On March 10, the LAUSD board unanimously approved a resolution recognizing Chávez — one of many such resolutions over the years — and pledging to provide curriculum and resources aligned with the foundation that promotes his legacy, education and economic development. The board last year also passed a resolution honoring Huerta.

In response to LAist’s questions about curriculum related to Chávez, an LAUSD spokesperson provided a statement that said the district is providing additional instructional materials “to support classroom learning, ensuring students continue to engage with themes of leadership, service and social justice in age-appropriate and meaningful ways.”

LAUSD board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin issued a statement Wednesday morning with links to resources related to sexual and domestic violence.

“Just my own team, we’re seven women … and our own triggers, our own stories are coming out,” Ortiz Franklin said. “You can imagine that happening everywhere in homes, in classrooms, the adults having to manage this, and then also, helping students process.”

César Chávez Elementary in El Sereno is one of several schools in Southern California named after the labor leader.

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How would renaming work?

Blanca Juarez was at César Chávez Elementary in El Sereno on Wednesday to pick up her daughter. With a father and grandmother who were both farmworkers, she said she was troubled by the news.

“He was like the only hope in those days — the only one speaking for all of the — and now, well, I don’t know. I don’t know what to say,” Juarez said.

She said it was too soon to be talking about renaming the school.

Gonez and Rivas said they would work with the communities surrounding the elementary school and the César Chávez Learning Academies in San Fernando to identify new names.

In recent years, the school renaming process has included meetings with staff, students, parents and community members and a public vote. The LAUSD board must vote to finalize any name changes.

LAist Deputy Managing Editor Fiona Ng contributed to this story.