The Brief

Campaign signs including the word "PORN" in big block letters were posted across Huntington Beach this week — and many have since been torn down — as the library culture wars heat up in Surf City.

What were the signs about?

The campaign signs were posted in the runup to a special election set for June 10 where the city’s voters will weigh in on two ballot initiatives, Measures A and B, that could determine who controls the city’s public libraries. The signs read “Protect our kids from porn” and urge a no vote on both measures.

What happened next?

The backlash was immediate. Residents, especially parents, criticized the prominent use of the word “porn” on signs placed near schools. One person fumed on a community Facebook group that the signs “got a whole city full of kids googling ‘What is Porn’ on their smart phones.”

What’s the backstory?

The beach city’s libraries have been a point of controversy since staunch conservatives took over city government and voted in late 2023 to establish a board of residents to review children’s books for the city’s public libraries and weed out ones they determine to have sexually inappropriate content — based on their own criteria.

Opponents say the job of choosing and classifying books for the library should be left to professional librarians — and they mounted a petition drive to get the board repealed, which resulted in Measure A.

Public library advocates mounted a second petition drive after the City Council flirted last year with outsourcing library operations to a private company. Measure B would prohibit the city from privatizing the city’s libraries.

Who put up the 'PORN' signs?

They’re from the "No on Measures A and B" campaign, paid for by a campaign committee opened by City Councilmember Chad Williams. Williams defended the signs in a video message posted on social media: “The people who are concerned about this word ‘porn’ being out in the public, I redirect your attention to the fact that this sexual content was pushed into the public library and that is what has pushed this into the public forum.”

Williams told LAist he won’t back down from the campaign.

“The bottom line is there’s pornography that’s available to minors in our public library,” he said. “I’m not going to dance around the subject, it needs to be addressed.”

He added that his own young kids had asked him about the word “porn” on the signs.

“I just told them it’s a bad thing they’re trying to protect us from," he said. "You don’t have to get into the details."

What has happened to the signs?

Some of the signs, which were put up over the weekend, had been taken down by community members by Tuesday morning. A spokesperson for the Huntington Beach Police Department said they had received four complaints of vandalizing political signs since Monday and that two people had received misdemeanor citations.

One of the sign vandals confessed in a video posted on social media, saying he supported Williams and voted for him in the last election, but that the ad campaign was “counterproductive.” He said he had removed the word “porn” from 12 of the signs.

“Frankly, it feels more like a tactic intended to provoke than a message grounded in conservative values,” the man, who said his name was Jason, said into the camera, quoting from an email he sent to Williams. “These signs, placed in clear view of elementary age children, may be legal, but it’s not appropriate."

How to keep tabs on Huntington Beach

• Huntington Beach holds City Council meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 2000 Main St.
  
• You can also watch City Council meetings remotely on HBTV via Channel 3 or online, or via the city’s website (you can also find videos of previous council meetings there).
  
• The public comment period happens toward the beginning of meetings.
  
• The city generally posts agendas for City Council meetings on the previous Friday. You can find the agenda on the city’s calendar or sign up there to have agendas sent to your inbox.

LAist take you deeper on the issues

• Why Huntington Beach keeps tackling library initiatives
• Why Huntington Beach residents want a say on libraries
• Huntington Beach pulls the plug on a controversial plan to have a private company manage its libraries

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Nov. 25.

With the holiday season underway, organizations across Boyle Heights and East LA are seeking volunteers to help distribute food, assemble bicycles, sort toys and sponsor families in need.

If you’re looking to donate, volunteer or find ways to give back, we’ve rounded up a list to help you get started.

Build bicycles and organize donations at a toy giveaway

The Weingart East LA YMCA is hosting its 19th Annual Toy Giveaway on Dec. 18, and volunteers are needed to help prepare toys and provide support. Before the event, volunteers can help by assembling bicycles and sorting and organizing toys on Dec. 17 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Volunteers are also needed to assist on event day from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Volunteer at local food distributions

The Weingart East LA YMCA hosts a food distribution every Monday and Wednesday to ensure families have access to nutritious meals. Volunteers are needed for each food distribution from 8:45 a.m. to noon.

Drop off toys at First Street businesses

LAFC’s Expo Originals supporters group is collecting new, unwrapped toys and Venmo donations ahead of its annual community toy drive Dec. 14. Venmo contributions will go toward toy purchases, and the last day to donate is Dec. 6. Toys can be dropped off in person at the locations below until Dec. 13.

Donate a new jacket at a homeless shelter

Proyecto Pastoral is collecting new jackets to keep its participants at the Guadalupe Homeless Shelter warm.

Sponsor a family, child or classroom ahead of the holidays

Proyecto Pastoral has many opportunities for the community to give back during its Holiday Drive this year. Those interested in fulfilling holiday wishes for a family, child or classroom have until Dec. 1 to register. Proyecto Pastoral will pair sponsors with community members in need to fulfill items from their wish list.

Individual toys also can be dropped off at Proyecto Pastoral’s office. The toys will be distributed to children who participate in Proyecto Pastoral’s youth programs at their end-of-year celebrations.

Greystar, which manages hundreds of properties in California, has agreed to pay $7 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company and other landlords used a price scheme to raise rents artificially high.

In January, Greystar was named as a defendant in an antitrust lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the U.S. Department of Justice and several other states against software company RealPage, which officials say uses algorithmic models to recommend price increases to subscribers.

Bonta alleges Greystar used RealPage’s system to coordinate rental prices with other landlords by illegally sharing and gathering confidential information. According to his office, RealPage’s “price alignment scheme” affected rentals across the country, especially in multifamily buildings in Southern California, including in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Bernardino.

"Whether it's through smoke-filled backroom deals or through an algorithm on your computer screen, colluding to drive up prices is illegal,” Bonta said in a statement. “Companies that intentionally fuel this unaffordability by raising prices to line their own pockets can be sure I will use the full force of my office to hold them accountable.”

Details on the settlement

Greystar is the largest landlord in the U.S., according to the Department of Justice, managing nearly 950,000 rental units across the country. In California, the company manages about 333 multifamily rental properties that use RealPage’s pricing software, according to Bonta’s office.

Bonta announced last week that as part of the settlement, Greystar has agreed to stop using software that uses competitively sensitive information to set rent prices, including from RealPage.

The company also has agreed to cooperate in the federal prosecution of RealPage and the other landlords named as defendants, such as Camden and Willow Bridge.

Greystar said in a statement to LAist that it’s “pleased this matter is resolved” and the company “remain[s] focused on serving our residents and clients.”

Settlement with RealPage

The U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement with RealPage on Monday to resolve its claims against the company.

If the settlement is approved by the court, RealPage would be required to stop using competitors’ private, sensitive information to set rental prices and remove or redesign features in its software that limited price drops or aligned prices between competitors, according to the Justice Department.

RealPage also would be required to cooperate in the lawsuit against property management companies that have used its software and agree to a court-appointed monitor to make sure it complies with the proposed settlement.

Dirk Wakeham, president and CEO of RealPage, said in a statement Monday that the proposed resolution marks an important milestone for the company and its customers.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the DOJ, which brings the clarity and stability we have long sought and allows us to move forward with a continued focus on innovation and the shared goal of better outcomes for both housing providers and renters,” Wakeham said.

RealPage denies any wrongdoing, attorney Stephen Weissman said in a statement.

Newport Beach voters will decide if they want to replace a state-approved housing plan with one that allows for far fewer new homes in 2026.

Proponents of the plan, called the Responsible Housing Initiative, say the current plan will make the city overcrowded and negatively affect quality of life.

“This isn’t downtown Los Angeles,” said Charles Klobe, president of Still Protecting Our Newport, which backs the Responsible Housing Initiative.

Last week, city leaders voted to put the initiative in front of voters after the Newport Beach Stewardship Association submitted the Responsible Housing Initiative petition with more than 8,000 signatures. The initiative rejects the city’s current housing plan and instead proposes an amendment to the general plan to facilitate the development of 2,900 homes exclusively for extremely low-, very low-, low- and moderate-income households.

The city’s current housing plan, which has the backing of the state, allows for more than 8,000 homes, including the required affordable housing units.

“ We're against the city building more market rate than the state required. We believe it's a giveaway to developers who will fund re-election campaigns of the council,” Klobe said.

What does California law require?

California’s Housing Element Law sets housing targets for local governments to meet, including for affordable units. It allows the state to intervene every eight years to let cities know how much housing they must plan for. The law also requires cities to put together a housing element showcasing how they will achieve the state’s plan. The state then approves of the element or sends it back to cities to reconfigure according to the requirements.

According to California law, Newport Beach needs to build 4,845 new units — 3,436 of which must be affordable for very low-, low- and moderate-income households. According to the city, Newport Beach can’t just plan for affordable housing units “because that would assume all future projects would be 100% affordable, which is not realistic based on previous development experiences.” And so, the city’s rezone plans include more than 8,000 units.

Councilmember Robyn Grant said during the council meeting that she’s not in favor of the state mandate. But, she added, “After extensive legal analysis and public outreach and workshops and hearings and meetings and more meetings, this council approved an updated general plan to bring Newport Beach into compliance and avoid serious penalties, including the loss of local land use control."

Newport Beach did appeal the state’s housing mandates on the grounds that it did not take into account how some of the city’s coastal lands are protected from urban development, but the appeal was rejected.

To learn more about how Newport Beach arrived at its state-approved housing plan, click here.

What is the Responsible Housing Initiative proposing?

The Responsible Housing Initiative counts the number of housing units already in development and proposes an additional 2,900 affordable housing units to meet the state mandate.

Klobe said they believe the initiative will receive state backing because “they claim to want affordable housing and our initiative requires it.”

Supporters of the measure contend the city’s current plan will increase the population, result in excessive traffic and disrupt the quality of life. They also sued Newport Beach for not first going to voters, but they failed in court.

To learn more about the Responsible Housing Initiative, click here.

What’s next

Voters will have a chance to weigh in on the Responsible Housing Initiative in November 2026.