A stunning California beach town is at war over plans to install a $7,000 bronze ‘MAGA’ plaque on their public library.
Huntington Beach city panel voted 6-0 to approve the design of a new placard commemorating the library’s 50th anniversary on Tuesday night.
Featuring the slogan: ‘Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous’ written in the style of an acrostic poem, the first letter of each word spells out ‘MAGA’ down the vertical.
The notorious acronym synonymous with President Donald Trump and his Republican supporters translates to: ‘Make America Great Again’.
Located just south of Los Angeles and home to around 200,000 people, Huntington Beach is a GOP stronghold, with its hardline local government previously making headlines for banning pride flags and declaring itself a ‘non-sanctuary’ city.
But it’s entirely right-wing city council, led by Mayor Pat Burns, was met with fierce resistance to the overt sign by hundreds of people who flooded their meeting.
Residents are bitterly divided between those who support the sign because it fits with the Republican allegiance of the town – and those who think political ‘propaganda’ has no place in a public library.
Forty people made speeches against the plaque and loudly booed when city council members voted to approve it, while six locals spoke in favor of it, according to the LA Times.
The stunning California beach town of Huntington Beach (pictured in an aerial shot) is at war over plans to install a $7,000 bronze ‘MAGA’ plaque on their public library
Featuring the slogan: ‘Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous’ written in the style of an acrostic poem, the first letter of each word spells out ‘MAGA’ down the vertical
Pictured left to right: Huntington Beach City Council members Tony Strickland, Don Kennedy, Chad Williams, Gracey Van Der Mark, Pat Burns, Casey McKeon, and Butch Twining
Huntington Beach city panel voted 6-0 to approve the design of a new placard commemorating the 50th anniversary of their public library (pictured) on Tuesday night
More than 300 people also sent emails to the commission questioning the use of the political slogan, according to Daily Pilot reporter Matt Szabo, who was present at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The plaque will be funded through private donations at an estimated cost of $7,000.
Resident Barbara Richardson said the sign’s design is so bad she thought it was a prank when she first heard about it.
‘It turned out, the joke was on me, because this plaque really is the real design,’ she told the LA Times.
‘From far away, it looks like the plaque is celebrating 50 years of MAGA, as the word is dead center in the middle of the plaque.
‘This is where one’s eye is drawn, to a political slogan. Are political slogans even allowed to be installed on city buildings? Why shouldn’t the city be neutral?’
Former council member Natalie Moser slammed the plaque as political ‘propaganda’.
‘Libraries are spaces for knowledge, community and inclusion,’ she told the LA Times.
‘They are not tools for political messaging. History warns us about what happens when public spaces are manipulated for political purposes.
‘In many historical moments during authoritarian regimes in times of intense social control, symbols were placed not to celebrate shared values but to assert control and rewrite history.
‘These tactics are well-documented and studied in history books for their dangerous impact on free societies.’
Former council member Natalie Moser (pictured) slammed the plaque as political ‘propaganda’
Matt Szabo, a reporter for the Daily Pilot, was present at Tuesday night’s meeting. He described overwhelming opposition to the sign among those who turned out to debate it
Located just south of Los Angeles and home to around 200,000 people, Huntington Beach (pictured) is a GOP stronghold. But it’s entirely right-wing city council was met with fierce resistance to the MAGA sign by hundreds of people who flooded their meeting on Tuesday
He described overwhelming opposition to the sign among those who turned out to debate it.
Huntington Beach Deputy City Manager Jennifer Carey said the sign was drafted by several people in the local executive.
‘The plaque’s design was a collaborative effort, incorporating input from various City Council members and the community,’ Carey told the LA Times.
Only Community and Library Services Committee Chairman Austin Edsell, who was appointed by the all-conservative Huntington Beach City Council, said the sign was ‘very fitting’ for the town.
‘It’s a great library,’ said Edsell, a past president of the Orange County Young Republicans told the LA Times.
‘Honoring it and celebrating it in this way, I think it’s very fitting for us.’
