Local politicians condemn ‘hateful’ response to new Huntington Beach City Councilwoman Rhonda Bolton

State Senators Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), both of whom represent Huntington Beach, this week condemned the response to the appointment of Rhonda Bolton as a member of the City Council.

Bolton, the first Black council member in Huntington Beach history, was appointed during a special meeting July 26. She took the dais on Aug. 3.

At her first meeting, she faced boos and attacks from the audience. Some of the members of the public attending the meeting stated Bolton wanted to impose a “radical agenda” on the children of Huntington Beach, and that she was “hateful, spiteful, and anti-white.”

Mayor Kim Carr asked Bolton, a civil rights lawyer who has lived in Huntington Beach for nearly nine years, to lead the Pledge of Allegiance in her first meeting. One woman in the crowd sniped audibly, “You know the Pledge of Allegiance?”

State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), the chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus and one of two Black members of the state Senate, also condemned such remarks.

“This type of thinly veiled anti-Black racism is absolutely unacceptable in 2021, in Huntington Beach or anywhere else,” Min said in a statement. “And it is not representative of the values of Orange County or California, despite what a small group of extremist bigots would want us to believe.

“Rhonda Bolton brings an impeccable resume to the Huntington Beach City Council, reflecting decades of private sector experience in dealing with diversity issues and a demonstrated commitment to community service. At a time when we are dealing with so much hatred, division and racism in our country and our community, Bolton’s inclusive approach to governing coupled with her calm and gracious temperament are much needed.

“I stand in solidarity with my colleagues in supporting Councilmember Bolton and in condemning the hateful remarks and behavior directed at her. I look forward to working with her.”

Umberg said in a statement that he began his career as a prosecutor in the 1980s defending Black Orange County families from targeted racist attacks.

“It’s confounding to me that 40 years later we’re still having these conversations,” he said. “The past several years have shown us that we have a long way to go in terms of respect, public decency, and empathy in places like Orange County in particular.”

On Friday, the Orange County Human Relations Commission also condemned the language used toward Bolton, as well as Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do by a speaker at the Board of Supervisors meeting on July 27.

A speaker who identified himself as Tyler Durden told Do, an American citizen, to “Go the [expletive] back to Vietnam” and compared him to a “parasite.”

“I appreciate the fact that the senators and also the Human Relations Commission are being supportive,” Bolton said in a phone interview Friday. “What happened to Supervisor Do, that was an attack. That type of thing is hard to believe. More importantly, though, when you see that happens and you feel like, ‘You know what, that’s really not right?’ — people have to start speaking up in those circumstances. They have to say, ‘We don’t think that’s right and we’re not going to make actions and speech like that go unchallenged.’ It just makes it more likely that actions and speech like that get normalized.

“When we become numb to people doing and saying stuff like that, that creates the type of atmosphere that is tense and uncomfortable for a lot of people.”

Bolton said there have been many more well-wishers since she got appointed than anything else.

“The positive still outweighs the negative by a lot,” she said. “That’s what I try to stay focused on.”

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