I was raised in Huntington Beach. I’ve watched this city evolve—sometimes with courage, other times with fear. I’ve seen moments of grace and moments of regression. What we’re facing now is the latter.
In neighborhoods across town, red block-letter signs scream “PORN”—part of a campaign urging voters to reject Measures A and B on the June 10 ballot. The goal is clear: to incite fear, stir outrage, and distort what these measures represent.
Let’s talk facts.
Measure A seeks to repeal a City Council ordinance that created a 21-member panel to oversee children’s books in the public library—an unelected, unqualified review board given power over trained library professionals. Measure B protects the library system from privatization, requiring voter approval before city leaders can outsource this essential public service.
These are straightforward, good-governance measures. So why the hysteria?
Because this isn’t about books. It’s about control.
A political action committee tied to Councilmember Chad Williams created and paid for the signs. In an email exchange with Mayor Pat Burns, I raised concerns about the signs’ placement, particularly near schools and parks. He responded by invoking the First Amendment and warning that removing them could lead to arrest.
That response was not just tone deaf; it was hollow.
As a retired Marine Corps Officer with over 27 years of service, I would never deface or remove a sign, even one I find offensive, as this symbolizes an individual’s inalienable right to freedom of speech. However, one should consider the appropriateness of how one expresses that speech.
Freedom of speech is not an unconditional license to disregard basic decency standards or the rights of others. The social contract of our civil society carries rights and personal responsibilities. In the exercise of free expression, there is an appropriate time, place, and audience. Placing a message across public spaces, especially near schools, should be done with circumspection. Political opportunism should not override basic decency.
That said, invoking free speech to defend a disinformation campaign while simultaneously working to suppress educational materials inside our libraries is hypocrisy of the highest order.
Because here’s the truth: the same city leaders now championing “free speech” to protect shock-value political signs have aggressively pursued efforts to remove medically accurate, professionally vetted, and age-appropriate books. Books like It’s Perfectly Normal, which teach children about anatomy, consent, and health. Books that reflect the lived realities of LGBTQ+ youth and diverse families.
Let’s be clear—these are not pornographic materials. And California law already makes it illegal to distribute obscene content in public libraries. The courts have also affirmed the rights of librarians acting in good faith to perform their duties without fear of prosecution, as upheld in Moore v. Younger (1976).
The legal protections are already in place. The moral panic is manufactured.
A Dangerous Historical Parallel
What we are witnessing today with groups like Moms for Liberty—who seek to purge books, rewrite curricula, and impose political litmus tests on education—is not new. It echoes the Daughters of the Confederacy playbook from the first decades of the 1900s. The Daughters changed textbooks to glorify the Confederacy and diminish the harsh realities of slavery. Their actions changed American historical narratives by whitewashing reality and removing context for generations, thereby embedding persisting myths and assumptions.
The parallels are so remarkable that they are both organizations whose mission is a post facto revision to justify discrimination against minority groups. Both movements seek to control the narratives and future generations by narrowing what children learn. Both rely on fear to mobilize and undermine trust in professional educators and librarians. And both inflict lasting damage on the civic fabric of our nation—turning institutions meant to empower into battlegrounds of ideological conformity.
So, what are these signs really doing? They’re weaponizing ignorance. They’re leveraging fear to erode trust in public institutions. They’re reframing education and inclusion as threats. And they’re doing it all under the guise of “protecting children.”
What’s actually being protected is a narrow worldview—one that sees diversity as danger, and truth as something to be edited.
This isn’t about freedom. It’s about filtering.
It’s about putting politics between kids and knowledge, and between families and their right to decide what’s appropriate in their homes—not through coercive signage or city council mandates, but through conversation, trust, and love.
Free speech is not something to be applied selectively. You don’t get to weaponize it in public and then silence it inside the library. If Mayor Burns and his allies truly believed in the First Amendment, they’d defend librarians as vigorously as they protect political ads.
We can—and must—reject this double standard.
This June, I’ll vote Yes on Measures A and B because I believe in a city that doesn’t confuse fear with leadership. I believe in libraries, educators, and professionals who dedicate their lives to expanding young minds, not closing them off. And I think that Huntington Beach can do better than slogans, scare tactics, and signs designed to provoke instead of inform.
Erick M. Armelin is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Major and “Mustang” officer who served more than 27 years, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, he worked alongside the British Army’s 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery as a Fire Power Control Team Leader and liaison officer, coordinating fire support and terminal control of aircraft.
After retiring from the Marine Corps in 2016, he earned his Master of Business Administration and went on to found a software company focused on automating business processes. Erick has lived in Huntington Beach for over 46 years and has proudly raised his family in the beach city.
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Editors Note:
This op-ed is part of a series allowing OC residents to add their voice to the library debate in Huntington Beach – ahead of a June 10th special election. We welcome opinions on all sides of the issue.