Huntington Beach City Council has approved President Donald Trump’s plan to set up commemorative plaques in the library at Ord.
On Tuesday night, the city council unanimously voted to set up plaques at the Central Library on Talbert Avenue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the library system.
The original plaque features eagles carrying two American flags, names of current city councils and other city leaders, and original slogans to refer to Trump.
Huntington Beach has approved the installation of plaques featuring the acronym MAGA to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the public library. (Huntington Beach)
Written in the form of acrostics, plaques were characterized by stacked words: magic, charming, galvanized, adventurous – maga. The design was approved last week by the city committee. The city committee confirmed that the acronym was intentionally chosen to represent the slogan used by Trump and adopted by the Republicans: “Make America Great Again.”
Using the 50th anniversary ceremony as a way to honor Trump has sparked anger from many Huntington Beach residents, including former NFL player Chris Kruwe, who opposed plaque throughout the process. The evening during the council’s regular scheduled meeting.
Some attendees likened plaque to political propaganda, while others simply called it sticky. Also, numerous emails were sent to the council to encourage people to drop plaque designs in favor of those that are less divided.
“It is worth celebrating the legacy of this important institution, but the language contained in this plaque does not respect the library’s contribution. Instead, it acts as an inadequately disguised political statement.” I read the opposing emails. “This is inappropriate and the irresponsible use of public resources when our cities face massive budget cuts and severe deficit crisis.”
“I think it’s very disrespectful that the city council is trying to incorporate the MAGA acronym into the plaque and commemorate the political agenda in libraries. As a non-partisan council, politicizing this public space is not a problem. Not accepted., “Read something else.
Despite opposition, the council has moved forward with plans to set up plaques as part of the anniversary celebration. This time it’s a revised design.
The revised plaque moved down the acronym for MAGA and added additional slogans.
“Hope and Change” and “Improved Buildback” were slogans used by former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, respectively.
The 50th anniversary plaque in Huntington Beach, approved on February 18, 2025, was shared by City Councilman Butch on social media.
The revised plaque design presented by Councillor Grace van der Mark will be set up outside the Central Library at a later date.
The original $7,000 price tag also rose to around $8,000 after Congress decided to add flood lights to light the plaque due to fears of vandalism. Officials said plaques will be paid through personal donations.
MAGA-inspired plaques are the latest example of Huntington Beach City Council, and have complicated relationships with the library system.
Last year, the council considered outsource library operations to a third-party company.
In 2023, the city required librarians to review books for children and relocate anything that contains “sexually explicit” material. A report from Laist found that most of the flag-painted books focused on health, the human body and adolescence.
Voters are likely to decide whether to abolish that review process in future elections and limit the city’s ability to outsource library operations, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Wall Street Journal explains that Huntington Beach has a “Trump in America” city council. In December, after members of the new council were sworn in and took the council to a unanimous unanimity of seven completely conservative members, all council members decorate “Make Huntington Beach Great Again.” We took a photo of him wearing a red hat that looked like a maga.
Councillor Butch Twinging celebrated the unanimous pass on the revised plaque design, posting on social media, “Last night, Huntington Beach City Council voted 7-0 to mark this 50th anniversary plaque ( I approved the bottom read. The left is insane!”
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