Huntington Beach City Council · Nov 3, 2026
Pat Burns
Candidate for City Council (incumbent)
Pat Burns, the incumbent, is running for Huntington Beach City Council in the Nov 3, 2026 election; 11 candidates are running for 4 seats.
Vote-by-mail ballots available · Mon, Oct 5, 2026
TodayRetired Long Beach Police lieutenant who served about 30 years. Elected to the council in 2022 and was mayor in 2025; earlier served on the city's Citizen Participation Advisory Board and Community and Library Services Commission.
- Occupation (from candidate statement)
- Retired Policeman/Councilmember
- How the press groups them
- Running with Casey McKeon and Brian Thienes as "Team HB"; endorsed by the Republican Party of Orange County. Daily Pilot · Aug 19, 2026
- Campaign website
- www.patburns4hb.com
Where Pat Burns stands: positions on the record
Housing1 sourced position
Voted for adopting the court-ordered 2021-2029 Housing Element update (passed 5-2, June 2026).
Council voteHuntington Beach City Council minutes, June 16, 2026 · Jun 16, 2026
Police contract1 sourced position
Voted no on the three-year police union contract funded partly from reserves (passed 4-3, Sept. 2026).
Council voteHuntington Beach City Council minutes, Sept. 1, 2026 · Sep 1, 2026
Budget2 sourced positions
Seconded and voted for sending the police contract to a Finance Commission review of its budget impact first (passed 4-3, Aug. 2026).
Council voteHuntington Beach City Council minutes, Aug. 18, 2026 · Aug 18, 2026
Voted yes on the 2026-27 city budget (passed 6-0, one abstention, June 2026).
Council voteHuntington Beach City Council minutes, June 16, 2026 · Jun 16, 2026
Courts1 sourced position
Joined the unanimous closed-session vote to file an appeal in Southwest Voter Registration Education Project v. City of Huntington Beach (July 2026).
Council voteHuntington Beach City Council minutes, July 21, 2026 · Jul 21, 2026
Trash rates1 sourced position
Voted yes on raising residential trash rates effective July 2, 2026 (passed 4-3, May 2026).
Council voteHuntington Beach City Council minutes, May 19, 2026 · May 19, 2026
Affordable housing1 sourced position
Voted no on refinancing bonds for Pelican Harbor senior affordable housing with 60-year affordability covenants (passed 4-3, Oct. 2025).
Council voteHuntington Beach City Council minutes, Oct. 28, 2025 (special meeting) · Oct 28, 2025
Priorities1 sourced position
Lists public safety, fiscal responsibility and local control as his focus for another term.
“focused on Public Safety, fiscal responsibility, local control and to preserve our beach community and quality of life.”
Own statementPat Burns
Development1 sourced position
Chamber of Commerce forum, as reported by the Daily Pilot
Called weighing big housing projects against neighborhood concerns one of the hardest parts of the job.
“we as a council, we got to decipher what’s the greed and what’s the value to the community”
Forum answerDaily Pilot · Oct 1, 2026
Downtown1 sourced position
Chamber of Commerce forum, as reported by the Daily Pilot
Was among the eight forum candidates who said the first three blocks of Main Street should not be closed permanently.
Forum answerDaily Pilot · Oct 1, 2026
Also running for City Council
- Brian Burley
- Ben Davis
- Brenda Glim
- Andrew Gruel (incumbent)
- Amory Hanson
- Casey McKeon (incumbent)
- Taryn Taddeo Palumbo
- Rosalind "Roz" Price
- Erin Spivey
- Brian Thienes
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