A former UFC fighter with no political experience is next in line as mayor of Huntington Beach.
Tito Ortiz was named mayor pro tem on Monday. As such, he will fill in when the mayor is absent. The post is also the conventional stepping stone to the mayorship, which rotates every year.
Ortiz’s immediate advancement to the on-deck circle was the result of a confluence of circumstances as three new City Council members were sworn in.
Mayor Lyn Semeta had declined to run for another term, and Kim Carr — mayor pro tem since October — stepped up to the top post.
All three sitting council members were barred from moving into the pro tem post because each has been a mayor in the past four years. The rules say that in such a case, the position goes to new member who got the most votes in the recent election — and that was Ortiz.
“I can tell you that this has never happened in my 21 years here,” said City Clerk Robin Estanislau. “It’s an unusual situation, but there are a lot of moving pieces on a city council.”
Ortiz, 45, made his name as a mixed martial arts star, at one point holding the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title. His volatile relationship with sex-movie star Jenna Jameson kept his name in the celebrity tabloids for several years. He was also a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2008.
As a candidate, the Huntington Beach native drew attention for embracing far-right conspiracy theories – including the belief that coronavirus is an exaggerated health risk.
Doubling down in his acceptance remarks Monday, Ortiz called COVID-19 a “plandemic” – referencing a debunked idea that government reaction to the outbreak is designed to control the population.
“It has been really hard to just live a normal life for my children and for myself,” said Ortiz, one of the few people in the chamber not wearing a face mask.
Claiming that his Orange County hometown has “deteriorated,” Ortiz said his mission is to “make Huntington Beach safe again.”
In his remarks Monday he talked of being “willing to take a bullet for the city” — a reference to his participation in a June 6 counter-demonstration against hundreds of people protesting police brutality. He wore a bulletproof vest at that event.
In 2020, Huntington Beach has been ground zero for ongoing demonstrations – lately, protests against stay-at-home orders.
Recalling his days of near-homelessness and drug use, Ortiz thanked supporters and donors. “I never imagined I’d be sitting up here,” he said.
In sharp contrast, the two other new council members, Dan Kalmick and Natalie Moser, both addressed the spread of coronavirus as a crisis.
