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Amid public pushback, Huntington Beach opens bids for brand management contract

April 10, 2026

Huntington Beach leaders are looking for a company to help revamp the city’s merchandising and licensing systems to “capture the economic value of its global identity” as a surfer’s paradise.

The city had an audit done earlier this year of its “creative, brand, media, press and digital ecosystem,” getting back a report that said the city is missing out on from $2 million to $5 million in annual revenue from events, licensing and tourism, as well as underused public assets, such as the Huntington Beach Art Center.

The auditor also told city leaders that media coverage of Huntington Beach, which has been “often centered on conflict” and controversy rather than positive community-driven stories, has hurt civic pride and tourism.

The one-month, $30,000 contract for that audit was with Wolffhaus, described as “part brand incubator, part strategic operator,” led by founder and Creative Director Tyler Wolff, who then proposed helping the city create a brand ecosystem to claim more of that revenue and better promote the city.

The two-year, $720,000 contract with Wolffhaus, which the council was presented with this week, drew community criticism over how the city is managing its finances and rehabilitating its reputation. The council pulled the agreement amid pushback over perceived conflict of interest issues and a lack of transparency about the bidding process, which community members raised.

But councilmembers agreed City Hall could do more for Huntington Beach’s brand and instead will conduct a request for proposals to find a firm to spearhead the project.

Mayor Casey McKeon said the city is not required to put out a request for proposals, per the municipal code, but he supports a competitive procurement process and hopes many local firms will respond quickly. But he added he is “highly confident” that Wolffhaus is the most qualified firm to oversee the project, given its extensive client list and brand management experience.

“I don’t want the negative attention of not performing an RFP to ruin the massive community benefit and revenue potential this project can bring to Huntington Beach,” McKeon said.

The selected firm would be asked to create a city-controlled merchandising program and establish a film and digital media office to attract Hollywood production crews to Surf City. The company would also be expected to help the city develop a city-run internship program for high school and college students.

More than a dozen speakers expressed concern and frustration about the project at Tuesday’s council meeting, April 7. Several people said city leadership’s own decisions, including engaging in costly lawsuits with the state over housing mandates, voter ID requirements and library book censorship, that have caused reputational harm and repelled visitors.

“You can easily fix the city’s reputation by actively addressing the needs and cares of your residents instead of wasting even more of my taxpayer money on a costly and phony social media contract,” one resident told the councilmembers. “You can’t polish a turd.”

A few other speakers questioned why the city had to hire an outside firm rather than tasking Visit Huntington Beach, its official destination marketing organization, with overseeing the branding and media project.

McKeon said in an interview on Wednesday that the nonprofit Visit Huntington Beach works for hotels, not the city. He also denied any accusations of cronyism that he had a working or personal relationship with Wolff prior to the current project.

He said criticisms about the council’s actions missed the point of the project, which is creating systems to better optimize the city’s cultural assets.

“This is not a PR contract,” he said. “It’s a creative media contract.”

Orange County Register

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Amid public pushback, Huntington Beach opens bids for brand management contract

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