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    Michael Gates is back, and so is Huntington Beach’s losing streak
    • November 19, 2025

    When Huntington Beach’s elected city attorney Michael Gates was offered a job as a deputy assistant U.S. attorney in the Trump administration’s Civil Rights Division, he was ecstatic. In a statement on the city’s website, Gates said he was honored “to advance President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda,” which included fighting to restore “faith in the nation’s justice system.”

    Ten months later, Gates announced on social media he was returning home after finding his hiatus “pretty unbearable.” He was hired by the city government as a chief assistant city attorney. He reportedly plans to run for the city attorney post next year. It’s all strange, but got even stranger after an Orange County Register investigation.

    The Register reports he was fired for cause, per personnel records it obtained through a records request. The newspaper cites an unnamed source saying he was “accused of creating a hostile work environment for multiple women in the office.” Gates denies the claims and plans legal action against his former employer. He says officials released that information because they were mad he resigned.

    The city is investigating. Given comments from two council members, it seems likely Surf City will be stuck with Gates again. At least he’ll be forced to deal with fallout from legal disputes he has fought with the state as the city advanced its headline-grabbing MAGA priorities.

    In September, a court of appeals sided with California after the city refused to comply with state housing laws designed to jump-start construction. The city faces large fines and legal fees, and might even lose its zoning power to a receiver because of its recalcitrance. This month, an appeals court struck down the city’s Voter ID law. Last month, an Orange County Superior Court rebuked the city’s effort to create a youth-restricted book section at the library.

    We’ve argued the city should spend less time on “performative MAGA lawmaking” and more time on “productive solutions to real problems,” but that likely won’t take place now that Gates is spending more time with his family in Orange County.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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