MY STORY
Welcome to my website!
I'm Rhonda Bolton, a member of the Huntington Beach City Council since 2021.
My brothers and I grew up in a traditional middle-class neighborhood, where parents worked hard to provide their kids the best opportunities.
My parents also provided me with an example of community service. They never had to tell us to serve our community, they showed us. Whenever they were faced with a choice of staying comfortable or serving their community, the community always won.
Their example informed my career choices. I'm a public policy attorney, with expertise in public governance and accountability, health care and consumer protection.
When my husband John and I moved to Huntington Beach twelve years ago, we continued my parents' tradition. As a volunteer with Girl's Inc. of Orange County, I mentored young women who were on track to be first in their family to attend college. My family and I volunteer with local food banks to help Orange County families who need healthy, nutritious food. (John really enjoys working with Orange County Second Harvest.)
As a member of the Huntington Beach Human Relations Task Force, I was proud to help organize our city's nationally-known film festival and other programs like the annual Community Forum, with the goal of bringing residents closer together.
When a council member unexpectedly resigned in 2021, I was concerned about the distraction created by the vacancy and surrounding circumstances. After consulting with trusted neighbors and my family, I decided to apply for the vacancy. It was time to put my experience as a public policy attorney to work here.
I was honored that my fellow council members selected me out of the almost 100 people who applied and interviewed.
Since then, I've advocated for more services to get homeless people off the street, fully fund our first responders, and provide better and more immediate mental health services to people in crisis. I supported the plan to bring Orange County's first mobile mental health crisis team to our streets - that's those Blue Vans you might see around town. Those staff members free up police officers to focus on the work they are uniquely qualified to do.
We also instituted a program to restore worn out infrastructure in the most neglected parts of town.
My parents' commitment to their community inspires me to run to retain this seat.
We have work to do to get Huntington Beach back on track.
My priorities in the next term will be to protect the library, support our first responders and bring accountability and transparency back to City Hall.
I hope you'll join my campaign to keep Huntington Beach a safe, inclusive and welcoming place to raise a family.
Volunteer, donate or sign up for campaign updates.
P.S. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you have questions or to talk about an issue!
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