HUNTINGTON BEACH CIVIC CENTER (Orange County Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

The fissure lines between the majority and the minority on the Huntington Beach City Council continued to be evident at Tuesday’s meeting.

On  4-3 vote, the council voted to reject a proposal by Councilmember Rhonda Bolton to research and develop options to improve employee recruitment and retention. According to Bolton, “The public sector is currently going through a hiring crisis and an unprecedented employee turnover.”

Cited was the example of Ursula Luna-Reynosa, who is leaving her post as community development director in Huntington Beach to take the job of economic development director in Garden Grove.

Special emphasis could be placed on the importance to having public safety positions filled, at least some of them living close to the city in cases of an emergency, she wrote.

But the council majority – Mayor Tony Strickland and councilmembers Gracey Van Der Mar, Casey McKeon and Pat Burns – voted to reject the proposal.

Also Tuesday night, the council split 4-3, this time in favor of writing up a proposed city charter amendment that would restrict city councils from engaging in real property transactions that would require the city to skip property tax collected on investment property unless approved by voters.

The vote was again 4-3, with councilmembers Bolton, Dan Kalmick and Natalie Moser in the minority.

The next regularly scheduled council meeting is set for Tuesday, Aug. 1.