ANDREW GRUEL takes the oath of office on Tuesday night (Tribune photo).

By Miles Gaskin/Orange County Tribune

The Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to appoint Andrew Gruel to fill the council seat vacated by Tony Strickland, who was elected to serve in the California State Senate.

ANDREW GRUEL is new Huntington Beach City Councilmember.

Before the meeting, the three potential candidates for this seat were Gruel, Valentia Bankhead, and Ken Babineau, but Bankhead and Babineau declined their nominations during public comments.

Gruel’s appointment was not without controversy and many Huntington Beach residents loudly expressed their disapproval for the appointment during the meeting.

There was so much repeated disruption from the public at the meeting, that the appointment could not be completed without a chorus of interruptions.

This prompted Huntington Beach police to clear the city council meeting of residents, leaving only the city officials and members of the media in attendance.

As residents were forced out of the city council meeting, a few residents in opposition to the appointment began chanting “no more MAGA, no more MAGA,” as they were being escorted out by police officers.

When all the residents were finally cleared out, Gruel’s nomination was finally completed.

Gruel is a chef, and the owner of several Orange County restaurants. He has also appeared as a judge on “Food Networks: Food Truck Face Off.”  Gruel expressed his excitement at the opportunity to be serve the city of Huntington Beach.

“I want to thank all of you for believing in me and putting me in this position. Everything that we do here is emblematic of a movement to be able to focus on local politics, but also to represent true American values, family, freedom etc.”

“People might look at my position and say what does a chef know about all that stuff? Look, chefs are inherent at cutting waste, it is what we do.”