HUNTINGTON BEACH Central Library as seen from the Central Park. One of the largest city libraries in the county, it’s become the center of controversy (OC Tribune photo).

City council members have many roles. They serve as representatives of the public, they adopt budgets and pass laws in the form of ordinances and regulations and sometimes cut ribbons for grand openings.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council, three members of the council – Mayor Pat Burns and Councilmembers Chad Williams and Butch Twining – will talk about their roles as investigators.

In a letter to the whole council, they stated that “we have conducted an informal independent investigation of the financial dealings of the Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library,” alleging that the group had made “suspected campaign finance and charitable law violations.”

The three are claiming that the organization – a non-profit group – gave money to a political action committee, which subsequently passed it on to another PAC – “Our Library Matters, Vote Yes on A & B.”

Arguing that those actions might violate IRS law and the California Political Reform Act, the three are asking the city attorney’s office to file a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission and/or the federal Internal Revenue Service.

The request occurs against the backdrop of a common special election on two ballot measures on alleged censorship of books in the city’s libraries and privatization of the system.

Also on the agenda is a proposal for an amendment to the city’s group home ordinance to prevent the owners or operators of group homes from applying or re-applying for a group home permit for five years after they were found to be unlawfully operating.

The council will meet on May 6 in the lower level theater in the Central Library. The closed session will be at 4 p.m. with the regular meeting at 6 p.m.