HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER (Flickr/Corey Thompson).

This it not really a case of putting “lipstick on a pig.” It’s more an instance of making a ballerina wear a burlap sack.

Huntington Beach has an image problem. Just about every thoughtful person between San Pedro and San Diego realizes that but it cost City Hall $30,000 to learn what was widely known: that the city council’s divisive MAGA-oriented policies and rhetoric have painted an image that “Surf City” is a place of intolerance and close-mindedness.

The first signals from the Council Chamber at 2000 Main Street were a culling of flags from city property. Under the notion of opposing “identity politics,” the flying of the rainbow flag (generally associated with gay, lesbian, etc. rights) and others were banned.

Not long after the long-held practice of having a wide variety of clergy – which included all faiths – deliver the opening prayer at council meetings was replaced by remarks by police and fire chaplains.

Following that was the creation of an unpopular censorship panel in the city’s library system – rejected by voters – and, to exacerbate matters with book readers – consideration of a plan to ‘privatize” those libraries.

Ah, but it doesn’t end there. A plaque with the letters M A G A was designed for prominent display in the Central Library, an ironic refutation of the claim that the flag policy was really about political neutrality.

This is all in the news because a consultant on the city’s reputation claimed that the municipal image “often centered on conflict” and that contentious reputation may have cost the city up to $5 million annually in revenue.

Huntington Beach is a beautiful community with a stunning seaside that draws millions every year. It’s affluent, with low crime, and with a generally well-educated populace.

It took a lot of effort to darken its reputation. You might say a MAGA-nificent effort.