Huntington Beach Mayor Pro-Tem Answers Mask-Shaming Comments

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — A food drive in Huntington Beach turned contentious this week as protesters filmed and shamed new Mayor Pro Tem, Tito Ortiz for not wearing a mask.

Ortiz has become known for his belief in vitamins over mask-wearing during the coronavirus pandemic, as expressed at the city council meeting. He shakes hands with whoever will shake back, and was popular enough to win the latest city council election. On Wednesday, Ortiz became the focus of the Oak View Community Center food distribution event for all of the wrong reasons.

At the food drive, volunteers, including Ortiz, handed out 50 turkeys, 50 hams, and 600 prepackaged meals, according to the Kiwanis Club of Huntington Beach, a sponsor of the event. A small band of protesters arrived and recorded Ortiz as he handed out food and asked him pointed questions about the Huntington Beach police. During the highly-tweeted taping, Ortiz was not wearing a mask, as is shown on the cell phone video. The former pro-fighter also is shown losing his temper, briefly, before cooler heads prevailed.

Still, it was his non-mask-wearing antics that drew the attention of the Ocean View Unified School District Board.

According to the Ocean View School District, all who attended the food drive were asked to "wear masks and follow social distancing protocols."

Ortiz, as seen on cell phone video, did neither.

Ortiz told The Los Angeles Times that he washes his hands multiple times a day and stays six feet from his fellow councilmembers on the dais. He believes that strategy to work, the Times reports. He is also trying to keep his face in front of the community at such events as the food drive.

"I'm just trying to give back for Christmas," Ortiz told The Times. "That's it. I've always given back. I've been to Iraq six times. For someone to interfere like this, they're either jealous, or they want their 15 minutes of fame."

After the incident, he described the events of the day on social media:

"It was just one or two or three people," Ortiz said of the incident. "He was telling people in Spanish that I was trying to poison them with food. For him to do that was embarrassing."

Ortiz says that he wants to give back to the neighborhood where he was raised. He left the Ocean View event for another, to feed the veterans another 400 meals, he says.

Ocean View Board Member Gina Clayton-Tarvin told the media what it meant for a City Council member not to show an example to others wearing a mask in public amid a pandemic.

"What he really needs to do to help the community is put a mask on and be responsible," Clayton-Tarvin told The Times. "We are very concerned because that is already a very vulnerable community."