Half Moon Bay City Council weighs keeping BLM mural

“Every time I see that mural, I am feeling wonderful about what the city is doing for diversity and equity. I think if we cover it up, it sends a message that Black lives don’t matter. They do,” Councilmember Harvey Rarback said.

Councilmember Debbie Ruddock, who brought the topic to the council’s attention for conversation, said she had been hearing from constituents who no longer felt represented by the mission of the Black Lives Matter organization.

“Nobody was concerned by the sentiment or the value expressed by Black Lives Matter, uniformly people were concerned about the fact that it contains the logo of a certain organization that people might not necessarily agree with,” she said. “What if a Palestinian organization comes to City Hall and wants something on City Hall that represents them? What if the Anti-Defamation League comes to City Hall and wants to have something about them? We can’t satisfy everybody.”

One such resident was Paulette Eisen, who decried aspects of the Black Lives Matter organization as antisemitic.

In the days after Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis Oct. 7, several Black Lives Matter groups expressed support for what Black Lives Matter Grassroots deemed a “desperate act of self-defense,” with the Chicago chapter of Black Lives Matter drawing widespread criticism for tweeting out a graphic of a paraglider with a Palestinian flag that mimicked Oct. 7 assailants with the caption ‘I stand with Palestine,’ which has now been deleted.

“At this point, Black Lives Matter means not what it meant to many people in 2020 and the members have said things recently that is especially hurtful when it comes to antisemitism and their support of the Hamas terrorists,” Eisen said. “That’s why I would like to see something replace that.”

The mural has adorned the side of the Half Moon Bay City Hall since 2020, when the City Council unanimously approved the project as an expression of community values and commitment to equity as protests for racial justice swept the nation.

Mayor Deborah Penrose said the mural should definitely not be painted over, at least until a plan for putting up a new mural with the same or similar sentiment was in place.

Most who spoke at the City Council meeting continued to endorse the mural and saw it as a representation of equity, allyship and racial justice, with some suggesting an extension of the mural to represent other community groups like Latino farmworkers or indigenous people as well. Councilmember Robert Brownstone said that “branding” issues could be fixed if the community found it necessary, but the sentiment should remain.

“I think we should keep the mural,” he said. “We have wonderful muralists here who can give us some ideas if there’s a branding issue with it, but I don’t think a lot of people associate those words with that particular organization.”

Half Moon Bay resident Maria Grigorieff said no action should be taken on the mural unless a new one could be erected to represent the important values that the current mural displays.

“This is not the time to make a decision to take an action to remove the mural. One idea is to sponsor a contest for a new mural that expresses our commitment to equity and justice,” she said. “Please don’t be responsible for painting over a message we all believe in and leaving a blank wall behind.”

Councilmember Joaquin Jimenez agreed, and said the only way the mural could be taken down would be if plans were in place to honor Half Moon Bay’s diversity with a new mural — which would still include Black Lives Matter.

“I don’t want it to be removed unless its replaced somewhere else we can actually honor Black Lives Matter, we can honor the farmworkers … we can honor the heritage of Half Moon Bay. For now, it stays there,” he said.

Ruddock said she was satisfied with the conversation as city staff made plans for a report on creating another mural that would represent a variety of Half Moon Bay’s diverse community and no action was taken toward removing the mural.

“I wasn’t anticipating a decision, only a conversation,” she said,” and it’s been a great conversation.”