Huntington Beach council cuts youth grants, boosts board member's nonprofit

The Huntington Beach City Council voted May 5 to cut $15,000 from two youth nonprofits and redirect the money to a veterans fishing organization whose board includes a sitting council member.

The reallocation drew conflict-of-interest scrutiny after Voice of OC reported that Councilman Andrew Gruel, who serves on the board of benefiting nonprofit Save the Brave, quietly left the room before the vote without a formal recusal or public disclosure of his affiliation.

The council cut $10,000 from All for Kids, which runs afterschool programs in the working-class Oakview neighborhood, and $5,000 from Robyne's Nest, which supports homeless or at-risk youth. Both serve low-and-moderate-income residents under the city's federal HUD grant program. The redirected funds went to Save the Brave, a nonprofit that takes veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder offshore on saltwater fishing trips, according to Voice of OC.

City staff had recommended just $17,000 for Save the Brave — the group was tied for last place in staff rankings — but the council raised the final award to more than $32,000, the highest allocation in the program that year and the nonprofit's first-ever city grant, Voice of OC reported.

Councilman Pat Burns, who pushed for the reallocation, cited allegations against All for Kids without presenting supporting evidence. "I'm worried about all the fraud and stuff," Burns said at the meeting, according to Voice of OC. "I just question that center quite a bit as far as being one of the top money getters," Burns added.

Gruel, in a Monday interview with Voice of OC, defended his departure and said he had previously disclosed his ties to Save the Brave from the council dais. "I get absolutely nothing from them," Gruel said. Save the Brave founder Nick Velez, a Marine veteran, credited the program with improving mental health among former service members. "A lot of these guys miss the brotherhood and structure after service, and getting them around other veterans in a healthy environment makes a big difference," Velez said. "We're stoked about getting this grant, this is a huge deal for us. This funding helps us expand our veteran outreach," he added.

Natalie Moser, executive director of Robyne's Nest and a former Huntington Beach council member who lost her reelection bid in 2024, stopped short of accusing Gruel of wrongdoing but said the process failed a basic transparency test. "I know how foundational public trust is to a functioning city. That trust is built through transparency — through full disclosure of relationships and connections that would require a public recusal, so that decision-makers and the public alike can ask informed questions and reach informed conclusions," Moser said in a statement Tuesday. "In this instance, I do not believe that standard was met."

The federal community development block grants require that city-distributed funds benefit low-and-moderate-income residents, eliminate urban blight, or address urgent health and safety needs. Huntington Beach distributes more than $160,000 annually through the program.