Episode 33: Mayor Casey McKeon on Local Business & Streamlining HB

Mel and Don welcome back Mayor Casey McKeon—third-generation Huntington Beach resident, city council member now in his fourth year, and lifelong surfer-city kid who never imagined he'd be running the town he grew up in. Casey shares how he went from working the snack bar as a kid on the beach to navigating real estate development across the country, studying how different municipalities handle permitting and business growth, and ultimately bringing those hard-won lessons home to HB. He talks about the strange and humbling experience of being sworn in as mayor with no childhood dream of the office, and why that actually makes him more driven to leave something lasting before his term ends in December.

The conversation digs deep into two signature initiatives Casey is building for the community. The first is Streamline HB—a permitting overhaul born from his private-sector experience that has increased permits issued by 23% year-over-year, earned the city an award from the Orange County Business Council, and drawn other cities to Huntington Beach City Hall to try to replicate the program. The second is Minute with the Mayor, a short-form video series spotlighting local businesses launched with city videographer Cody Long, named by staffer Chris Kasanova, and debuted with Boardriders Café in Southeast HB. The first episode was so successful that the business application link crashed the city website the next day—and as of the episode, over 40 businesses are in the queue. Casey also shares the behind-the-scenes of filming: coaxing five takes out of the shy family team at Precision Stitches, getting ready to lift weights at Crave Fitness, and planning to batch-film five episodes in a single afternoon alongside Mayor Pro Tem Butch Twinning.

Beyond the programs, Casey opens up about what drives him: the image of moms pushing strollers down Main Street at 9 p.m. because they feel safe, kids playing outside past dark in his neighborhood, and a friend who moved to New York 15 years ago visiting and marveling at how clean and alive the city looks. He points to HB's greatest homeless reduction numbers in city history, a 27% drop in crime, and a City Marathon that drew 21,000 runners from 47 states and 18 countries—including a half-marathon winner from Wisconsin who had left home in -35-degree weather. He makes clear that Minute with the Mayor is politics-free by design: it doesn't matter if a business owner is liberal, conservative, or independent—first come, first served. His only questions are why they chose Surf City, how long they've been here, and what residents should know. A must-watch episode.