Pacific Airshow Settlement Agreement Under Scrutiny

The City of Huntington Beach attorney Michael Gates was court ordered to release the full and unredacted settlement agreement stemming from Pacific Airshow operator Kevin Elliott’s lawsuit over financial losses that occurred after the 2021 annual event was cut short.

The Pacific Airshow, a three day show of military and civilian flight demonstrations, was canceled on the final day in 2021 due to an oil spill.

“The only reason the settlement agreement was not released earlier is because there’s a part of it that settled the Pacific Airshow lawsuit,” Michael Gates told OrangeCountyLawyers.com.

Download Pacific Airshow settlement HERE.

About 25,000 gallons of oil spilled from a 17.7-mile pipeline into the ocean on Oct. 1, 2021. Amplify Energy reportedly owned the oil rig responsible for the spill – read more about the resulting $50 million and subsequent $45 million additional settlement against Amplify Energy we previously reported.

The portion of the settlement agreement Gates said he did not want to release contained information, terms and conditions for the possibility of a future long-term contract with Pacific Airshow.

“After speaking with our outside attorneys who are representing the city in pending litigation for the oil spill, it was decided that it’s better to keep that agreement undisclosed so as to ensure that the city was in the best position to litigate the oil spill lawsuit,” Gates said.

But Gina Clayton-Tarvin sued in June 2023 alleging violations of the California Public Records Act because the settlement agreement negotiated involves public taxpayer money.

“It was a secret settlement,” Clayton-Tarvin told OrangeCountyLawyers.com. “All they did was release a one-page summary document and when I wrote to Michael Gates asking for the whole entire settlement document, he refused.”

Clayton-Tarvin, a teacher who serves as clerk and former president of the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees, alleges nepotism in favor of Elliott.

“The entire agreement is a shameless giveaway to Pacific Airshow LLC and Code Four CEO Kevin Elliott, who has made political donations to the current City Council majority and the city attorney,” Clayton-Tarvin said.

Elliott did not respond to requests for comment.

Clayton-Tarvin further alleges that the settlement agreement deprived other businesses a fair chance to bid on airshow economic opportunities.

“When you are a public fiduciary or an elected official, you’re supposed to be looking for the lowest responsible bidder according to the California Government Code,” she said. “They did the exact opposite. These people are like drunken sailors out on a weekend spending wildly with no reservations. It’s absurd.”

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Pacific Airshow & Code Four 40 Year Agreement

The settlement agreement gives Pacific Airshow / Code Four the exclusive rights to conduct the airshow for the next 40 years.

Gates disputes Clayton-Tarvin’s argument.

“There’s nothing improper about not opening it up to other vendors or companies to bid under the circumstances and with the threat of litigation and pending litigation, I’m not going to get into too much commentary on the circumstances,” he added.

The settlement states that Pacific Airshow can collect concessions from its exclusive rights to 3,500 parking spaces, and the first $2 million the City gets in any lawsuit against Amplify Energy. The agreement also waived $450,000 in special event permit fees.

“The Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission have been in contact with us and with the city stating they have intent to look at enforcement,” Clayton-Tarvin added. “Huntington Beach, city beach, and the piers are actually property of the state of California. They just lease it to the city of Huntington Beach. So, that is property of the people of California. They’re tying up public land when they have no legal authority to do so.”

The State Lands Commission did not respond to requests for comment. The Coastal Commission declined to comment on enforcement investigation matters but Sarah Christie, legislative director, told OrangeCountyLawyers.com, “We became aware of the specifics of the settlement agreement last week, and the exclusive allocation of so many public parking and RV camping spaces for unspecified ‘monetization’ is concerning. This has significant implications for general public coastal access, and has not been authorized through a coastal development permit.”