HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — In a one-sided 2023 settlement, Huntington Beach officials handed Pacific Airshow LLC at least $5.45 million in public money and credits while surrendering free use of thousands of taxpayer-owned parking spaces, unlimited fee waivers and exclusive control of a major public event for as long as 40 years, all while guaranteeing the city zero rent and zero share of the revenue the company collects.
The private operator walks away with every dollar from parking. At its roughly $50-per-car rate, 3,500 spaces filled once a day for three days would generate $525,000 a show for the company. Even the more limited 2025 footprint of about 500 spaces could bring in up to $75,000, none of it returned to residents. The agreement itself prices the free 3,500-space allocation at $105,000 a show. Meanwhile, the city is forced to pay staff to run the lots so a private business can pocket the fees.
After the company sued the city in 2022 over the cancellation of one day of the 2021 show due to an oil spill, Huntington Beach officials folded. They agreed to pay $4,999,000 over six years, forgive a $194,945 invoice, credit another $149,200 in fees and provide a parking offset of at least $110,000. If the city ever recovers money from Amplify Energy over the spill, it must hand over as much as $2 million of that recovery to the company, pushing the total public cost toward $7.45 million. The settlement states it is not an admission of liability, yet the city still transferred millions in public funds.
The agreement goes further: It forces the city to waive, with no cap whatsoever, every fee and cost tied to the event, including police, fire, marine safety, road closures and more. Those uncapped waivers cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The city’s own environmental review adds hundreds of thousands more. Even a basic crew of 20 parking attendants costs residents about $10,800 over three days, all so the company can keep the revenue.
Pacific Airshow keeps 100% of ticket sales and controls RV camping on public land. A single day of nearly full pier seating at $85 starting prices could generate about $45,400. The 34 sellable RV spaces at $3,800 a weekend could bring in more than $129,000, again with residents receiving nothing.
Once environmental review is complete, the company locks in exclusive rights to hold the show for 10 years starting in 2024, with three additional 10-year renewals at its sole option, a potential 40-year monopoly. The city can cancel only in a declared health or safety crisis, and only after consulting the company. Blocking a transfer of those rights requires a supermajority of five of seven council members. In September 2025 the City Council doubled down, approving a further 25-year arrangement under which the operator keeps parking revenue for the first five years and then pays the city a token $10 a space while taxpayers continue covering public safety costs.
The 2016-2023 shows operated for years without required coastal permits. The company’s own environmental report admits air quality, noise and evacuation impacts that cannot be reduced to a less-than-significant level.
Then-City Attorney Michael Gates negotiated and signed the original giveaway. He is now the Republican nominee for California attorney general. The city tried to keep the full terms secret, releasing only a summary until resident Gina Clayton-Tarvin sued. A judge ordered the city to pay her more than $182,000 in attorney fees and costs after rejecting its confidentiality claims.
A state audit examining whether Gates’ actions matched those of other city attorneys was approved in 2024 at the request of Sen. Dave Min. Gates claimed the city was exempt from state audit authority, a position Min called baseless. The State Auditor had to sue to proceed. A judge cleared the audit in August 2026. No findings have been released.
Gates has defended the deal even while acknowledging the council could not undo the benefits once they were locked into the settlement. Then-Mayor Tony Strickland, who signed it, council members Casey McKeon, Pat Burns and Gracey Van Der Mark, and Gates all campaigned on “saving” the airshow. Code Four, led by Pacific Airshow owner Kevin Elliott, produced many of their campaign signs and events. In 2026 the state Fair Political Practices Commission fined McKeon, Burns, Van Der Mark, Gates and a former council member for failing to properly report free airshow tickets.
The settlement itself is sloppily drafted. It references a nonexistent section, cites an undefined “2022 Specific Events Invoice,” never mentions the Coastal Act, imposes no performance requirements on the company, grants the city no termination right and restricts public disclosure of its terms.
Critics have called the package exactly what it appears to be: a politically connected transfer of public money, public land and public authority to a private operator, with taxpayers left covering the costs and receiving nothing in return. Supporters continue to cite an unverified claim of $120 million in annual economic activity.
