A new allegation surfaced recently saying that the Pacific Airshow was canceled in 2021 partly because Huntington Beach officials didn’t like the organizer of the three-day event showcasing aviation flyovers along the city’s shore, according to a recent court filing in a lawsuit between its operator, the city, and its former mayor.
According to the June 30 filing in Orange County Superior Court, which amends the suit first filed by the air show’s operator in October 2022, former Police Chief Julian Harvey told Huntington Beach’s mayor at the time that “he was looking for any excuse to ‘screw’ [Pacific Airshow],” because of his “personal animosity” toward the show’s operators.
The air show’s attorney alleges in the filing the animosity stemmed from comments an air show organizer made after Mr. Harvey “blocked” a band to play at the event saying the official’s action was “racially motivated.”
The larger issue stems from the cancellation of the air show’s Oct. 3 event, after a pipeline broke two days before, spilling 25,000 gallons of oil along the Huntington Beach coast. Officials did not learn of the spill until the day after.
The lawsuit alleges witnesses overheard then-Mayor Kim Carr meeting with Mr. Harvey and other members of the city’s police and fire departments and agreeing to Mr. Harvey’s suggestion to cancel the last day of the show.
But Ms. Carr told The Epoch Times the decision to cancel the show wasn’t hers.
“To my knowledge, that was a decision made by the fire chief, chief of police, city manager, assistant city manager and [the city’s] marine safety in coordination with the US Coast Guard and OC Health,” she said in a text message July 5.
She also said the allegations of plotting against the show with Mr. Harvey are false.
“These statements are absolutely false … This is just one more trick [the air show operator] is doing, and it’s unfortunate that he’s turned it into something personal now,” she said.
The lawsuit also alleges Ms. Carr saw an opportunity from the oil spill to further her political career.
“According to witnesses in the meeting, Ms. Carr became giddy at the idea of the [o]il [s]pill creating this golden opportunity for her to shine in the media spotlight,” the filing states.
Additionally, according to the air show’s filing, Ms. Carr actually did not consult with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, or any others prior to making her decision.
City officials, however, claim the event was canceled due to health and safety concerns from the oil spill.
But Kevin Elliot, the main organizer for the air show, told The Epoch Times his attorney has “first-hand knowledge” that Ms. Carr operated beyond her authority as mayor to help cancel the third and final day of the event, which ran from Oct. 1 to Oct. 3.
The cancellation was announced around midnight in a press release by the city, following an Oct. 2 press conference held earlier that day to announce the oil spill by Ms. Carr, Councilwoman Natalie Moser, and the city’s police and fire chiefs, as well as Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley and other elected officials and city staff.
Mr. Elliot said he received less than 24 hours of notice of the cancellation which led to “significant damages,” according to the lawsuit, and he wasn’t consulted before the cancellation was announced which violated the terms of his permit.
The city could only cancel the air show to “protect public health and safety,” according to the lawsuit.
The new 10-page filing, Mr. Elliot said, offers evidence the show wasn’t canceled solely because of health and safety concerns from the oil spill.
“The motivations for her were not strictly based on health and safety … and regardless if they were, they still breached our permit,” he said.
However, Ms. Carr said Mr. Elliot had been consulted prior to the cancellation of the air show.
“There were witnesses who were present when the call was made to Kevin Elliot about canceling the third day of the air show,” she said.
According to Mr. Elliot, he had sought a remedy from the city and preferred to have not filed a lawsuit. Complicating matters is a change of the council makeup after the November 2022 election.
“I didn’t want to get into a fight with the city of Huntington Beach over the situation, but Kim Carr and the previous council refused to even have a discussion with me about how to make the situation right,” Mr. Elliot said.
The previous city council also punished the air show for voicing concerns over the cancellation, according to the lawsuit, by voting last September to no longer offset some of the event’s costs with parking fees as has been done in previous years.
According to previous council meetings, the offset was established in 2017 as a temporary solution until Pacific Airshow could come up with a title sponsor to take over the costs. In 2017, Breitling—a Swiss luxury watchmaker—was a $200,000 sponsor, but there hasn’t been one since.
Ms. Carr was slated to appear in court July 17, but with the new filing, she said her attorney will now seek a delay.
“The courts are pretty backed up, so we’ll see what our options are, but at this moment we won’t be able to have our hearing on the 17th because of this last-minute filing,” she said.
The city of Huntington Beach has already settled with the airshow operators agreeing to pay $5.4 million in damages due to the cancellation.
The settlement to resolve its portion of the litigation has also drawn criticism from some in the community, with two fresh lawsuits now filed against the city pertaining to the matter.
One suit seeks to stop the city’s first payment of $1.9 million to the event’s organizer, which is due by July 31, and the other requests disclosure of the full settlement agreement to the public. A judge denied a request for an emergency hearing from plaintiffs in those two cases June 30.
The city’s new conservative majority announced the settlement agreement in a May 9 press conference.
Even with all the litigation, the air show is scheduled to return this year from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1.
