The Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach just got a 25-year deal that guarantees the operators thousands of public parking spots and other benefits, like the city paying for public safety at the three-day event.
Huntington Beach City Council members greenlit a two decade deal with the airshow operators of the Pacific Airshow at Tuesday’s council meeting
While a majority of council members publicly praised the deal, Councilman Chad Williams raised a host of concerns – mostly centered around just how much tax money the airshow brings to Surf City.
“I hate to say it, but I just don’t see it,” Williams said. “There’s so many numbers we don’t know.”
Casey McKeon, one of the three council members left from when the original airshow settlement was approved, said that while “no one’s happy with it,” they had to make some sacrifices to keep the airshow.
“It’s already proven that it can be a success,” McKeon said. “It’s hard to quantify what the financial amount is, but it’s huge.”
Tuesday’s deal came two years after city council members signed away most of their negotiating power in a settlement with Kevin Elliott, the owner of Pacific Airshow LLC, after city leaders shut down the airshow during an oil spill in 2021.
[Read: How Did a Huntington Beach Air Show Become Embroiled in Controversy and Politics?]
City officials repeatedly claimed at the time that the settlement wouldn’t cut into negotiations – saying it served as a framework for talks.
Yet on Tuesday night, officials said their only option was to sign the 25-year deal with Elliott or face the possibility of an even worse deal.
“As tough as it is to swallow, the negotiation has already been transacted,” said Councilman Don Kennedy. “Let’s hope for success. Yeah, hope. There’s no finite things in this world.”
Under the deal city leaders approved, the airshow’s operators are guaranteed a right to a “boat-race around Catalina Island, on-sand entertainment, music, and other entertainment,” along with a “multiday music festival.”
They also receive all the public parking spots along the coast between Seventh Street and Beach Boulevard, along with the Main Street parking garage, Pier Plaza and amphitheater parking for the first five years.
After that, they just have to pay city leaders $10 a spot.
City leaders also agreed to cover the costs of police, fire and public works staff at the event, along with other mitigating fees.
[Read: How Much Will Huntington Beach Subsidize the Pacific Airshow?]
Council members defended the deal, pointing to a 2023 study by consulting firm Destination Analysts, which claimed the city saw $120 million of economic impact from the airshow annually.
But when Destination Analysts were asked about where those numbers came from by Voice of OC, they weren’t able to explain it.
[Read: How Much Money Does the Pacific Airshow Bring to Huntington Beach?]
Williams asked why city leaders had never done an audit to figure out the tax dollars generated by the airshow, and pointed to over $800,000 of annual expenses the city would be responsible for under the new airshow deal.
“Who’s doing the negotiating here?” Williams asked. “It’s totally possible for us to actually go get an economist and figure out these numbers…why has that not been done? I don’t know.”
Williams called on city council members to press pause on the deal and renegotiate the contract within a year, but his fellow council members did not agree.
“I do appreciate Councilman William’s breakdown,” said Councilman Butch Twining. “I do think there’s a lot of intangibles that don’t go into Councilman Williams’ calculations.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.