Huntington Beach council members agreed to pursue a settlement with the state over an audit into the city’s controversial Pacific Airshow settlement.
The City Council voted in closed session on Tuesday to look at reaching an agreement in the lawsuit brought by California State Auditor Grant Parks, who sued the city in 2024 for failing to comply with a state-ordered review of the settlement Huntington Beach reached with operators of the annual air show.
The city attorney will begin settlement discussions with the state’s attorneys; a final agreement would need to be reviewed and approved by the council.
Councilmember Andrew Gruel, who, with Councilmember Chad Williams, raised the discussion of pursuing a settlement, said ending the prolonged fight over the audit will save the city thousands of dollars in legal fees.
“As a new councilmember looking at all the facts, I don’t see why we are fighting an audit when there’s nothing to hide in regard to the air show,” said Gruel, who was appointed to the council in March of 2025. Gruel said he couldn’t further discuss the active litigation.
Huntington Beach settled a lawsuit with the Pacific Airshow’s operators in 2023, agreeing to pay $4.9 million for losses incurred after the final day of the 2021 show was canceled due to an oil spill. The settlement also laid out terms for the Pacific Airshow to have exclusive rights to host an annual air show for up to 40 years, waiving fees and allowing the operator to monetize thousands of public parking spaces.
In May 2024, the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved a state audit of the settlement at the behest of then State Sen. Dave Min, allowing Parks to subpoena then-city Treasurer Alisa Backstrom for an interview and the city for permits and contracts with Pacific Airshow. Parks sued the city five months later for failing to cooperate with the audit.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Carmen Luege held a two-day evidentiary hearing in March to consider the city’s explanation for why it has not complied with the audit. Luege has raised concerns about the scope of the state’s subpoena powers, while also rejecting the city’s argument that “individual charter cities” such as Huntington Beach had the authority to manage their own finances.
Lawyers for the city and state are expected to file their closing briefs to the court before June 1.