Pacific Airshow this month dropped its lawsuit against former Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr that had accused her of wrongly canceling the final day of the 2021 air show after an oil spill was discovered off the coast.

It’s the same October 2022 lawsuit in which Huntington Beach had been sued.

Carr has long maintained that she didn’t unilaterally decide to cancel the air show’s final day following reports of the oil spill, but that it was a decision reached by the U.S. Coast Guard, the fire chief, the police chief and the city manager. Carr, who was elected to the City Council in 2018 and was serving the year as mayor in 2021, said Wednesday she believes the case was, in part, meant to defame her when she ran for state Senate in 2022.

Carr said Wednesday she has been “100% vindicated.”

“As I said all along, this was a malicious, baseless and frivolous lawsuit,” Carr said.

Related links

California auditor to look into Huntington Beach’s air show settlement
Huntington Beach sued over refusal to cooperate with state’s audit of air show settlement
Amplify Energy pays $5.2 million to Huntington Beach over 2021 oil spill
Huntington Beach air show settlement reveals financial promises city made
Federal regulators offer final word on oil spill off coast of Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach leaders defend air show settlement at lively town hall

Pacific Airshow filed a motion to dismiss the case on Nov. 4. The Pacific Airshow has been held annually in Huntington Beach since 2016 and attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the city’s shoreline.

Huntington Beach was dismissed from the case, but not Carr, when the city reached its controversial $4.9 million settlement with the air show in May 2023.

Carr called the Pacific Airshow not dismissing her from the case after winning its settlement vindictive.

A judge ruled against Pacific Airshow’s legal arguments in June, saying that Carr was immune to their claims even if her alleged decision to cancel the air show stemmed from any personal animus. The judge had given Pacific Airshow’s attorneys the opportunity to recast their argument, but they dropped the case before that happened.

Carr said her victory begs the question of why the city didn’t fight the case and instead chose to settle.

An attorney for Pacific Airshow did not respond to a request for comment.

Related Articles