State ethics commissioners fined five current and former Huntington Beach elected officials for failing to disclose free passes they received to the Pacific Airshow.
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The Fair Political Practices Commission issued fines from $100 to $700 against Mayor Casey McKeon, councilmembers Pat Burns and Gracey Van Der Mark, former City Attorney Michael Gates and former Councilmember Erik Peterson, according to the agency’s second quarter report, which was released June 30.
McKeon and Burns were ordered to pay $700, Gates and Peterson $600, and Van Der Mark $100. The five had received either one or two VIP tickets to the 2022 airshow that the commission valued at $150 each, according to the filing. The Huntington Beach officials had violated the Political Reform Act by not reporting the tickets on their statements of economic interest, known as the Form 700, the FPPC report said.
The commission approved the enforcement decisions against the Huntington Beach leaders at its monthly meeting in May.
McKeon said he paid the fine months ago, though he didn’t find it fair.
He said the passes had “no monetary value” because they were given to officials who would attend the event as “ambassadors” or “dignitaries” of the city. He added that the city did not have the same disclosure rules for tickets to the airshow as it did for other major events, such as the Lexus US Open of Surfing going on this week at the pier. That has since been amended.
“Previous officials went to the same event,” McKeon said, “yet they weren’t singled out, but we were.”
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Peterson, who was termed out in 2022, said he attended the airshow primarily to meet with visiting government officials from Australia who wanted to bring the event to the Gold Coast. He said he paid the fine but found it “ridiculous,” especially given that he left office years ago.
“They fined me for doing my job,” Peterson said. “I wasn’t there watching the show, drinking, having fun or anything.”
Gates, Van Der Mark and Burns did not respond to requests for comment.
In 2023, Huntington Beach settled a lawsuit with the Pacific Airshow’s operators after an oil spill cut short the 2021 event. The $4.9 million agreement laid out terms for the operators to potentially have exclusive rights to host an annual air show for up to 40 years, waved some fees and allowed the operator to monetize thousands of public parking spaces.
The legislature’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved an audit of the settlement in May 2024; that was followed by a lawsuit from state auditor Grant Parks over the city’s refusal to cooperate with the review. The city in April agreed to work out an agreement with the state.
Gates, who was city attorney at the time, has called the audit a waste of state resources.
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