In November 2018, State Parks completed an audit of the “Dennis Shay dba Carlsbad Village Athletic Clubs” beach concession for volleyball, yoga and other non-aquatic activities. The audit found numerous irregularities and problems with concessionaire including improper record keeping, not maintaining required safety certs, permitting and soliciting special events without State Parks approval, non-compliance with premise use terms, unapproved use of DPR logos, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, and fees and charges not publicly available and inconsistently applied. Other serious accusations, including #metoo incidents, made by individuals against the concessionaire apparently did not make it into the final report.
The audit recommended immediate termination of the concession which State Parks never did. The concession has continued on a month-to-month basis through 2020.
The State Parks audit team also recommended that the local State Parks office directly manage Carlsbad State Beach operations for a period of time to determine demand, revenue and whether a concession was even necessary. State Parks has not done this either.
DOWNLOAD THE ACTUAL AUDIT REPORT BELOW:
