Claim:

A Huntington Beach City Council candidate has filed a claim against the city and the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center accusing the center of mismanagement, intimidation and depriving taxpayers of more than $1.5 million and claiming that the city permitted the violations.

Gregg DeLong, a first-time candidate who entered the race in November, filed the claim Monday. He and his family have kept horses at the property for four years, and his allegations resulted from his experiences and from talking to other boarders, former boarders and employees at the center, he said.

Among other things, DeLong accused the city of failing to collect revenues from subcontractors, including trainers, veterinarians and horseshoers who work for the center. He also accused the center’s management of charging higher rates to select boarders, allowing unlicensed businesses to operate on the premises, using verbal and physical intimidation against himself and other boarders and employing undocumented workers who toil under law-violating conditions.

City Atty. Jennifer McGrath said her office would look into DeLong’s claims. She noted, though, that she had not heard other complaints about the center owing revenue to the city or mistreating its workers.

“If there is money that has not been paid to the city, then absolutely, the city should be pursuing that,” McGrath said. “But I don’t have specific facts to support the veracity of his claim.”

Mary Behrens, equestrian center owner, did not return calls seeking comment. Mindy White, a member of the center’s boarders committee and a boarder for six years, disputed DeLong’s claims.

“There is concern among boarders at the [center] that Mr. DeLong’s allegations are without merit and do not represent the majority of boarders’ experiences at the stable,” she said.

DeLong said he has repeatedly contacted city officials about his claims and gotten little response. In February, he said, he led a group of officials on a tour of the center and persuaded them to make a few minor changes, such as fixing arenas that had fallen into disrepair, but his larger issues have gone ignored.

“The usual response from the city to me is that the city doesn’t respond,” DeLong said.

The claim targets “multiple” city officials but specifically names two Community Services staffers: Director Jim Engle and Dave Dominguez, the manager of facilities, concessions and development.

Both declined to comment on the claim, but Dominguez confirmed that the city had made repairs at the center after the tour with DeLong in February.

“It was all pretty minor stuff,” he said. “But they were things that were pointed out and corrected.”

DeLong, who has complained in his campaign about the city not listening to residents’ needs, said he didn’t intend his claim as a political move, but acknowledged that it might have a bearing on his candidacy.

“I believe what’s been done is wrong and needs to be addressed,” he said. “That said, if it works its way into the campaign and people will see I’m willing to fight for what’s right and defend the taxpayers of Huntington Beach, that’s why I’m running.”