BELMONT PARK BOMBSHELL
Steve Thomas President of Belmont Park and Todd Gloria say they are “Happy to Celebrate”.
Are They Celebrating Alleged Fraud, Theft, Corruption, Pollution, Labor Violations, Dangerous Conditions and Asbestos Poisoning at Belmont Park?
Here are the TOP TEN SCANDALS at Belmont Park revealed through PUBLIC RECORDS, AUDITS, ENGINEERING REPORTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEOS, and WHISTLEBLOWERS.
A PUBLIC PARK EXPLOITED into a SCANDAL ZONE.
- Millions Missing— The core of the Belmont Park lease is revenue sharing. Section 4.2 requires monthly revenue reports, Section 4.3 requires annual certified revenue statements, and Section 4.5 guarantees percentage rent on all gross revenue. In response to public records requests, City officials admitted the required reports do not exist. The result is devastating. No reports. No revenue sharing. Millions of dollars taken from taxpayers.
- Illegal Raves Profits Taken— The lease is explicit. Section 1.4 lists the only permitted uses. Section 1.5 makes clear that all other activities are prohibited, and concerts and raves are explicitly prohibited. Section 4.5 requires that all gross revenue from prohibited uses be paid in full to the City. That means 100% of concert and rave profits belong to taxpayers. Instead, operators stage drug and alcohol fueled shows blasting over 90 decibels, weaponizing sound against families, children, and the disabled. None of this revenue has been reported, and the losses reach millions.
- Asbestos Hell — For years Belmont Park has ripped apart buildings with no permits and no asbestos surveys, filling the air with death dust. One breath can plant a cancer that kills decades later. Workers serving food, children on the boardwalk, and families at restaurants may already carry this silent death sentence.
- Toxic Shipping Containers — Hidden inside the roller coaster north loop, shipping containers were illegally converted into employee break rooms with no permits, no inspections, and no approval for human use. These metal boxes were secretly hoisted with a giant crane in the middle of the night, blocking Mission Boulevard in a dangerous stunt to evade detection and oversight. Unpermitted electrical panels wired into the walls create constant fire and shock hazards. Containers are notorious for releasing formaldehyde, solvents, and pesticide residues, turning them into poison chambers. Vulnerable employees including teenagers and pregnant staff are being forced to endure toxic air and life threatening conditions in a public park.
- Deck of Danger — The Beach House deck has been gutted in unpermitted structural demolition. Support beams were cut out and cold plunges dropped into the void where the structure once carried weight. Concrete footings were jackhammered and storm drains buried, some under sand and others sealed beneath concrete slabs. The deck is unstable, unsafe, riddled with trip hazards, never inspected, and a catastrophe waiting to happen. A single collapse during a crowded rave could turn into a mass casualty event with the City fully responsible.
- Polluted Storm Drains — A bathroom trailer spews waste through a flexible hose jammed into the sewer line with no permit or inspection. A trench from the trash compactor sump pit was carved to the grease interceptor and rigged so overflow pours straight into a city storm drain. That drain empties directly into Mission Beach, carrying grease, food sludge, chemical wash water, and bathroom waste into the surf where children swim. Records confirm no permits. This is a deliberate underground pipeline of filth poisoning the ocean in plain sight every single day
- Restaurant Hazards — Suspected Mold dripping from vents, rodent infestations above ceilings, uncleaned soda and ice machines, leaking pipes, and kitchens running without proper hoods or grease traps.
- Unpermitted Utilities — Gas lines installed everywhere to supply fire pits and roof heaters with pipes running through walls under the deck and overhead. DEADLY ELECTRICAL LINES powering saunas and rides buried out of sight and no public record of inspection.
- Fraudulent Reporting — Audits flagged rent underpayments and noncompliance, yet the required filings are missing. Without reports, the true scale of theft from taxpayers is concealed.
- Public Land Exploited — Our City Park turned into a private cash machine. No revenue reports. No permits. No inspections. No accountability.
The Community Demands Answers: Who is Getting Paid to Look the Other Way ?
ASBESTOS NIGHTMARE AT BELMONT PARK ?
Public records confirm that for years construction and restaurant buildouts have taken place at Belmont Park with no permits, no city inspections, and no asbestos surveys on file.
City documents reveal zero asbestos surveys, zero abatement reports, and zero oversight. Despite this record, walls and ceilings of aging buildings have been torn open while the public walked through the property.
By California law, buildings of this age are presumed to contain asbestos unless proven otherwise. Yet instead of producing testing or abatement records, officials described the work as “maintenance” and closed their eyes to the risks.
Dust from these projects was plainly visible in public areas. No public record shows that barriers, warnings, or protective measures were required or enforced. Shoppers, tourists, employees, and families moved through the property with no notice of whether asbestos was present.
The danger is not hypothetical. One fiber of asbestos can remain in the body for life. Once inhaled it does not leave and can trigger disease decades later. That is why regulators call asbestos a silent time bomb.
The unanswered question is chilling: Has the public been put at risk by years of unpermitted, uninspected construction without asbestos testing? The City has provided no evidence to show otherwise.
This is not “maintenance.”
This is a pattern of negligence documented in the City’s own records.
The Ringleader
Dario De Luca controls Belmont Park from a luxury estate far from the wreckage he leaves behind. Under his rule, families are locked out, disabled residents are traumatized, and a public beach has become a fenced-off festival ground for profit and power. The noise is deafening. The safety violations are blatant. The community is shut out while he cashes in.
Millions in public rent are unaccounted for. His company pocketed $3.65 million in federal relief while workers sued for wage theft. De Luca acts like the laws don’t apply to him — untouchable, unreachable, and unbothered by the destruction he causes.
(Images used for informational and advocacy purposes. No endorsement implied.)
Belmont Park Scandals Exposed: An Explosive Investigation into Allegations of Toxic Asbestos, Fraud, Corruption, Dangerous Conditions and Public Betrayal