Duncan Ward says operational and financial responsibility for Timestead passed to general manager and prospective buyer Rhett Terrebonne under an agreement signed in June. Terrebonne insists Ward remained responsible for "all payroll and accounts payable" and has now gone even further, telling SanDiegoVille that he never signed the document Ward says governed their arrangement.
"Duncan is a lying," Terrebonne initially wrote. "I have not signed any agreement taking on any financial responsibility. Duncan is the one in charge."
After SanDiegoVille subsequently described the agreement Ward provided, including provisions assigning Terrebonne operational and financial responsibilities, and specifically asked whether he disputed signing it, Terrebonne responded simply: "I didn't sign any document."
There is now substantial documentary evidence that appears difficult to reconcile with that statement.
Ward has provided SanDiegoVille with the complete June 19 Preliminary Management & Confidentiality Agreement, with only portions detailing proposed investment amounts and the parties' contemplated equity split redacted. The document identifies Terrebonne as the prospective investor and "Buyer" and includes electronic form fields bearing his name and a June 19, 2026, 1:13pm PDT execution time.
The agreement did not transfer ownership of Timestead to Terrebonne. In fact, it expressly states that no equity, membership interests, assets or permanent voting rights were being transferred before a final transaction closed and regulatory approvals were obtained.
But ownership and operational responsibility are two different questions, and Section 4 of the agreement is unusually explicit about the latter.
Under a section titled "Interim Management Arrangement," the agreement states that the Buyer "undertakes to operate the business" during the management period and "assumes full responsibility" for its day-to-day operation, including ordering, staffing, vendor management, customer-facing operations and "routine financial administration." That section expressly says it governs day-to-day operations during the interim period and prevails over contrary language elsewhere in the agreement.
The agreement also required HP Modern Local LLC to give Terrebonne access to the company's existing operating bank account, which was to remain in the company's name while being used for Timestead's ordinary-course operations.
Then there is the provision that cuts most directly into the current payroll dispute.
"If the business requires additional cash during the Management Period, the Buyer shall fund it," Section 4(e) states. The agreement explains that such advances would be credited against money Terrebonne was otherwise expected to contribute toward existing debt at closing.
But the complete document also contains an important qualification that was not apparent from the excerpts Ward initially supplied. Section 4(f) says no such advance could be made without the Seller's prior written approval, and before advancing money, the Buyer was required to provide information showing the funds were needed and both sides had to agree in writing to the necessity, amount and timing of the advance.
That means the agreement does not establish that Terrebonne alone could simply inject money whenever Timestead ran short. It does, however, appear to assign him a funding obligation when additional operating cash was required and the contractual approval process was followed.
The agreement further complicates the question of who was actually responsible for payroll by specifically assigning payroll administration to consultant Jeff Noble. Noble was to remain in a consulting role during the management arrangement and "administer payroll for the business," with his consulting fee to be agreed between Terrebonne and Noble.
In other words, the paperwork separates several responsibilities that have been blurred together in the public dispute: Terrebonne was assigned day-to-day operational control and routine financial administration; HP Modern Local LLC remained the owner of the operating bank account; Noble was tasked with administering payroll; and Ward's companies retained legal control associated with their liquor and manufacturing licenses.
Section 4(g) goes even further, stating that because the Buyer controlled day-to-day operations during the management period, the Buyer was responsible for liabilities arising from his operation of the business and agreed to indemnify the company and its managing members, except for liabilities arising from the Seller's own obligations as license holder.
None of that establishes who personally authorized a particular paycheck or conclusively determines legal responsibility for any unpaid wages. But it makes Terrebonne's categorical statement that he signed no agreement taking on financial responsibility considerably more difficult to reconcile with the document SanDiegoVille reviewed.
SanDiegoVille has not independently authenticated the electronic signature beyond reviewing the executed agreement and associated electronic signing information provided by Ward. Terrebonne has not explained whether he contends the signature was forged, the electronic signing record is inaccurate or the agreement is otherwise invalid.
The payroll allegations surfaced after a former Timestead employee quit Friday, August 28, and says a paycheck dated that day couldn't be cashed that Friday or when the worker returned to the bank Monday. The former employee says it was the third recent payroll period in which workers encountered problems getting their money.
SanDiegoVille reviewed a photograph of the August 28 paycheck, issued by HP Modern Local LLC, as well as documentation showing the California Labor Commissioner's Office received a wage claim against "Timestead by Modern Times" on August 29.
Filing a wage claim doesn't establish that the allegations are true, and the Labor Commissioner's Office has not issued a determination. But SanDiegoVille also reviewed conversations in which multiple people discussed alleged payroll problems affecting Timestead workers over different pay periods.
"Every week someone's check bounces," one participant wrote.
SanDiegoVille is withholding the identities of people involved in those conversations because some remain employed by Timestead and have expressed concern about workplace repercussions. The publication has not independently verified every payroll incident described.
The former employee alleges that during one earlier pay period, numerous workers initially couldn't cash their checks. During another, employees allegedly received checks for their normal Friday payday but were instructed to wait until Monday to cash them.
The situation allegedly reached an especially bizarre point after the employee quit and returned to Timestead seeking payment. The worker claims management called San Diego Police when the employee refused to leave without a resolution. SanDiegoVille reviewed communications indicating others associated with Timestead were aware of the confrontation but has not independently verified the circumstances of the police response.
Then came the question that would ordinarily seem simple: Who was responsible for paying these people?
Ward initially told SanDiegoVille that "operational and financial responsibility" passed to Terrebonne in June, with the understanding that Terrebonne would inject substantial capital into Timestead, pay down existing debts and reopen its brewery. Ward says he hasn't participated in day-to-day operations since then.
Terrebonne told SanDiegoVille almost the exact opposite.
"I have not taken any ownership," Terrebonne wrote. "Duncan and I have not come to terms. I have not signed any ownership papers. I am only the general manager of Timestead."
"Duncan is responsible for all payroll and accounts payable," he added.
On the ownership question, the agreement actually supports Terrebonne. It expressly states that the interim arrangement did not transfer ownership or statutory control before closing.
On the question of operational and financial responsibility, however, the document tells a very different story.
Ward has now also provided more detail about access to the Timestead bank account. He says Terrebonne was added as a signer in June and had access to the account, while Ward's own online and app-based access was subsequently removed at some point after June. Ward says he believes he may technically remain a signer of record with the bank but has not tested whether he could still access the account in person.
Ward says he does not know who authorized or issued the August 28 payroll checks and says he has lacked visibility into the account and its transactions since his digital access was removed.
That leaves several key questions unanswered.
It remains unclear who actually initiated the August 28 payroll, whether sufficient money was in the account when the checks were issued, whether any request for additional cash was presented to Ward under the written approval process required by Section 4(f), and whether all employees have now received every dollar they are owed.
Terrebonne has repeatedly declined to answer SanDiegoVille's underlying questions about whether multiple employees received checks that bounced or otherwise could not be negotiated, whether everyone has since been paid, and what caused the reported payroll problems.
The paperwork surrounding Timestead only gets stranger from there.
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records identify HP Modern Local LLC as the owner and licensee behind "Modern Times Pub" at 1065 Fourth Avenue. Ward is identified as a member and manager of that company, and HP Modern Local LLC is also the company printed on the former employee's disputed August 28 paycheck.
The property's permanent Type 47 liquor license has remained pending since October 2025, with Timestead operating under temporary permits in the meantime. ABC records also list a Form 220 hold dating to October, a Board of Equalization hold from January and a Franchise Tax hold from February, although the public records don't explain the amounts or circumstances behind those holds and there is no established connection to the payroll allegations.
Terrebonne, meanwhile, has been publicly linked to plans for a new brewery inside the property called Makali'i Brewing. San Diego Beer News reported in July that the brewery would use the former Resident Brewing production facility connected to Timestead.
"In layman's terms, Makali'i means 'new beginning,'" Terrebonne told the publication. "It will not be Modern Times or Niuhi."
Except the pending state brewing license for that space isn't in Terrebonne's name or Makali'i Brewing's name.
ABC records instead show the pending Type 23 Small Beer Manufacturer license at 411 C Street belongs to bFH LLC, another company managed by Ward. The application was filed in October 2025, before Terrebonne's reported involvement, and remains pending.
And then there's the increasingly existential question of what exactly "Modern Times" even means anymore.
Anyone walking past Timestead would be forgiven for assuming it's a Modern Times establishment. "Modern Times" is emblazoned across the building, its website describes the business as "a downtown hideaway by Modern Times," and the restaurant calls itself both "A MODERN TIMES SPOT" and "A SPOT BY MODERN TIMES." Even its state alcohol records call the business "Modern Times Pub."
Yet Terrebonne says otherwise.
"Modern Times Beer has no relation with Timestead," he told SanDiegoVille.
Wings & Arrow, the company that actually owns the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property, says essentially the same thing.
"Timestead is not part of the licensing deal," Wings & Arrow CEO Wes Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille. "W&A has zero involvement with this business."
Welcome to Modern Times in 2026.
The company launched in Point Loma in 2013 and quickly became one of San Diego's most ambitious breweries, expanding its beer, coffee and hospitality businesses throughout California and beyond. Years of rapid expansion and financial trouble followed, its founder stepped down amid accusations surrounding a toxic workplace culture, and Modern Times entered court-ordered receivership in 2022 before being purchased by Maui Brewing Company's parent company, Craft 'Ohana, for approximately $15.3 million.
Since then, what was once one company has effectively been pulled apart.
Modern Times' original Point Loma brewery closed in 2024. Its beer is now brewed under contract by AleSmith in Miramar. Wings & Arrow subsequently acquired the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property, while separate hospitality and coffee operations continued carrying the Modern Times identity through licensing arrangements involving UK-based Victorum Corporate Strategies.
Even that arrangement is now unraveling.
"Wings and Arrow has never had operational control or involvement in running the taprooms," Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille. "We issued a termination letter about three weeks ago and are currently waiting for the signature to end the license agreement."
And, according to Van De Vort, Timestead wasn't part of that licensing agreement anyway.
So, to recap: Timestead operates beneath a giant Modern Times sign and calls itself "by Modern Times," but the owner of Modern Times says it has zero involvement. Its general manager has been publicly described as its prospective majority owner but says he never acquired it. State records still identify Ward's company as the licensee. Terrebonne says Ward controls the finances. Ward says Terrebonne took over day-to-day operations and was responsible for funding the business under an interim agreement. Terrebonne says he didn't sign any document. SanDiegoVille has reviewed an agreement bearing his apparent electronic signature that assigns him extensive operational and financial responsibilities, while also leaving Ward's companies with continuing legal control as license holders and requiring Ward's written approval before certain additional cash advances could be made.
And somewhere beneath all of that corporate confusion are employees who allege they just wanted to cash their paychecks.
The complete agreement clarifies significantly more than the excerpts Ward initially provided, but it still doesn't answer the most basic factual questions surrounding the disputed payroll. It does not identify who authorized the August 28 checks, whether sufficient funds were in the account when they were issued, whether the contractual process for requesting additional cash was ever triggered, or whether every Timestead worker has now received all wages owed.
What began as a he-said-he-said dispute has therefore become something considerably stranger. Terrebonne says he "didn't sign any document," while SanDiegoVille has reviewed a complete agreement bearing his apparent electronic signature and specifically assigning him responsibility for operating Timestead during the management period. At the same time, the agreement preserves legal control for Ward's companies, assigns payroll administration to a third party and requires Ward's written approval before certain operating advances can be made.
Thirteen years after Modern Times emerged from Point Loma as one of the brightest stars of San Diego's craft beer boom, figuring out who makes Modern Times beer is easier than figuring out who controls businesses carrying its name.
At Timestead, the question is even more basic: when the people working beneath that Modern Times sign allegedly couldn't cash their paychecks, whose job was it to make sure the money was there?
Timestead is located at 1065 Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego. For more information, visit timesteadpub.com.
Originally published September 1, 2026. Updated September 4 following additional responses from Duncan Ward and Rhett Terrebonne and SanDiegoVille's review of the complete June 19 Preliminary Management & Confidentiality Agreement.
Yet Terrebonne says otherwise.
"Modern Times Beer has no relation with Timestead," he told SanDiegoVille.
Wings & Arrow, the company that actually owns the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property, says essentially the same thing.
"Timestead is not part of the licensing deal," Wings & Arrow CEO Wes Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille. "W&A has zero involvement with this business."
Welcome to Modern Times in 2026.
The company launched in Point Loma in 2013 and quickly became one of San Diego's most ambitious breweries, expanding its beer, coffee and hospitality businesses throughout California and beyond. Years of rapid expansion and financial trouble followed, its founder stepped down amid accusations surrounding a toxic workplace culture, and Modern Times entered court-ordered receivership in 2022 before being purchased by Maui Brewing Company's parent company, Craft 'Ohana, for approximately $15.3 million.
Since then, what was once one company has effectively been pulled apart.
Modern Times' original Point Loma brewery closed in 2024. Its beer is now brewed under contract by AleSmith in Miramar. Wings & Arrow subsequently acquired the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property, while separate hospitality and coffee operations continued carrying the Modern Times identity through licensing arrangements involving UK-based Victorum Corporate Strategies.
Even that arrangement is now unraveling.
"Wings and Arrow has never had operational control or involvement in running the taprooms," Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille. "We issued a termination letter about three weeks ago and are currently waiting for the signature to end the license agreement."
And, according to Van De Vort, Timestead wasn't part of that licensing agreement anyway.
So, to recap: Timestead operates beneath a giant Modern Times sign and calls itself "by Modern Times," but the owner of Modern Times says it has zero involvement. Its general manager has been publicly described as its prospective majority owner but says he never acquired it. State records still identify Ward's company as the licensee. Terrebonne says Ward controls the finances. Ward says Terrebonne took over day-to-day operations and was responsible for funding the business under an interim agreement. Terrebonne says he didn't sign any document. SanDiegoVille has reviewed an agreement bearing his apparent electronic signature that assigns him extensive operational and financial responsibilities, while also leaving Ward's companies with continuing legal control as license holders and requiring Ward's written approval before certain additional cash advances could be made.
And somewhere beneath all of that corporate confusion are employees who allege they just wanted to cash their paychecks.
The complete agreement clarifies significantly more than the excerpts Ward initially provided, but it still doesn't answer the most basic factual questions surrounding the disputed payroll. It does not identify who authorized the August 28 checks, whether sufficient funds were in the account when they were issued, whether the contractual process for requesting additional cash was ever triggered, or whether every Timestead worker has now received all wages owed.
What began as a he-said-he-said dispute has therefore become something considerably stranger. Terrebonne says he "didn't sign any document," while SanDiegoVille has reviewed a complete agreement bearing his apparent electronic signature and specifically assigning him responsibility for operating Timestead during the management period. At the same time, the agreement preserves legal control for Ward's companies, assigns payroll administration to a third party and requires Ward's written approval before certain operating advances can be made.
Thirteen years after Modern Times emerged from Point Loma as one of the brightest stars of San Diego's craft beer boom, figuring out who makes Modern Times beer is easier than figuring out who controls businesses carrying its name.
At Timestead, the question is even more basic: when the people working beneath that Modern Times sign allegedly couldn't cash their paychecks, whose job was it to make sure the money was there?
Timestead is located at 1065 Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego. For more information, visit timesteadpub.com.
Originally published September 1, 2026. Updated September 4 following additional responses from Duncan Ward and Rhett Terrebonne and SanDiegoVille's review of the complete June 19 Preliminary Management & Confidentiality Agreement.
