Duncan Ward says operational and financial responsibility for Timestead passed to general manager Rhett Terrebonne in June under a written management agreement. Terrebonne says he never assumed financial responsibility and insists Ward remains responsible for "all payroll and accounts payable."
When SanDiegoVille presented Ward's account to Terrebonne, his response was blunt.
"Duncan is a lying," Terrebonne wrote. "I have not signed any agreement taking on any financial responsibility. Duncan is the one in charge."
The disagreement comes amid allegations from a former employee that Timestead workers have repeatedly encountered problems getting paid.
The employee contacted SanDiegoVille after quitting Friday, August 28, and alleges a paycheck dated that day could not be cashed either Friday or when the worker returned to the bank Monday. The employee says it was the third recent payroll period in which workers experienced problems obtaining their wages.
SanDiegoVille reviewed a photograph of the August 28 paycheck, which was issued by HP Modern Local LLC. The employee also provided documentation confirming that the California Labor Commissioner's Office received a wage claim against "Timestead by Modern Times" on August 29 and assigned it to the agency's San Diego Wage Claim Adjudication office.
Filing a wage claim does not establish that the allegations are true, and SanDiegoVille has not seen any determination by the Labor Commissioner's Office.
The complaint, however, does not appear to exist in isolation. SanDiegoVille reviewed conversations among people discussing alleged payroll problems involving multiple Timestead employees over different pay periods.
"Every week someone's check bounces," one participant wrote.
SanDiegoVille is withholding the identities of people participating in those conversations because some remain employed by Timestead and have expressed concern about workplace repercussions. SanDiegoVille has not independently verified every payroll incident described in the messages.
The former employee alleges that during one earlier pay period, checks issued to numerous workers could not initially be cashed. During another, employees allegedly received checks dated for their normal Friday payday but were instructed to wait until Monday before attempting to cash them. Several pay periods apparently passed without incident before the latest alleged problem on August 28.
The employee further alleges that after quitting and returning to Timestead seeking a resolution, management called San Diego Police when the worker refused to leave. SanDiegoVille reviewed communications indicating others associated with Timestead were aware of the confrontation but has not independently verified the circumstances surrounding the police response.
Exactly who is responsible for Timestead's payroll has now become a surprisingly difficult question to answer.
Ward initially told SanDiegoVille that Terrebonne took control of the business in early June.
"In early June, operational and financial responsibility for Timestead passed to Rhett, with the understanding he would put in substantial capital to pay down outstanding debts and reopen the brewery," Ward said.
Ward said he has since had "no involvement in the day-to-day running of the business" and no access to its accounts. When asked about the payroll allegations and wage claim, he directed the questions to Terrebonne.
"I can't speak to the specifics of payroll or the wage claim you've mentioned - I'd only be speculating, and given it's an active matter, I don't think that would be fair to anyone involved," Ward said. "Rhett would be best placed to answer questions about how the business has been run since June."
Terrebonne tells a very different story.
"In response to the sdbeer news article 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."
He then directly rejected Ward's account of the finances.
"Duncan is responsible for all payroll and accounts payable," Terrebonne said.
Ward responded by saying the issue isn't whether Terrebonne completed an ownership purchase. According to Ward, the two men signed a separate Preliminary Management & Confidentiality Agreement on June 19 that transferred responsibility for running the business while negotiations continued.
"I want to correct the record on a couple of points, based on a signed document rather than recollection," Ward told SanDiegoVille.
Ward says that agreement gave Terrebonne "full responsibility for its day-to-day operation, including ordering, staffing, vendor management, customer-facing operations, and routine financial administration."
According to Ward, the agreement also made the prospective buyer responsible for liabilities arising from operating the business, except obligations belonging to the company in its capacity as license holder.
"So it isn't accurate to say I've been responsible for payroll and accounts payable since that date," Ward said. "The signed agreement assigns that responsibility to Rhett for the duration of the management period."
Ward says that arrangement was supposed to continue until Terrebonne contributed capital to the business, but says the promised money never arrived.
"That capital has not yet been distributed," Ward said.
SanDiegoVille has not reviewed the agreement itself, and Ward's description of its provisions therefore remains his characterization of the document. Ward has offered to provide the relevant portion.
Terrebonne disputes Ward's account and says he signed no agreement assuming financial responsibility.
The distinction is important because the two men may actually be arguing about several different things: ownership of Timestead, management of its daily operations and responsibility for providing the money necessary to make payroll.
One basic question remains unanswered: Who controls the bank accounts from which Timestead employees are actually paid?
Ward says he hasn't had access to the company's accounts since June. Terrebonne says Ward is responsible for payroll and accounts payable.
Public records provide some answers about ownership, but they don't resolve the payroll dispute.
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records identify HP Modern Local LLC as the primary owner and licensee behind "Modern Times Pub" at 1065 Fourth Avenue. That's also the company whose name appears on the former employee's August 28 paycheck.
ABC records identify Ward as a member and manager of HP Modern Local LLC. Those records support Terrebonne's statement that he has not acquired ownership of Timestead, but they don't establish whether Ward separately delegated responsibility for running the business to Terrebonne under the management agreement Ward describes.
The permanent Type 47 liquor license for the property has remained pending since October 2025, while Timestead has continued serving alcohol under temporary permits. Its latest temporary permit took effect August 27 and runs through December 24.
ABC records also list a Form 220 hold dating to October 2025, a Board of Equalization hold from January and a Franchise Tax hold from February on the pending license. The public records reviewed by SanDiegoVille don't disclose the amounts or underlying circumstances, and there is no established connection between those holds and the alleged payroll problems. ABC lists no disciplinary history or active disciplinary action against the license.
Adding another layer to the story is the brewery Terrebonne has said he intends to develop inside the property.
San Diego Beer News reported in July that Terrebonne planned to establish Makali'i Brewing using the former Resident Brewing production facility adjacent to Timestead.
"In layman's terms, Makali'i means 'new beginning,'" Terrebonne told the publication. "It will not be Modern Times or Niuhi."
But the pending state brewing license for that space isn't currently in Terrebonne's name or Makali'i Brewing's.
As of September 1, ABC records show the pending Type 23 Small Beer Manufacturer license at 411 C Street belongs to BFH, LLC and identifies Ward as the company's member and manager. That application dates to October 30, 2025, months before Terrebonne's reported involvement with the property, and remains pending.
Then there is the Modern Times name itself.
Timestead certainly looks like a Modern Times business. Its downtown building prominently displays "Modern Times" above the entrance. Its website describes Timestead as "a downtown hideaway by Modern Times" and calls the establishment both "A MODERN TIMES SPOT" and "A SPOT BY MODERN TIMES." Even ABC records identify the business attached to its alcohol license as "Modern Times Pub."
But both Terrebonne and the company that owns the Modern Times beer brand say otherwise.
"Modern Times Beer has no relation with Timestead," Terrebonne told SanDiegoVille.
Wings & Arrow CEO Wes Van De Vort was equally explicit.
"Timestead is not part of the licensing deal," Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille. "W&A has zero involvement with this business."
That distinction requires a short trip through the increasingly strange history of Modern Times.
Founded in San Diego in 2013, Modern Times grew from its Point Loma brewery into an ambitious beer-and-coffee company with locations throughout California and beyond. After years of rapid expansion and mounting financial problems, as well as the founder stepping down due to toxic workplace accusations, the company entered court-ordered receivership in 2022 and was acquired by Maui Brewing Company's parent company, Craft 'Ohana, for approximately $15.3 million.
Modern Times subsequently contracted dramatically. Its original Point Loma brewery closed in 2024, and Modern Times beer is now produced under contract by AleSmith in Miramar.
Wings & Arrow later acquired the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property, while hospitality and coffee businesses carrying the Modern Times identity continued separately under a licensing arrangement involving UK-based Victorum Corporate Strategies.
Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille earlier this summer that Wings & Arrow had little involvement in those establishments beyond supplying beer.
"Essentially we had very little to do with the existing tasting rooms besides supplying them with beer," he said.
Wings & Arrow has since moved to terminate that licensing agreement, according to Van De Vort.
"Wings and Arrow has never had operational control or involvement in running the taprooms," he said. "We issued a termination letter about three weeks ago and are currently waiting for the signature to end the license agreement."
But according to Van De Vort, Timestead wasn't part of that agreement in the first place.
That leaves a downtown business covered in Modern Times branding whose general manager says Modern Times Beer has no relationship with it, while the company that owns the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property says it has "zero involvement" with the establishment.
Meanwhile, the more immediate dispute remains much simpler.
A former employee has filed a wage claim alleging payroll problems. Other communications reviewed by SanDiegoVille describe additional alleged problems cashing employee checks. Ward says Terrebonne took responsibility for operating and financially administering Timestead under a written management agreement. Terrebonne says he assumed no financial responsibility and Ward remains responsible for payroll.
Neither has yet answered the question that could cut through much of the disagreement: Who controls Timestead's payroll account and the money used to pay its employees?
SanDiegoVille has asked Ward to provide the June 19 agreement he says both men signed and has asked Terrebonne to clarify whether he disputes signing that management agreement altogether or instead disputes Ward's interpretation of what it requires.
Wings & Arrow has also been asked to explain how Timestead is able to publicly market itself as "by Modern Times," call itself "A MODERN TIMES SPOT" and prominently display the Modern Times name if the establishment is not part of its licensing agreement.
Thirteen years after Modern Times launched in Point Loma as one of San Diego's most ambitious breweries, the brand has become almost unrecognizable from the unified company it once was. But at Timestead, the current mystery isn't merely who owns the Modern Times name.
It's who is responsible for making sure the people working beneath it get paid.
Timestead is located at 1065 Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego. For more information, visit timesteadpub.com.
Originally published September 1, 2026. Updated several times following ongoing responses from Wes Van De Vort, Duncan Ward and Rhett Terrebonne.
But both Terrebonne and the company that owns the Modern Times beer brand say otherwise.
"Modern Times Beer has no relation with Timestead," Terrebonne told SanDiegoVille.
Wings & Arrow CEO Wes Van De Vort was equally explicit.
"Timestead is not part of the licensing deal," Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille. "W&A has zero involvement with this business."
That distinction requires a short trip through the increasingly strange history of Modern Times.
Founded in San Diego in 2013, Modern Times grew from its Point Loma brewery into an ambitious beer-and-coffee company with locations throughout California and beyond. After years of rapid expansion and mounting financial problems, as well as the founder stepping down due to toxic workplace accusations, the company entered court-ordered receivership in 2022 and was acquired by Maui Brewing Company's parent company, Craft 'Ohana, for approximately $15.3 million.
Modern Times subsequently contracted dramatically. Its original Point Loma brewery closed in 2024, and Modern Times beer is now produced under contract by AleSmith in Miramar.
Wings & Arrow later acquired the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property, while hospitality and coffee businesses carrying the Modern Times identity continued separately under a licensing arrangement involving UK-based Victorum Corporate Strategies.
Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille earlier this summer that Wings & Arrow had little involvement in those establishments beyond supplying beer.
"Essentially we had very little to do with the existing tasting rooms besides supplying them with beer," he said.
Wings & Arrow has since moved to terminate that licensing agreement, according to Van De Vort.
"Wings and Arrow has never had operational control or involvement in running the taprooms," he said. "We issued a termination letter about three weeks ago and are currently waiting for the signature to end the license agreement."
But according to Van De Vort, Timestead wasn't part of that agreement in the first place.
That leaves a downtown business covered in Modern Times branding whose general manager says Modern Times Beer has no relationship with it, while the company that owns the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property says it has "zero involvement" with the establishment.
Meanwhile, the more immediate dispute remains much simpler.
A former employee has filed a wage claim alleging payroll problems. Other communications reviewed by SanDiegoVille describe additional alleged problems cashing employee checks. Ward says Terrebonne took responsibility for operating and financially administering Timestead under a written management agreement. Terrebonne says he assumed no financial responsibility and Ward remains responsible for payroll.
Neither has yet answered the question that could cut through much of the disagreement: Who controls Timestead's payroll account and the money used to pay its employees?
SanDiegoVille has asked Ward to provide the June 19 agreement he says both men signed and has asked Terrebonne to clarify whether he disputes signing that management agreement altogether or instead disputes Ward's interpretation of what it requires.
Wings & Arrow has also been asked to explain how Timestead is able to publicly market itself as "by Modern Times," call itself "A MODERN TIMES SPOT" and prominently display the Modern Times name if the establishment is not part of its licensing agreement.
Thirteen years after Modern Times launched in Point Loma as one of San Diego's most ambitious breweries, the brand has become almost unrecognizable from the unified company it once was. But at Timestead, the current mystery isn't merely who owns the Modern Times name.
It's who is responsible for making sure the people working beneath it get paid.
Timestead is located at 1065 Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego. For more information, visit timesteadpub.com.
Originally published September 1, 2026. Updated several times following ongoing responses from Wes Van De Vort, Duncan Ward and Rhett Terrebonne.