One of seven directors on the Hollister Independence Rally
Committee stepped down last week after peers requested her
resignation, and the board president confirmed he’s taking a year
off because he’s burned out.
One of seven directors on the Hollister Independence Rally Committee stepped down last week after peers requested her resignation, and the board president confirmed he’s taking a year off because he’s burned out.
That means three of the rally’s eight top decision makers won’t be around as the organization heads into a crucial year with doubts still lingering after its near demise in 2004. Early last week the board also voted to fire its executive director, Bob Beals.
Roseanne McLean was asked by another HIRC director last week to step down and she complied, she said. Plus, Bill Rodgers’ term as president of HIRC is up Sept. 1. He said Friday he won’t be making himself eligible for that elected role and he won’t be active in the organization for the July 4 motorcycle rally in 2005.
Rodgers wants to spend more time with his family, he said. And once rally time comes around again, he wants to experience the event without the stress that comes with running the show.
Rodgers earned the nomination in 2003 after former President Mike Chappelear left following one year of service; Chappelear cited personal reasons for his decision.
“I’ve been there six years and I got like 14 hours of sleep this whole last rally,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers declined to comment on the departure of Roseanne McLean, other than to say she’s a friend and he’ll miss her.
McLean has been involved with HIRC since 2000. In 2004 she was head of security, and for the three years prior she ran the photo towers, she said.
She said Vice President Dave Ventura informed her of the board’s request early last week. McLean was told that many vendors complained about her attitude to HIRC, she said. She didn’t hear any of the complaints, she said.
Ventura declined to comment on McLean’s apparent departure.
“That’s not official yet. We haven’t decided yet,” he said late last week. “We’ll probably know within the next week.”
McLean said there are many conflicting personalities on the board, acknowledging she has a tendency to “have a big mouth, and I can sometimes be less than tactful.”
She was upset they didn’t give her a chance to defend herself.
“I was massively upset,” said the local attorney. “I was in tears.”
The departures add another chapter to an already tumultuous year for Hollister’s signature event.
The City Council nearly canceled the rally in early 2004 because Hollister officials couldn’t obtain enough security help from outside law enforcement agencies. And there were doubts of whether HIRC could raise enough revenue to cover local and outside agencies’ demand for compensation.
McLean, as the head of security, called the private firm HIRC hired to supplement the sworn cops, a “less than professional company.” That, she said, caused her to scurry around the grounds on each of the event’s three days.
HIRC hasn’t released its tally of revenues and expenditures for the 2004 event. They do expect to fall far short of a $100,000 goal in revenues from this year’s experiment to charge $5 for bikes parking downtown.
