Hollister
– A local attorney asked the City Council this week to suspend
parking regulations in Hollister during the Fourth of July weekend,
warning that the strict enforcement promised by police during that
time when hordes bikers are expected to roar into town for the
”
unofficial rally
”
could be unconstitutional.
Hollister – A local attorney asked the City Council this week to suspend parking regulations in Hollister during the Fourth of July weekend, warning that the strict enforcement promised by police during that time when hordes bikers are expected to roar into town for the “unofficial rally” could be unconstitutional.
Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller has said that parking laws will be strictly enforced during the July 4th holiday as part of local law enforcement’s strategy to deal with the thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts anticipated to come to downtown Hollister despite the cancellation of the 2006 Hollister Independence Rally. Because of budget constraints, the police department has not routinely enforced parking laws – primarily those that limit the amount of time a car can be parked in one spot – since 2004, according to Miller.
Parking regulations, though ostensibly impartial, can easily become a means to harass particular groups if they are applied with an, “Evil eye and unequal hand,” Hollister defense attorney George Barton told the council Monday, quoting from a 1886 decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that a San Francisco ordinance prohibiting laundries in wooden buildings was being unfairly enforced on Chinese immigrants. If police target bikers when enforcing parking regulations, Barton said, the city will be violating their right to equal protection under the law, which is guaranteed in the 14th amendment of the U.S. constitution.
“It will send a message to our two-wheel tourists that they are not welcome in Hollister,” he said during the public comment period of the meeting. He also asked the council to pass a resolution suspending the enforcement of parking regulations during the Fourth of July weekend.
City officials disagree, saying that all vehicles will be subject to stepped up enforcement of parking laws, whether they have two wheels, four wheels or more.
“The police department’s announced plans to enforce laws downtown during the Fourth of July does not constitute selective enforcement against motorcyclists,” City Attorney Elaine Cass wrote in an e-mail. “If there is, in fact, a large public gathering downtown on July 4, whether grandmothers, republicans or motorcyclists, then law enforcement may and will take whatever action it deems necessary and appropriate under the circumstances to keep the peace.”
In an interview after Monday’s meeting, Barton said that police plans for strict enforcement of parking regulations during the holiday – even if vehicles other than motorcycles are subject to it – is intended at keeping bikers out of downtown Hollister and puts the city at risk of lawsuits.
“Equal protection means that the law has to apply equally to everybody. If you single out a group and enforce the law against them and not others, that’s a violation of equal protection,” he said. “(The city) is entering an area where it better tread very lightly.”
Bikers alone will not be targeted, Miller said.
“In our case the restraints will apply to everybody, whether it’s a car a motorcycle or a motorhome,” he said.
Councilman Doug Emerson, who is among the majority on the council who voted in February to cancel Hollister’s annual motorcycle rally for 2006, said that he was initially wary about strict enforcement of parking regulations.
“I was concerned, that if we do it, we not do it in a form that appeared to be harassment,” he said.
Emerson said his fears were assuaged, however, when Miller told the council that officers would not be overzealous when citing parking violators and that the laws would be enforced on all vehicles equally.
Councilman Robert Scattini – an outspoken rally supporter who voted against canceling the event for this year – said that he worries that Barton might be correct. Also, Scattini added, he recently received a call from a person saying they were a civil rights attorney and would be in Hollister for the Fourth of July holiday hunting for civil rights violations.
“I think (Barton) has a valid point,” Scattini said. “Here we don’t enforce parking laws at all and all of a sudden we enforce the laws?”
To reaffirm his support of the rally, Scattini said he plans to write a letter to the Thunder Press, a widely read motorcycle publication, welcoming bikers to Hollister on July Fourth.
“It will be me personally, as a citizen, saying I welcome all bikers to Hollister,’ he said. “It’s been a tradition and I hope they come and have a good time.”
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at
lr****@fr***********.com
