After several meetings to discuss the future of the Hollister
Independence Rally, it is time for the City Council to make a
decision. While Council members hem and haw over the future of the
ode to Marlon Brando, Harleys and the rebel spirit, valuable time
is wasting.
After several meetings to discuss the future of the Hollister Independence Rally, it is time for the City Council to make a decision. While Council members hem and haw over the future of the ode to Marlon Brando, Harleys and the rebel spirit, valuable time is wasting.
The Council again discussed the Rally during Monday’s Council meeting – two members shy of a full quorum – and plenty of concerns were aired but no action was taken. Now, the holidays are upon us and it will be a new year before the Council gets a chance to weigh in on the event that draws more than 100,000 people and their money to Hollister every Fourth of July weekend.
There has been time to mull this decision over. The debate about the Rally’s future began when Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller raised his concerns about the potential for violence between outlaw biker groups in October. Since then, the Council canceled it’s contract with the Hollister Independence Rally Committee – the nonprofit group that founded the event – to host the event because it wasn’t pleased with how much it cost the city. And Ghostrider Productions – a for-profit group composed of some former HIRC organizers – has presented an alternative plan to host the Rally out of town.
Now, in late December, it seems to us that there is enough information on the table to make a decision. No one should make a hasty decision that would put the city or its money at risk, but the council has had weeks to think it over and it is important that a decision get made soon.
If the event is going to go forward, organizers need to time to do just that – organize the Rally. That’s a huge task, vendors must be notified, security arrangements must be made and entertainers must be booked. If the council wants to kill the Rally, local businesses that make money during the event need to know so they can make other arrangements and officials need time to spread the word so a horde of bikers doesn’t descend on downtown Hollister expecting the usual host of festivities.
The Council should schedule an up-or-down vote on the Rally at its first meeting in January, notify the public so everyone who wants to can comment, review all the material and come, in full attendance, prepared to cast their votes.
The Rally is the most significant event of the year in Hollister, and dithering about its future certainly won’t make it a success. On something this important, we need our leaders to stand up and take action.
