Though there is still almost week before they cast the votes
that will decide the future of the Hollister Independence Rally,
City Council members made one thing clear during a Monday workshop
held to discuss the city’s signature event: Something has to
change.
Hollister – Though there is still almost week before they cast the votes that will decide the future of the Hollister Independence Rally, City Council members made one thing clear during a Monday workshop held to discuss the city’s signature event: Something has to change.
On Nov. 21 the Council is set to decide the future of the rally and the Hollister Independence Rally Committee, which has organized the event for nearly a decade. While council members talked about a variety of rally issues – ranging from changing the event’s location to having a new group organize the rally – the discussion during Monday’s sparsely attended workshop kept returning to finances.
This year’s rally, which drew about 120,000 people, left the city with a $360,000 public safety bill that will have to be paid out of the cash-strapped city’s general fund, according to Councilman Doug Emerson, who sits on a subcommittee formed last month to look into financial issues related to the rally. Emerson said that if the rally continues as it is, he doesn’t see things getting any better for the city.
“I didn’t get anything from HIRC in ways to either increase revenue to the city or decrease costs,” he said Monday. “There could be a cycling effect, where cost is still there but the revenue isn’t there to cover it and the IOU gets bigger and bigger.”
Councilman Brad Pike’s had a stark analysis of HIRC’s success with the rally, which has been held for the past nine years.
“I think we’re zero for nine,” he said. “A business that was zero for nine would not be in business.”
Councilwoman Monica Johnson agreed with her colleagues that the public safety bill is just too much for the city to bear.
“The issue is, from a city perspective, we can’t just keep spending $300,000 from the general fund for a biker rally,” she said.
Recently, the rally, along with HIRC, has been the subject of considerable criticism. Several weeks ago, Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller blasted the rally in a law enforcement report, stating he cannot guarantee adequate public safety staffing at future events due to the escalating threat of violence between rival motorcycle gangs.
Last month, a majority of council members discounted an economic impact report on the rally submitted by HIRC, which stated that the event brought more than $370,000 into the city, saying it was incredible and lacking factual data.
The only verifiable revenue that the 2005 rally brought into the city is $68,000 – $52,000 from the sale of temporary business licenses and $16,000 from sales tax on merchandise purchased from vendors, according to Emerson.
HIRC, in conjunction with Hollister Rotarians, also raised about $12,000 through beer sales that was donated to several local nonprofits. Another $12,000 will be given to local high school students for academic scholarships. Between 22 to 25 scholarships, ranging from $500 to $2,500, are given out at the end of the school year
Among the nonprofits which received money at the luncheon were the Community Pantry, YMCA, San Benito County Guide Dogs for the Blind and the San Benito High School Sober Grad Night program.
“Raising money for local youth and senior adult oriented non-profit groups is a major part of HIRC’s mission,” acting HIRC President John Loyd said earlier this month.
While raising money for nonprofits is a priority for HIRC, those groups have not come forward to support the organization as it has come under fire in recent weeks. None appeared at Monday’s workshop.
Danita Brigantino, chair of the Sober Grad Night Committee, said that no one from HIRC has asked her organization to come to its defense and said she doesn’t have a reason for why no one in her committee took it upon themselves to speak for HIRC.
“I don’t know why no one has,” she said. “We certainly appreciate the donations.”
Loyd has also said he wasn’t sure why HIRC hasn’t gotten more support from local nonprofits.
“I wish I could tell you why more rally donation beneficiaries don’t step up to support us in our time of need,” Loyd said. “We make our donations with no strings attached, but we’d appreciate a public acknowledgment or a letter of support. It was frustrating on the night of the budget meeting to stand there and talk about how HIRC and Rotary make all of these donations, and how groups benefit, and yet not one group come forward to speak on our behalf.”
Loyd said that a major part of the problem is that his organization hasn’t gotten enough support from the city over the years.
“It hasn’t been a good partnership,” he said. “Because we did the work and the city questioned what we did.”
Loyd pleaded with the council to commit to working together with HIRC to make the rally a success, and suggested that in future years the rally can be moved out of downtown and include more attractions to get people to stay longer and spend more money.
Both Loyd and HIRC Executive Director Helen Nelson argued that if the council cancels the rally, the city won’t find out that the rally was good for the local economy until it’s too late.
“Don’t commit financial suicide,” Nelson said.
Nelson recommended Monday that the city commission its own financial report to determine whether the rally is an economic boon for the city and local businesses.
“It’s really in the city’s best interest for them to commission an impact study,” she said. “If it answers questions in a concrete way, it’s worth it.”
The council did not seem interested in commissioning a study at this time. But Councilwoman Monica Johnson said it might be a good thing to do in the future.
Former HIRC President Dave Ventura, who recently announced his desire to take-over the rally and make it a for-profit event, told the council Monday that the rally has grown too big to be handled by a nonprofit organization without a paid staff.
“This thing has grown so big, it needs to be run like a business,” he said.
After five years of involvement with the rally, Ventura resigned in September after submitting a proposal that would have garnered him a commission for selling rally sponsorships – an idea that caused two HIRC founders to resign from the board. Board members voted down Ventura’s proposal.
It was at that time, Ventura said, that he began to seriously consider forming a corporation for the purpose of organizing the rally as a for-profit event. The group, which consists of five people, has financial backing for the venture and is in the midst of drafting a charter, which will outline the group’s objectives, according to Ventura.
Ventura said the only way to make the rally work is to move it out of downtown, possibly to the Hollister Municipal Airport, and offer more to do at the rally, such as an air show and motorcycle races.
“I know people in the industry willing to do this,” he said. “It’s all a matter of organizing it, which is what I’m trying to do.”
Council members have said that they are open to the possibility of a for-profit group taking over the rally, but before they support it they would need to see a concrete business plan.
After the workshop, Johnson summarized the decision the council must make on Nov. 21.
“The main decision on Monday is: Do we want to continue it the way we have been doing it and make provisions for changing it in the future? Or do we want to cut our loses, regroup and go forward? I think those are our main choices with the HIRC contract,” she said.
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
