As Ghostrider Promotions, a for-profit group with a proposal to
take over Hollister’s annual biker rally and move it to the local
airport, tried to convince the City Council that its plan will be a
financial boon for the city, a new prospective organizer stepped
forward Monday with a proposal to keep the rally downtown.
Hollister – As Ghostrider Promotions, a for-profit group with a proposal to take over Hollister’s annual biker rally and move it to the local airport, tried to convince the City Council that its plan will be a financial boon for the city, a new prospective organizer stepped forward Monday with a proposal to keep the rally downtown.
However the City Council delayed making a decision about the rally Monday because two council members were absent.
Just weeks after the City Council voted 3-1 in November to terminate the Hollister Independence rally Committee’s contract with the city to organize the event, three former HIRC members formed Ghostrider promotions and submitted a rally proposal to the city. The Ghostrider proposal calls for moving the rally out of downtown, charging a $10 gate fee and making it an age restricted event. Former HIRC President Dave Ventura recently formed Ghostrider with former HIRC members Helen Nelson and Bruce Beetz.
Despite profits for the city of more than $550,000 projected in the Ghostrider proposal, projected expenses exceeding $1.4 million have council members wary of risking the city’s general fund for profits that might not pan out. The majority of council members cited financial reasons – this year’s rally stuck the city with a $360,000 bill to pay – when they voted to terminate HIRC’s contract last month after that group had organized the rally for nearly a decade.
“It sounds like you’re asking the city to put up the capital,” Councilman Brad Pike said to the Ghostrider group Monday. “We don’t have another $500,000 to front you, or $100,000 to front you.”
Councilwoman Monica Johnson shared Pike’s concern about the city being put at risk of losing money.
“We’re not in a position to take this kind of risk,” she said. “I was hoping to see the city more as a contractor of services and not up front.”
Councilman Doug Emerson was absent from the meeting Monday, but in an e-mail sent this week he highlighted a number of concerns he has with the Ghostrider proposal, echoing his colleagues’ discomfort of putting the city at risk if the event isn’t successful.
“In general, I am not agreeable to putting our general fund at risk. The proposal is basically asking the city to invest in a business – a high risk business,” he wrote. “I do not believe the city should be in the business of investing in business ventures – especially with high risk involved.”
Nelson told the council that Ghostrider is highly motivated to make the event a widely-attended success, saying that that organization needs to put on a rally that draws at least 50,000 people in order to break even. She also said that the city not deciding whether to support Ghostrider is making it hard to get sponsorships that would cover some rally costs.
“Without a contract from the city, we’re not going to get contracts (or) sponsorships,” she said.
Councilman Robert Scattini, who voted against terminating HIRC’s rally contract last month, suggested Ghostrider look into posting a bond as security in case the rally didn’t bring in the projected profits. Ventura said he would look into that.
“I’m a big sponsor of this, for the good of Hollister” Scattini said about the rally.
Late during Monday’s meeting Hollister resident Marlon Moss, representing a group he called the Hollister Rally Commission, presented a proposal to keep the rally downtown and move the main stage and beer garden to the vacant Fremont School yard on Fourth Street.
Moss said that a rally downtown could work in conjunction with a rally at the airport.
The motorcycle rally, along with HIRC, has been the subject of considerable criticism in recent months. In October, Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller heavily criticized the rally in a law enforcement report, stating that he could not guarantee adequate public safety staffing for future events because of the increasing risk of violent clashes between rival motorcycle clubs. He also raised concerns about the event becoming too adult-themed and placing the city in a bad light.
Miller attended the meeting but did not speak on the rally issue.
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
