If the downtown motorcycle rally will ever occur again, two
things must happen: Someone will have to step up on the council and
show some leadership, and the city will have to cap the absurdly
inflated police costs.
If the downtown motorcycle rally will ever occur again, two things must happen: Someone will have to step up on the council and show some leadership, and the city will have to cap the absurdly inflated police costs.
Hollister City Council members were reminded last week that they are sitting on a potential economic gold mine, while they are doing nothing to tap the prospect. Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia’s response to a large crowd of rally supporters at the meeting underscored a lack of leadership among city officials and the passive-minded approach to the larger economic crisis.
“We did not cancel the rally,” Valdivia had the gall to say. “We left the door open for interested people to get together a committee. We just could not use general fund money to fund it.”
First off, the city did essentially cancel the motorcycle rally. Council members after 2008 agreed to oppose sanctioning the event, meaning it could not occur. That is about as close to a cancellation as you can get. Second, Valdivia and other council members know very well that the $360,000 public safety price – which they supported by not opposing it – is the crux of the problem and the main reason this tradition has stalled.
Projecting otherwise is disingenuous at best. The police compensation figures, which skyrocketed under Police Chief Jeff Miller’s watch, point to a situation where Hollister taxpayers were paying in the range of five to 12 times the per-visitor cost of security at other major rallies such as Sturgis, Daytona, Myrtle Beach and Laconia.
There is no reasonable justification for that level of discrepancy. Police officials such as Miller have argued it is inflated due to California’s higher cost of living and a requirement to pay overtime to officers, along with a larger gang presence. Go ahead and double the per capita cost in comparison with those other major rallies. But five to 12 times – which was the case in a comparison with Daytona? That’s offensive.
With that said, a process must be laid out. An occasional chorus of the same arguments from the same rally supporters won’t change the council’s hands-off course at this point.
We suggest the potential revival of this tradition should start with the business community, and we encourage city leaders to foster the development of an advisory panel to get this economic engine sparked again.
An advisory panel comprised of leaders from the chamber of commerce, downtown association, business council and economic development corporation would be best suited for such a challenge. Their independent expertise in examining the necessity of the security cost and ideas to improve the event would go a long way in giving council members the comfort to get behind a rally.
At least someone on the council, though, will have to step up and support a push. If they don’t, if they continue to allow one department to artificially skew the profit margin, there is no chance for the event’s long-term survival.
