A majority of Hollister council members have expressed support for the proposal before them Monday night to sanction a 2013 motorcycle rally and approve an event manager.
Three council members reached Monday morning said they were ready to support the rally during the 6:30 p.m. meeting at Hollister City Hall, 375 Fifth St. The fourth council member, Victor Gomez, could not be reached immediately. The three votes from council members Ray Friend, Robert Scattini and Pauline Valdivia would be enough for a majority approval.
The newly elected mayor, who holds the fifth and final vote with the four council members, expressed support for the rally but said he had some questions on the proposal that he expected to broach at the meeting. Mayor Ignacio Velazquez, for instance, did say he opposed the idea of reducing the number of days for a rally from three to two – which is in the current proposal.
Still, a council majority outside of Velazquez has expressed support for the proposal.
A July 2013 Hollister motorcycle rally would be the first since 2008, when the city lost more than $200,000 due to increased security costs and a botched T-shirt venture.
The council Monday is weighing whether to sanction a 2013 event – with a total city budget of $134,400, including $113,400 for security – and hire Worldwide Dynamics and CEO Mark Cresswell as event manager. The police budget is about one-third of the security cost in 2008.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia, the only current council member involved in the 2008 decision, stressed that Hollister officials did not cancel the rally. She said they decided against using general fund dollars, and that no outside promoters stepped up to take on the event without the assistance. Valdivia called the tradition – launched officially about 17 years ago – “good for the community.”
“I’m supporting whatever we can do,” Valdivia said. “Hopefully, it will come to fruition in July.”
Scattini and Friend, who have been in talks with the prospective manager, are both supportive of the rally proposal and Cresswell.
Scattini said he feels good about the consideration Monday and that he has been “supportive of that motorcycle rally since day one.”
Friend said he “absolutely” supports it and that the manager, Cresswell, brings “a lot more than most of the promoters do.”Â
“I think it’s time to strike,” he said. “I think it’s a positive move.”
Look back for more.
