Rally Change, Holiday Timing Affect Nonprofit Sales
Editor,
I’m a resident of Hollister and I just wanted to comment on your “Local Nonprofit Groups Report Rally Letdown” article in the Free Lance. I figure two issues were responsible:
With the takeover of the rally done by a for-profit group, the for-profiteers are going to take the lion’s share of revenues before the rest trickles down to nonprofits. It should be expected since the for-profit organizers put up the security costs ahead of time.
The rally happening the weekend after the Fourth is silly and one should expect that to hurt sales, especially for fireworks because they aren’t available after the Fourth. That means the tourists can’t buy any fireworks for themselves. I noticed next year’s rally is on the 11th, 12th, and 13th. That’s a full week after the Fourth and we no longer call it an “Independence” rally. Many people will be taking vacation the weekend of the Fourth and won’t be willing to do it twice in two weeks, further hurting attendance and sales. Silly, just silly.
Israel Godoy, Hollister
Who Has Ultimate Authority?
Editor,
Before we plunge ahead with the SBC General Plan revision, we must decide who has ultimate authority over the issues. COG says it has final say over transportation, but if that is true, then three-fifths of SBC’s districts have no voice in the General Plan transport “element” (portion).
The enabling legislation creating COG did not repeal the SBC Code, which vests authority in the elected supervisors, including authority to revise the General Plan. King COG would deny voters in three county districts their due process and equal protection rights under the state and federal constitution.
Since COG’s a failed experiment, admitting that it doesn’t know the answer to simple transport questions, and since it conceals its massive tax dollar wastefulness with incomprehensible financial audits and deceptive performance audits, I don’t believe that it is competent to decree transport decisions for our future. Either the county’s supervisors should sue COG for a judicial determination of ultimate jurisdiction to enact the General Plan revision, or the taxpayers ought to bring the action naming both COG and the supervisors as indispensable defendant parties to the action.
Otherwise, how will we know, when the revision is adopted, if it is legal? Better we thrash this issue out now than start litigating it after the revision is enacted. Look what Monterey County has faced during the past eight years of its General Plan revision process. Do we want to duplicate their mistakes? Caveat Viator!
Joe Thompson, Tres Pinos
