Despite the pleas of a handful of people who stepped forward to
defend the Hollister Independence Rally Committee, the City Council
voted Monday to discontinue that group’s contract with Hollister to
organize the city’s annual biker rally, leaving the event’s future
uncertain.
Hollister – Despite the pleas of a handful of people who stepped forward to defend the Hollister Independence Rally Committee, the City Council voted Monday to discontinue that group’s contract with Hollister to organize the city’s annual biker rally, leaving the event’s future uncertain.
After nearly an hour of discussion, during which three people stepped forward to defend HIRC and the Hollister Independence Rally, the council voted three to one to discontinue the non-profit group’s contract to organize the rally. Councilman Robert Scattini cast the sole dissenting vote. Mayor Pauline Valdivia was absent.
“It’s a tradition in Hollister. It put Hollister on the map,” Scattini said prior to the vote. “My take is I’m going to support the rally this year as it is.”
Though HIRC lost the contract, council members said that they are open to exploring alternative organizers for a rally this year.
But, citing financial and public safety concerns, Scattini’s colleagues on the council saw things differently. Just before the council voted, Councilwoman Monica Johnson summed up the feelings of the majority.
“It really comes down to: Can we continue to afford it the way we’ve been doing it?” she said. “Bottom line: We can’t.”
This year’s rally, which drew about 120,000 people, left Hollister 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. 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, he said.
The rally, and HIRC, have been under fire for quite some time now. 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.
Though few have stepped forward to defend HIRC, which has organized the rally for nearly a decade, during recent council meetings and workshops, the organization had some supporters at Monday’s meeting.
Hollister resident Christine Howe, who said that it was the rally that first drew she and her husband to Hollister, said that the rally is a good thing for the city because it brings revenue to local businesses.
“My husband and I grew to love this town after years of enjoying the rally,” she said. “We can’t believe the council may kill the goose that lays our golden egg.”
Charisse Tyson, owner of popular rally hang-out Johnny’s Bar, warned the council that even if the rally isn’t organized for next year, tens of thousands of bikers will still roll into town on the fourth of July whether it’s prepared or not.
“I bet my life on it. We’ll see at least 40,000 people coming into town,” she said. “I just think it will be ugly.”
Tyson also said that the city should work to improve the rally.
“We should embrace it and make it profitable,” she said.
Long-time Hollister resident Claudia Olson was the only person, besides council members, to speak against the rally.
“I haven’t talked to a single family that’s happy that we have to escape from town or hide in hour houses during the rally,” she said, claiming she represented a silent majority of Hollister residents.
The council’s decision Monday to discontinue HIRC’s rally contract with the city makes for an uncertain future for the event itself. Though council members said they were open to looking at alternative organizers, possibly a for-profit group, with only about six months to plan next year’s rally, some worry that it is too late in the game to bring in someone new.
“Right now it’s time to cut bait or fish or get out,” Scattini said.
Recently resigned HIRC president Dave Ventura has said he is forming a for-profit group with hopes of taking over the rally, though he has not provided the city with a written plan. He said that the event has grown too large to be handled by a nonprofit group.
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.
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.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected].
