While numbers won’t be final for possibly another month,
organizers of the Hollister Independence Rally said the event
brought in $200,000 more this year than the year before and already
has signed some of the biggest contracts in its eight-year history
for next year.
Hollister – While numbers won’t be final for possibly another month, organizers of the Hollister Independence Rally said the event brought in $200,000 more this year than the year before and already has signed some of the biggest contracts in its eight-year history for next year.
The 2004 rally brought in over $650,000, according to Dave Ventura, vice president of the Hollister Independence Rally Committee.
“We’re looking very good,” Ventura said. “We have a revenue stream in that’s enough to carry the rally easily through the year, and are beginning to get prepared for next year.”
HIRC still needs to pay the city for some of the expenses of the rally but hasn’t been issued a bill yet, Ventura said.
The city’s projected bill to HIRC should be between $255,000 and $260,000, said City Manager Clint Quilter. This year was the first time that the city required HIRC to pay its expenses, which included law enforcement, city staff time dedicated to the rally and cleanup costs.
In the months leading up to the rally, uncertainty abounded whether it would be canceled or not because the city was having difficulties procuring enough outside law enforcement and for the first time decided HIRC had to foot the entire bill.
Once the city was confident it had adequate law enforcement protection, HIRC members assured the city it could cover the costs, said Mayor Tony Bruscia.
“HIRC has made a serious effort to improve what they’re doing and I’m happy to hear the results are better,” Bruscia said. “It’s a testament that they understand the importance of making the rally good for the community. We need to keep that momentum going.”
The city will have final numbers after the Department of Justice issues a bill for all its law enforcement costs, which could be as long as 30 days away, Quilter said.
“The DOJ is a big piece of the unknown,” he said. “But we’re trying to push them quicker… (to) have the (police) chief keep nagging them.”
Currently, the city’s total expenses are approximately $232,000, which is quite a bit lower than what the city originally assessed, Quilter said.
“(The total) will be either on the low end or lower,” he said. Originally the city projected that the bill could reach $280,000, he said.
Whatever the final numbers are, HIRC isn’t worried about being able to pay the bill, Ventura said.
“We will have that covered,” he said. “And hopefully, depending on what the city has, we’ll be able to give more money back (to nonprofits) than we thought.”
Every year HIRC gives proceeds from the rally to local nonprofits such as the senior center Jovenes de Antaño and the child welfare program Small Steps.
And rally organizers already are working on brining in money for next year’s event. HIRC has signed a contract with a T-shirt vendor that is three times the amount of last year’s contract, Ventura said.
It also just signed a beverage contract that is bigger than any beverage contract they’ve signed in year’s past, he said.
Ventura would not say who the contracts are with or how much they are.
“We haven’t even started getting sponsor contracts,” Ventura said. “We’ve only just begun. We’ve got a lot of new things in place, we’re bringing in some new people – there’s some excitement here.”
Ventura said the rally netted over $180,000 from sponsorships last year, and HIRC will focus on garnering more this year, Ventura said.
Hollister City Councilman Robert Scattini said he was a little skeptical of how HIRC would fare given they had never had to pay the city’s costs for the event, but was pleased to hear it did well.
He said he believes next year will be even more successful, but he’d like several things to be improved such as the amount of law enforcement.
“Law enforcement is an overkill here,” he said. “We’ve gotta have law enforcement, don’t get me wrong, but I really doubt we need that many.”
Issuing parking passes in a more efficient manner and working out all the kinks with vendors’ cash registers both need to be improved in coming years, he said.
“It’s the small things that need to be worked on,” Scattini said. “But I feel pretty good, and next year should be even better.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336, or at [email protected].
