Mayor repeats support; others worry about adequate time,
resources
Even after saying no to longtime rally organizers, the future of
the Hollister Independence Rally motorcycle event remains at
issue..
At the Jan. 17 Hollister City Council meeting, another
discussion was held concerning the rally and the city’s continued
halt on taking any action regarding the event.
Mayor repeats support; others worry about adequate time, resources
Even after saying no to longtime rally organizers, the future of the Hollister Independence Rally motorcycle event remains at issue..
At the Jan. 17 Hollister City Council meeting, another discussion was held concerning the rally and the city’s continued halt on taking any action regarding the event.
At the meeting, Mayor Robbie Scattini repeated support, and argued that whether there was a rally or not, the bikers are going to come to Hollister. The event has been advertised for the past year and people have booked hotels and made plans to be here.
The Hollister Independence Rally Committee has put on the annual event for the past eight years, but failed to provide the city with the remaining $250,000 after last year’s event and were asking for an additional $360,000 for this year’s event.
Discussions between HIRC and the city began in October, but by November, the city had decided not to renew HIRC’s contract with the city.
In December, a bigger, more extravagant rally pitch was made by Ghostrider Promotions, comprised of three former HIRC organizers who felt their idea for the rally would be a sure-fire moneymaker. They would stage the event at the Hollister Airport and it would be an age-restricted gated event.
At that time, only three council members were present and the response was tepid.
Ghostrider Promotions’ presentation projected entertaining 5,000 campers on the west side of the Hollister Airport tarmac and charging $10 a head at the gate. Former HIRC President Dave Ventura, currently president of Ghostrider, and fellow organizer Helen Brown gave profit projections for different numbers of attendees, but expected 100,000 if given the go-ahead.
It was estimated that with 100,000 attendees the city could stand to make $504,025 with another $145,000 going to non-profits. The drawback, the city would have to float $1.4 million in advance.
The council, at that time, expressed profound concerns over investing in such a business venture that already cost the town’s General Fund about $680,000 over the past two years.
Ghostrider has since said that it cannot put together the rally members want for 2006, but would still be interested in putting on another rally in the future, just not this year. “The show trucks are not available and sponsorship is lacking. We’re aiming for 2007,” said Ventura.
However, he urged the council to realize that whether or not there is a rally, the bikers are coming to San Benito County. “The rally is already being advertised, hotels are booked and there are going to be a lot of people here.”
The lone opponent of the rally at the latest council meeting was Claudia Olson who argued that from a financial standpoint the city couldn’t afford to finance another $360,000. She also cited an incident at last year’s rally where two rival gangs nearly clashed.
It’sher belief that she speaks for the majority of citizens in the county when she says they’re not happy being held captive in their homes or forced to leave the area for the weekend.
Safety can no longer be assured, Olson warned. “We’ve been warned of that by the chief of police, the sheriff and the CHP. I think their opinions should be respected.”
It was explained that until two years ago, law enforcement from outside the area didn’t charge the city to assist with security for the rally, but that is no longer the case. City Manager Clint Quilter explained that the number of officers necessary to ensure safety at the event is similar to other events in Sturgis and Laughlin.
However, the council has never said outright no to a rally, merely that the city was not going to continue to financially support the HIRC.
Quilter said it’s easy to point fingers, but the key issue is public safety. He cited an incident elsewhere earlier this year in which during a toy run a firefighter was shot during a confrontation between the Hells Angels and Mongol motorcycle gangs.
“The flipside to the $360,000 the city spends is yet to be determined,” Quilter said. “We can’t tell how big this hits us until we feel it.”
Other groups have approached the city about putting on the rally, but the council has not made any decisions and the zero hour is approaching.
“We never did away with the rally,” said Scattini. “We merely canceled the contract with HIRC. A lot of people think we did away with the rally, but the only thing we canceled is HIRC’s contract.”
Council Member Brad Pike said he feels the council needs to make some decisions on how to proceed. He said that several groups have approached the city and want to see if they can make a go of it, but time is running out.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia said that looking at things from a business standpoint, the council has to seriously think about if it would be fair to burden the taxpayers. “We’ve always supported the rally in the past, but we have to look at all the issues.”
Therefore, the council continues to stop short of further action, but the issue will again be discussed at a special planning session on Jan. 23 and a decision should be rendered at the Feb. 6 council meeting.
The question that remains unanswered is that if there is not an official rally during the week of Independence Day what is going to be done about 20,000 or more bikers expected to arrive in town?
