With Hollister’s signature event a mere three months away, the
new band of biker buffs heading the Hollister Independence Rally
Committee are committed to bringing the event up to snuff and
making sure they don’t end the year in the red again.
Hollister – With Hollister’s signature event a mere three months away, the new band of biker buffs heading the Hollister Independence Rally Committee are committed to bringing the event up to snuff and making sure they don’t end the year in the red again.
Although the group previously reported they generated more money than they lost with last year’s rally, in reality they came in $25,000 in debt because the city hadn’t given HIRC all the bills by the time they closed the books, said newly appointed Executive Director Helen Nelson.
“The city did not get us all the bills. So when the fiscal year closed, on the books it showed we made a profit,” Nelson said. “We need to know how to fiscally plan and we can’t do that if we don’t know how much the bills are going to be.”
To combat past faulty financial planning, HIRC has instated a business-minded board of directors, is focusing on better marketing techniques and is committed to bringing in the big bucks, said HIRC President Dave Ventura.
“It’s all about making money,” he said. “The top priority is having fun and enjoying the rally, but very close to that is making money so we can give back to our community.”
Although HIRC donated money to local nonprofits before realizing it was in debt, Nelson said even if they had known about the deficit they still would have contributed the same amount of money.
While Hollister City Manager Clint Quilter sympathized with Nelson’s frustration, he said whether HIRC received the bills on time or not has nothing to do with the organization losing money.
One of the largest bills the committee received late came from the state’s Department of Justice for extra police officers to patrol the event. Quilter said the city has asked the DOJ to send this year’s bill on time and are working on solidifying the contract with them earlier, which would cut down on HIRC’s financial confusion. But all the city can do is ask, and whether the state complies with that request is another story, he said.
“It will help with the problem, but it’s not going to change the dollars and cents,” Quilter said. “They (HIRC) have expenditures and revenues. When they get those bills has nothing to do with those.”
In an attempt to cut down on some of those expenditures this year, HIRC has solicited the help of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pay for officers from the California Highway Patrol, State Parole and DOJ, said HIRC President Dave Ventura. HIRC sent Schwarzenegger a letter last week, but when it will hear back and what the response might be is anyone’s guess, he said.
“We feel very strongly that the impact we have on this state is huge,” Ventura said. “We’re impacting four counties during our event. We estimate about 20 percent of the people who come in are from out of state or out of the country. These people aren’t here for only three days – they’re here for two or three weeks.”
HIRC estimates it will accrue approximately $600,000 in expenses, and more than half of that will pay for law enforcement, Nelson said. If the state paid for the three agencies’ expenses, it would ease HIRC’s burden by about $120,000, she said. Although HIRC was able to donate about $12,000 from last year’s rally to nonprofit charities, Nelson would like to give much more back to the community that, like it or not, is home to more than one hundred thousand bikers over the Fourth of July weekend.
“Then instead of all the money going into law enforcement, it can go back into nonprofit charities in the community,” she said. “Then we could turn around and cut checks of $100,000 back into our community.”
Nelson also said that HIRC has the lowest operating budget out of any rally in the state, but the highest law enforcement bill. But while she believes the rally should cut back on the number of cops because there haven’t been a large number of criminal incidences over the past couple years, Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller said he wants more.
Miller, who has had one closed-session meeting with the Hollister City Council on law enforcement staffing levels for this year’s event, said the city needs to staff commensurate with the size of the crowd – which has been steadily growing each year. More than 100,000 people packed the downtown last year.
“It would be a mistake to assume that because things were smooth last year we should decrease the number of officers,” Miller said. “When in reality the police presence may have contributed to a calmer atmosphere.”
The city council almost canceled the rally last year because law enforcement commitments weren’t solidified until the 11th hour. While Miller wouldn’t comment on how many agencies have committed to supplying extra officers this year, he said they are ahead of last year and there shouldn’t be a problem securing enough to patrol the 2005 event.
Although the rally is in its ninth year, Ventura said it is just now starting to mature into an event that can start being a financial boon to Hollister. By including more business-minded board members and Nelson, who has a background in bookkeeping, at the helm, HIRC hopes to leave the days spent in the red behind and focus on the green.
The group has done more marketing this year and plans to generate more income by selling official commemorative pins and entertainment passes, along with bringing new vendors and events into the rally’s attractions. Nelson said commemorative pin sales are expected to generate an extra $162,000, while a new T-shirt contract could net anywhere from $10,000 to an extra $100,000.
The group has even propositioned Schwarzenegger, Jay Leno, Kevin Costner and George Clooney, who are all motorcycle enthusiasts, to attend.
“We’re very, very happy,” Ventura said. “We’re doing more this year than we’ve ever done before.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
