Though a biker-themed Fourth of July celebration is not entirely
out of the picture for the Mission City, residents and council
members alike were initially unimpressed with the prospect of a San
Juan Bautista biker rally at Tuesday night’s standing-room only
City Council meeting.
San Juan Bautista – Though a biker-themed Fourth of July celebration is not entirely out of the picture for the Mission City, residents and council members alike were initially unimpressed with the prospect of a San Juan Bautista biker rally at Tuesday night’s standing-room only City Council meeting.
“I love bikers, and I love biker-esses,” said resident Michael Ostrowski. “And I think it would be great for us to sit down and have a pancake breakfast with them. But I don’t know if San Juan can handle much more than that.”
Gary Nowicki, vice president/ coordinator of special events of the Florida-based company Biker Design, initially attempted to save the Hollister Fourth of July Independence Day Rally just before the City Council voted 3-2 to cancel this year’s event earlier this month. As Hollister council members have refused to revisit the issue, Nowicki and Joe O’Day of Dal-Con promotions submitted a similar proposal to San Juan Tuesday in order to stave off the rally’s final kiss of death.
“They’ve put together a decent plan to try and keep this rally moving forward,” said Councilman Chuck Geiger. “I think it would be a good idea for us to put together a program for them (bikers) to enjoy that will benefit our community.”
O’Day highlighted the success of the Laughlin, Nev. River Run, a similar event organized by Dal-Con, as evidence that his company could run a biker party smoothly in San Juan. He also pointed out that Dal-Con runs a foundation which gives away thousands of dollars in charity each year benefiting organizations where Dal-Con events are held.
O’Day suggested that local retailers could stand to profit from leasing out their storefronts to vendors carrying biker merchandise, and Geiger said that organizations such as the Boy Scouts or the city’s volunteer fire department could raise money for their endeavors by opening a booth of their own.
Response to the presentation, however, was skeptical at best.
“This is still historic San Juan Bautista,” said outspoken resident Rebecca McGovern. “I don’t know who came up with this cockamamie idea, but it’s totally irresponsible… You’d have an evacuation, you’d have to call FEMA to come and save us.”
“Why are we even talking about this? Man, we can’t even control our chickens,” said resident Anthony Boch, who was met with enthusiastic applause.
Other citizens raised concerns about a rally interfering with Little League tournaments, and worried about a heavy drug and alcohol presence. Resident Rachel Ponze recalled an incident when a San Juan Rodeo festival popular in the 1970s and 1980s got out of hand.
“People came to our Fiesta Rodeo and Parade, and then they wouldn’t leave,” she said. “I remember there was a SWAT team marching down Third Street, and I don’t want to see that happen again.”
After the 2005 Hollister rally, which drew about 120,000 people, Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller told the City Council that there was nearly a violent clash between the Hells Angels and the Mongols during the event – the same groups that instated a riot during the Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally in Nevada in 2002 which ended with multiple shootings and stabbings. Miller also said that he could not guarantee public safety at local future events.
San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill also had reservations about the notion, and was especially concerned that the proposal did not address policing concerns, which have consistently proved to be a challenge at the Hollister rally and cost the City of Hollister $360,000 alone in 2005.
“I was a member of that SWAT team in 1974. We had a full blown riot on our hands and that was a completely different type of crowd,” he said. “We’re not going to sugarcoat this… If you have a rally here, your fire department won’t be running a (charity) booth, they’ll be performing first aid.”
And if a rally came to San Juan, it would be the second large-scale project city leaders would be faced with handling. For more than a year, the city has been haggling with the San Benito County Water District over a $3.8 million grant from the Economic Development Agency the organizations jointly received to overhaul San Juan’s dilapidated water and sewer system. Talks became tense and then stopped altogether, and the government suspended the grant and San Juan has threatened to proceed with the nearly $8 million project without the water district’s help or money if an agreement cannot be worked out.
But Tuesday’s meeting was about the rally, and while council members at first indicated that they had no interest in discussing the matter further, the proposal was submitted only as a presentation item and members had no legal right to vote on it one way or the other. As such, the issue was deferred to the council’s March meeting where it will be discussed at greater length and ultimately voted upon.
Between then and now, Dal-Con and Biker Design hope to work toward planning a more mellow rally, one which would resemble a street fair more than a rally and would perhaps be more warmly received by San Juan’s residents.
“They’re willing to do whatever we would like, really,” Geiger said. “We can tone it down, do away with the performances and the racing, and it could be really good for San Juan… A number of people had already made up their minds about the whole idea before they even came to the meeting, but hopefully we can be more respectful of one another, start over, and see if we plan a festival that everyone can enjoy.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
