Annual Hollister Motorcycle Rally Canceled

(AP) HOLLISTER, Calif. The City Council has canceled an
annual Independence Day motorcycle rally that attracted
more than 100,000 bikers a year from around the country
and inspired the 1950s Marlon Brando outlaw biker movie
"The Wild One."

The council voted 3-2 on Feb. 6 to scrap plans for this year's
Hollister Independence Rally, arguing that the city cannot
continue paying for police patrols at the event.


http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_048105627.html

 

What are they going to do, turn people back at the city limits?

 

Ban all parking (construction signs/cones) along all cruiser
profiling, spectator, and watering hole thoroughfares with police
presence to enforce it. This method successfully killed the late
great annual Frog Jumps run at Angels Camp in mid '70s. Inconvenient
to locals initially and hated by those who most benefit financially
(bars, minimarts, etc), but locals get their town back and usually
support it in the end. Places like Sturgis and Daytona are tourist
economies and would be crazy to turn away the masses. Not so
Hollister.

nb

 

The horror! Them bikers might spread filthy lucre around town and ruin
its morals!

 

I don't think cancellation's a good idea, but I can understand it: last
year I drove through the San Miguel Valley and Hollister on my way to
the Bay Area. What had been a rural Western town in the 70s had turned
into an arm of the San Jose megalopolis. Traffic was bad enough without
any special event going on.

Rich, Urban Biker

 

No, what it all boils down to is that last year the non-profit
"organizers" told the local government afterward that they couldn't pay
the $250,000 tab for police coverage, so Hollister had to swallow it.
Hollister is a small town, only about 36,000 people. $250,000 is
probably more than they'd otherwise pay their entire police department
for an entire year. The town can't afford the rally--they don't have
the facilities or infrastructure, they're just too small.

And almost all sales tax goes to the state government, not the local
government. And most if not all the vendors are from elsewhere.

And Hollister never asked for this annual event in the first place.

This is the same thing that often happens when a small town gets
overwhelmed by the attendance of a once-a-year festival/fair/rally.
They eventually decide they can't host it anymore. It's happened to at
least two small towns in the area of Missouri where I grew up.

 

Should have read:
Hollister city council admits area over-run with south-of-the-border
immigration, not compatible with Fourth of July celebration, bikers or
otherwise.

In other news, Hollister eliminates Mexican mafia hostilities, and crystal
meth no longer a problem.

 

I think BMWBOB had it right - they just can't figure out how to make a buck. I'm not sure how it
works in Hollister, but as an example the City of Walnut Creek gets most (40%) of it's revenue from
sales tax (see source, below). I don't know what percentage of the sales tax collected goes to the
State, but I can't believe it's "almost all" and WC still ended up with $40 million.


http://www.ci.walnut-creek.ca.us/header.asp?genericId=2&catId=9

2004-2006 Operating Revenues: $103.5 million

Sales tax $40,110,000
Property tax $18,264,000
Other taxes & franchises $12,412,000
Interest & rental income $6,951,759
Miscellaneous fines $9,484,000
Charges for services $6,849,157
Transfers in $1,840,000
Licenses & permits $3,046,925

 

Well, one of the city authorities has half a clue:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20060217-0750-ca-hollisterrally.html

"But Mayor Robert Scattini, who voted for keeping the rally, said the
council should reconsider the issue when it meets again next week or
risk losing significant tourism revenue.

Besides, thousands of bikers with an emotional attachment to the rally
could decide to come anyway without an organized rally, Scattini said."

Hey! We should teach Hollister a lesson. Let's all show up, ride through
town, and NOT SPEND ANY MONEY!

Whattaya say, guys? That would hurt them much more than a riot. Then, we
could go to Watsonville for artichokes or something. Or go to Gilroy for
garlic ice cream! Muahahahaha!

 

It brings to mind the other small town rally, in Sturgis. How do they
manage their law enforcement? Obviously it can be done. Hollister could
use Sturgis as a model. Exhibitors pay thousands of dollars for booth
space, and Sturgis residents make 90% of their annual income off that
rally. I'm saying Hollister could do it if they did some research and
saw how a big rally is run.

The BMW Owners Club used to rally in Mariposa, until the town council
got greedy and jacked up the price of the fairgrounds, to the point that
the rally moved to Quincy, and Mariposa was the big loser.

Any time you have 100,000 people gathering, there should be a way to
handle it in an equitable fashion. Hollister's city government sounds
kinda stoopid.

 

Holy shit...Just show up anyway. The bikers I know don't need
permission to get together and have a party. While you are all waiting
for permission, me and my friends will be out riding somewhere. Enjoy
waiting for the official invitation. Maybe you can polish your chrome
while you are waiting to go for a ride.

Handsome Dave Not all who wander are lost

 

Sounds like fun.

 

What is this chrome of which you speak?

 

You must ride some kind of plastic-encased rice rocket. Even JAP
cruisers have chrome on them. Chrome won't get you home...but it does
get you more blow jobs.

Handsome Dave Only the rain washes my bike

 

Well, you've already made two inaccurate assumptions. I don't have
chrome, and I don't ride a "plastic-encased rice rocket."
Care to try for three?

You know what they say about assumptions, don't you?

 

The same thing they say about people that use google to post to usenet?

 

Just kidding. Yeah, I heard about assumptions...Also, I have learned to
trust my intuitiveness. Ooops..was that my third?
Anyway, chrome can be found under the road grime under the unpainted
parts of your ride--check your Owner's Manual for the exact location of
the chrome pieces--Barb, I am assuming of course, you actually HAVE a
motorcycle!!!

Handsome Dave Been riding motorcycles since 1976

 

The South Dakota state troopers have better things to do than hide temporary stop signs behind
garbage cans or remove manhole covers from the parkway leading from Mike Corbin's shop.

 

From the article it appears the city wasn't at fault, it was the non-profit
organizers who didn't front the police (overtime) pay which seems excessive
in itself (1/4 million?!?). We have a lot of volunteer sheriff and police
reservists who work events non-gratis along with search and rescue
personnel.

To that end, if any town had that many bikers show up (100,000) who would
front the police bill? If nothing happened, the town would be ahead in
dollars spent (i.e. motels - like try to find one in Hollister on that
date!). If something ensued where the police were needed, then most cities
would have backups from another city, county, or state respond.

In all, the event was killed by the excessive police charges. Too bad for
Hollister's economy. Still, I sure some homeowners who reside their are
waving flags at its demise much as those homeowners who reside in the town
of Kernville, CA who hate Whiskey Flats Days every President's Day weekend
in February. The businesses love it though.

Fwiw, I've been at the fore-front of doing a rally once in national forest
area. To do so required a lot of dollars not related to the event like
finding porta-potties and having them dragged up to campgrounds (can't use
the ones there!), pumped out and taken back, then coming up with a 1 million
dollar insurance bond. Nothing was said of police charges or presence since
the forest service has their own law personnel.

When we gave up, we we're taken aside by someone else who worked in the
forest service office who said to just go ahead with the event and forget
all the formalities (porta-potties, bond, etc.). I was surprised at this
but the person said it happens more often than not and if something bad were
to happen they would tell everyone to leave...or if their legal-eagle on
patrol that day was feeling all Barney-Fife'ied up (maybe not if he was
out-numbered!). Never went ahead with it though.

B~

 

Also the same thing they say about people who use WebTV?