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As some residents question Hollister city officials counting a $250,000 “savings” as operating income in the Hollister Independence Rally revenue report, outgoing City Manager David Mirrione says it’s allowed under municipal budgets.
That’s because the savings, stemming from a $250,000 Amazon donation which was spent on a different project, was categorized as a “transfer in” under the income side of the rally report. That, in turn, allowed the city to report a cost overrun of only about $200,000 for hosting the rally instead of the full difference between costs and revenue of $450,000.
According to the city’s preliminary revenue report, Hollister spent $654,928 while collecting $457,896 in revenue, including the transferred funds.
Mirrione told BenitoLink that transfers are included in municipal budgets as revenues, “which is why it was reflected as such.”
He said the savings line item arising from the Amazon donation to the city illustrates that general funds were made available since the $250,000 donation freed up a pool of money that would otherwise have been used for the Community Center bathroom project.
“The Amazon funds were never designated for the Hollister Independence Rally,” he said. “The funds were limited to restroom repairs at either the Pauline Valdivia Memorial Community Center or to two city-owned parks.”
Hollister Mayor Roxanne Stephens announced the Amazon donation in June, during the retailers’ ribbon-cutting ceremony of its 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse. During the event she said the money was for “community development activities.”
She told BenitoLink the City Council brought the rally back because residents and local businesses support it and to provide an opportunity to infuse dollars into the local economy.
The city conducted an advisory measure in 2022 where 63% of the voters said they supported the rally.
Stephens said an economic impact report on the 2025 rally, which was approved by the City Council on Sept 2, will show the impact of events such as the rally on the local economy.
“Ultimately, if people spend dollars it helps city coffers,” she said. “We hope to have a better way to show that through the study.”
County resident Stacie McGrady said though she supports the rally, it should not be the city who organizes it.
“It’s a great opportunity for our city but it’s not the role of the city government to host the event,” she said. “My opinion is that its role is to create opportunities, remove roadblocks so a vendor can come in and host the event. The city shouldn’t be footing the bill.”
Amazon has two warehouses in Hollister less than a mile and a half from each other. Both facilities were approved by city officials without the public knowing the retailer would be the tenant.
The larger of the two facilities was approved in anticipation that it would bring the city $1 million to $1.5 million in sales tax revenue annually, but that evaporated once Amazon changed its plan, deciding to use the facility as a warehouse instead of a fulfillment center.
Mirrione said the Hollister City Council agreed on June 16 to use the Amazon revenue for the community center, since the project was shovel-ready.
He said the project to change the two existing bathrooms into single-occupancy, which “are more conducive to the needs of our senior community,” is estimated to cost up to $325,000
Mirrione added that the sewer line serving the restrooms will also be replaced and relocated. He said the city will use the $250,000 Amazon donation and general funds to pay for the project, which is slated to begin in October. He said the project will take three months to complete.
He said the community center will see additional changes after the restroom project is completed. The city plans to complete interior improvements such as new flooring, ceiling tiles, interior painting and new furniture. He said this work is funded by “a generous donor” through the Community Foundation for San Benito County.
Mirione said the city also recently used grant funds to install a solar-powered electric vehicle charger at the community center.
“The collective improvements to the Pauline Valdivia Memorial Community Center highlight the city of Hollister’s commitment to its senior community,” he said.
Meanwhile, the city is still refusing to make public two rally revenue reports that promoter Roadshows Inc, was required to provide to the city under the contract between the two parties, or confirm whether the reports were even submitted.
When BenitoLink formally requested the revenue reports shortly after the rally, the city initially said it was “in the process of preparing records which are responsive to your request.” More than three weeks later, the city changed its response to indicate it “did not have any records responsive” to BenitoLink’s request, before promising a report on the rally revenue.
Ultimately, the city provided BenitoLink with a report on Sept. 3 which contained the same information on the rally that had been presented to the City Council a day earlier.
That report, which says it was prepared on Aug. 29, indicated Biker Apparel and Russ Brown Insurance accounted for the majority of the sponsorship revenue. Biker Apparel provided $60,000 and Russ Brown Insurance gave $30,000. The other three sponsors were Constellation Brands ($2,500), Santa Clara-San Benito Counties Building Trades Council ($1,000) and event promoter Roadshows, Inc. ($1,000).
The nearly $95,000 in sponsorship revenue plus an additional $15,000 the city secured from San Benito Foods fell far short of Councilmember Rolan Resendiz’s public statements that the city had secured more than $450,000 in the runup to the event.
According to the report provided to BenitoLink, Roadshows collected the event’s revenue and gave the city more than $23,000 through July 6, with almost $4,000 still outstanding. The promoter was required by contract to pay the city revenue from the rally beyond its claimed expenses of $135,000.
Despite the city spending $450,000 more on the rally than it brought in, several residents called the event successful.
But those who questioned its success said there was a lack of transparency from the city on the rally’s overall impact.
Hollister Police Chief Carlos Reynoso, who for years has told the City Council he lacked staff and support from other law enforcement agencies to sufficiently cover the rally, had previously told BenitoLink he would provide a comprehensive report that covers security concerns, attendance and potential profit or loss for the event, but it was not included in the Sept. 2 report to the City Council.
Asked after the Sept. 2 meeting what happened to the report, he said he submitted it to the council in August.
BenitoLink submitted a public records request for that report on Sept. 3. The city has not yet provided a response.
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