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Citing prohibitive costs and regulations, Corbin Motorcycle Saddles and Hollister Powersports have canceled plans to have outside vendors at their locations during the July 4-5 Hollister Independence Day Rally.
Corbin and Hollister Powersports have been conducting the events for decades, both when the city-sponsored rallies were held and when they were not.
Both locations will be open for business during the rally this year, however. Owner Mike Corbin said he will offer his regular ride-up service, and Rey Sotelo’s Hollister Powersports will host an Indian Motorcycle demo.
“It is a cut-and-dried decision,” said Corbin. “We’re not able to provide paid security and have a positive bottom line. So basically, we just decided to do our normal business, which is to receive customers and make motorcycle seats.”
Corbin had planned to host about 16 vendors who would be selling motorcycle parts and related products. He estimated that it would cost about $16,000 for the two-day rally, which would not include the fees that vendors would incur with the city.
Hollister City Manager David Mirrione said that the city would require payment of a business license tax for vendors who do not currently have an active license. He said vendors at either event would also need a major temporary use permit for any stage or tent greater than 120 square feet in size, which costs $205 per tent or stage.
“I don’t charge the vendors,” Corbin said, “which helps the ones who can’t afford booth space downtown. But the city has blocked us out and made it economically impossible for us to be part of the rally.”
Corbin said that he has not experienced any serious issues with the events at his factory in the past and that they are generally low-key.
“We’re not doing music,” he said. “We’re not selling alcohol. All the vendors are just selling T-shirts or whatever. It makes no sense to me why it would cost so much.”
According to Hollister Police Chief Carlos Reynoso, municipal code requires four security guards for the first 100 people and one additional guard for every 50 people thereafter. He said city records indicated between 4,000 and 5,000 people attended the previous event at Corbin.
“I initially said eight guards this year,” Reynoso said, “and when we confirmed last year’s numbers, I increased it to 10. I thought I was being reasonable. According to the code, he should have around 40.”
Reynoso would not comment on the number of guards scheduled to work at the rally, citing security concerns, but said that he believed there were between 50 and 100 guards employed at the 2017 rally.
“If you were following the code,” he said, “there would be hundreds of guards here this year.”
Corbin said he is not interested in casting blame or being a part of the issues the city is facing with the rally, and that he “kind of looks at the shoes that other people walk in.”
“There’s all new people down at City Hall,” he said, “and they have their own basket of problems. The city manager is having a hard time everywhere he turns. I’m just trying to take the neutral road and do my job as CEO of Corbin.”
Sotelo of Hollister Powersports had planned to host between 10 and 15 vendors but canceled for the same reason as Corbin.
“I understand the city’s trying to make money,” he said. “But by the same token, you don’t drive vendors away who are bringing people in to spend money. It’s tourism at its best, and that’s what we’re trying to promote.”
Sotelo also thought that the number of guards and police required for the event was counterproductive, with concerns that the security might overpower the public, and was unnecessarily large.
“When I go to the rally in Sturgis,” he said, “very rarely have I seen any police presence. We do an event at Laguna Seca, with around 30,000 people. And, I think, there are five or six police officers.”
Sotelo blames the concern over security on the event that sparked the rally in the first place, the disturbance in Hollister that was spun off to the 1947 Gypsy Tour rally.
“It’s the biker stereotype,” he said. “I think the city is still living in 1947, and they think it’s going to happen again. But the lifestyle I’m dealing with, the guys doing business with me, are like me. And I’m going to be 69 next month.”
Peter Lago, owner of Johnny’s Bar and Grill, said his expenses for holding an event have gone up substantially since his last one in 2019.
“The encroachment permit was $180,” he said. “Now it’s $1,000. There was no fee for the fire department [before]. This time, it was supposed to be $1,000, but they cut my bill in half to be nice to me.”
Lago said that the fees charged to vendors, which he considers too high, will discourage some of the higher-quality ones from participating.
“How is the vendor supposed to show up with $50,000 worth of supplies,” he said, “then travel 500 miles, pay for their gas and their housing, spend all that money on permits and make any amount of money in two days?”
Lago said it was ironic that Hollister’s three mainstay motorcycle businesses—Johnny’s, Corbin and Hollister Powersports—were not consulted about the rally and are having their events curtailed, particularly in light of the vast knowledge that he, Corbin and Sotelo have gained by participating in motorcycle events.
“Collectively,” he said, “we have over 75 years of experience at doing this. Mike and Rey are Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductees. They know everybody and have been everywhere. Why would they not sit us down and say, ‘How do we do this?’”
Lago credited Mirrione for helping resolve some of his problems in the run-up to the rally, but he remains frustrated by what he sees as financial roadblocks and a lack of communication he has faced in dealing with others at the city that will hamper participation.
“The more you crimp on vendors,” he said, “the more you take the two motorcycle hall of fame inductees who collectively employ more than 150 people and keep them from taking part in the rally, the more you are setting it up to fail.”
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