After more than an hour-and-a-half of opinions from Hollister City Council members, supportive and sometimes contentious comments from the public, and attempts at reassurance by executives from Reno-based Roadshows, Inc.—the only promoter to answer the city’s request for proposals and bid to run this year’s motorcycle rally—a 3-2 vote was cast and the 2016 Independence Rally will move forward—or so it seems.
Mickie Solorio Luna and Karson Klauer voted against the proposal.
At the onset of the discussions for the Jan. 19 City Council meeting, City Manager William Avera said there were basically two options for the council members to consider: 1) instruct city staff to move forward in working out the finer points in the agreement between the city and Roadshows, Inc., or 2) cancel or postpone the rally.
Mayor Ignacio Velazquez stated flatly that if the rally were postponed there would be no rally in 2017, or anytime afterward. Many in the capacity-filled chambers applauded in agreement. Velazquez asked the promoters to come up to the podium so council members could question them about their vision for the rally.
Randy Burke, president of Roadshows, Inc., along with his partners in outdoor events, Brian Holt, owner of Official Gear Co., out of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Tom Recel, owner of Biker Design, also from Daytona, got off to a shaky start when they said that there was a need for clarity in the RFP about how the company would pay the city, and the need to be able to work with the city staff, and then they would “go from there.”
Concerned about the failure of recouping all monies owed to the city and the lack of cooperation from past promoters, Velazquez wanted to drill deeper for more details. He quizzed Roadshows on their prospects of having enough time to find sponsors and vendors.
“The conversation today is, can you pull it off?” he said.
Burke said the company has already begun to talk to sponsors he works with at other events the company promotes. He said some have put funds on hold.
“We have relationships with major corporations and they know there’s a meeting and we’re hoping we can renegotiate with them and pull this off,” he said. “We have the responsibility to pay the city the full amount, whatever it is, before the rally even starts. If the city is not paid by June 1, the rally will be canceled and there will be no refund.”
Councilman Raymond Friend said he was concerned that the promoter didn’t have enough time and said he was impressed that they felt confident that they could still get the sponsors to back the event. He asked if there was anything in the RFP that might cause problems. Burke said they had a few and had already contacted Avera and were satisfied by what he told them.
According to Avera, the city is asking for $180,000 to cover the costs associated with putting on the event and Roadshows countered with an offer of $120,000 (later verbally amended by one partner to $135,000). Avera said the most important thing is to guarantee a safe event. He said he believes Hollister Police Chief David Westrick has reduced what security measures need to be as far as they can be taken.
“We will continue to spend $180,000 on this event and that’s just what it costs,” Avera said. “If we move forward with this and Roadshows is proposing $120,000, we’re still going to come back to the council and request an additional $60,000 so we have a safe event.”
Velazquez wondered if Roadshows could not meet the $180,000 minimum this year and the event was successful if the amount would rise the following year. Or would they try to stay with the lower amount that the council was not comfortable with.
Burke said the company is willing to get its feet wet with another rally.
“And, obviously if we’re successful we want the city to be successful,” he said. “Yes, we would like to come back, but we need to have an event under our belt so we can get you paid, learn and grow with you, and make this one of the best rallies in the country.”
The mayor wanted to know how they would promote to bring back the declining number of bikers to town. Burke said Roadshows markets its events nationwide in major publications. They also attend or help produce up to 15 similar events. He said, ideally, they should have begun promoting the Hollister event last October in order to garner national advertising. Because they were not onboard at that time, he said a lot of promotional opportunities were lost between November and January. He admitted it would be a game of “catch-up” if their proposal was approved and reminded the council that Roadshows has been producing major motorcycle events for 22 years.
Councilwoman Mickie Solorio Luna, who has made no secret of her concerns about the rally, did not seem to be impressed by Burke’s answers. She said she was hoping to hear a full presentation rather than what she described as basically a Q&A session. She objected to the low bid and wanted more details concerning Roadshows’ experience and how that would come to play to improve Hollister’s rally, saying it is not the same as rallies in Sturgis or Reno. She questioned their knowledge of the city itself.
Brian Holt tried to reassure Luna, telling her that he has been to Hollister numerous times over the past 15 years, especially during the rallies. He said he had observed how the different promoters handled the rallies and the mistakes they made that cost them and the city money. He said each of the three partners had complementary backgrounds, explaining his expertise was in merchandising at outdoor events, including Hollister a number of years ago.
Luna said that because she had concerns about the number of temporary business licenses that are issued during the event and the perceived amount of unpaid sales taxes, she is working with the California Board of Equalization to require vendors to have resale tax permits. She wondered who would take responsibility for assuring vendors paid taxes owed.
Tom Recel said the company would be glad to collect the taxes from the vendors and refund it back to the city or direct them to the city finance office. He said they routinely work with different states’ boards of equalization to be sure vendors have paid their taxes the previous year, and if they have not they will not be permitted to take part in the event.
Velazquez said he would like to know, should Roadshows run the event, if it were possible to determine the total sales for each vendor and said if a vendor claimed to have made only $200 they would not be invited to come back the following year. He said the city only wants the “best of the best,” and it needed to weed out those who claim they didn’t make any money.
Public Comments
Rey Sotelo, president of Indian Motorcycles and owner of Hollister Powersports, said he appreciated the council’s past support for the rally and offered his services in any way. He said the rally benefits all of Hollister and it has the potential to be a major event. He vouched for the promoters, saying he has worked with them and that he lends his support whole heartedly.
Mitch Dabo said he grew up in Hollister and remembered the motorcycle events during the 1950s.
“We have some fame when it comes to this event,” he said. “More than anything we do, it brings in a lot of outside people to Hollister. I encourage us to go ahead with this. I commend the gentlemen who are putting it on because they are doing it with not a lot of time, but they have the expertise. I know if they are given directions of what we want them to do they will perform.”
Dabo added that 2016 is the year to build back momentum and in 2017 he said he expects to see an even greater event because it will be the 70-year anniversary and will give Roadshows the opportunity to work out the kinks. He said it would be sad if the event did not take place in 2016, and it would be a terrible thing to do to the community. He, too, offered to work in any capacity to help.
Mike Corbin, long-time motorcycle entrepreneur and organizer of the 1997 rally, said he had done business with Roadshows for many years. He said they line up the same vendors year after year, collect all the fees and pay their taxes.
“These guys have the bandwidth and they have the depth,” he said. “The promoters we’ve had in the past were not professionals. I was talking to Randy and he said he was going to talk to all the vendors. That’s how this business works. You spread the word from one event to the next. Confidence makes the difference.”
Corbin said there is a lack of confidence among promoters because Hollister has put out mixed signals for the past few years and riders don’t know for sure if the rally is on or not.
“They’re making a good proposal and you’ve got to remember, they applied for this last year too and the other company was chosen, and the other company didn’t really have the bases to be chosen,” he said. “They were resting on their laurels of Vegas, but Vegas is a joke and always has been. These guys are deep into the motorcycle industry and each has over 20 years of experience. I would bet on these guys.”
Marty Richman, who has often spoken in favor of the rally, cautioned: “Things are not going to be cured in 2016 because we’re standing here and it’s the middle of January and we should have been here in September. I’m still disappointed in the way we’re managing this. We stand here and try to solve the problem. That’s no way to do planning. 2016 will be whatever it is and I think you should recognize that right now. Do this best you can, but if you think the problems are going to be solved in 2016, I think you’re wrong and we still can’t say what the positive and negative impacts are on the city because we don’t know. We have to change the way we do business in 2017, or there will be no upsurge.”
Comments took an accusatory turn against the council and Mayor Velazquez, in particular, as Christi Howe stepped up to the podium. Howe read from the podium the history of the rally and said ever since the original 1997 event it has suffered from, “Political maneuvering, turmoil, chaos and cancelations,” she said. “For 10 years, I’ve watched as this rally acquired a long list of broken contracts, unpaid fees and uncollected sales taxes and an assortment of lawsuits.”
Howe said that over the years she has tried to explain to the council how bikers are watching the chaos and that the city’s reputation has suffered.
“You’re running out of rally professionals to hire and fire,” she said.
Howe went on to say she has attempted to get answers at council meetings and at the Facebook online forum where she asked for transparency from the mayor. She said, “It seems the mayor believes my questions are, quote, ‘accusations that will kill this rally permanently.’”
She claimed the mayor was, “laying blame on her, as a citizen volunteer, for anything, let alone for the city’s dismal 20 years of failure to manage this rally properly. Instead, I say thank you for validating my suspicion. You made it perfectly clear that you assume no responsibility for the city’s failures. You demonstrated a petty, accusatory arrogance.”
Velazquez said he wanted to set the record straight: “When you’re accusing the council of interfering with the rallies rather than looking at the promoters that stiffed the city, you’re not really telling the full story. If the promoters had paid their bills and been honest with us and not try to steal the name of the city for their own profit, we wouldn’t be talking here. This would be settled already.”
He told Howe and everyone present that she could keep making accusations of backroom deals, but he was not involved last year.
“I didn’t pick the promoter. I stayed away,” Velazquez said. “The year before I was involved and I pointed out the city name is for the city and it’s not the promoters to take away from the citizens of Hollister, and he had no right to steal the name, ‘Birthplace of the American Biker,’ as he did. There were no backroom deals with anybody. We wanted each of those promoters to succeed. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Not because of this council, but through their own decisions.”
The mayor said he hopes the new promoter will succeed, because of their skill to make something work.
“That’s what we’re looking for, not accusations of backroom deals,” he said. “That doesn’t give the community confidence. I’ll take blame as part of the council, but it’s time to do it right and we give it a shot. We stopped doing this rally for reasons I don’t agree with. We had a great rally. Unfortunately, there’s people who did not want the rally at the time and they ended the rally. We’re fortunate to be talking about it again. We need to make sure we succeed and let them do their job. Let’s just do it right and hope the council decides to move it forward.”
Corbin came back to the podium in support of the council. “This city council and the police chief have worked hard on it. They’ve been totally honest and up front.”
While Keith Snow, who ran against Velazquez during the last mayoral election, supported giving the promoters a chance, he made comments that seemed to accuse the mayor of being a “shady character,” who secretly gained financially, or at least that’s the way the mayor understood Snow’s comments.
“Let me clarify for you and the public, last year I didn’t vote and I was able to run my facility without restrictions,” Velazquez said, and continued over Snow’s ongoing comments under his, “The year before, Mr. Snow, I got a clear ruling that I cannot make a gain of $20,000 or more, so if I have sales of $20,001 I violated the law, if I vote on the rally.
“I think the rally is important to this community to vote on it. In other words, I get to lose a lot of money this year because I want to make sure this rally’s here for years to come. I’m not gaining, Mr. Snow, so please don’t make false accusations. I’m doing everything legally, above board and no shady deals.”
A number of those in the room applauded Velazquez’ denial of backroom deals.
When Burke questioned whether the city actually made or lost money, despite the promoter not paying $90,000 owed, Avera said he wanted to clear the air: “We do believe that there is an influx of money that comes in as a result of the rally, but if everyone is saying that $60,000 in sales tax was earned by businesses in the city, that would say every person who came here spent $100 in a business in taxable sales that weekend. That doesn’t show up on paper. Furthermore, we are still paying bills for last year. Agencies charge throughout the year and it is very difficult for us to tell you what an event costs. That is why we’ve got it down to about $186,000. It’s close, and we understand that it’s important.”
Burke cautioned: “We would love to have it get to $180,000, but we can’t get to $180,000 this year. If you want another promoter to come in here and bid $180,000 and lose $50,000, I don’t think that’s fair to us. We’ve put together a profit-and-loss, vendors and sponsors, and what we think we can do, and came up with what we thought reasonable for us. Can that number change moving forward? Of course. As we grow the rally we want the city to grow, the charities to grow, and for all the businesses to make money. At that number, we figured we would have to bow out.”
After more discussion from council members, with Klauer stating numerous reservations, including his concern at “even a hint of a conflict of interest,” Mayor Velazquez asked for a roll call vote. Klauer and Luna voted against the 2016 rally, and the remaining three members voted for it.
While, in essence, the rally has been approved as the city staff continues to work to fine tune the agreement with Roadshows, it is not 100 percent certain that it will happen. But the mayor felt confident enough that it will to post on Facebook the next day, saying: “Thank you to all of you that supported keeping the biker rally going. It passed last night at our city council meeting with a 3-2 vote in favor of keeping the rally going for 2016. Council member Raymond Friend has worked tirelessly to keep the tradition going and with the help and support of Vice Mayor Victor Gomez the rally has survived. Also, thank you to all the supporters that came out to speak at our meeting—all of you made the difference!”
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