The Hollister City Council on Monday agreed in a 4-0 vote to cancel the sanctioned version of the biker rally unless someone pays the security costs up-front.
After lengthy public commentary at Tuesday's meeting, Hollister Councilwoman Eugenia Sanchez offered to state a new motion when Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia's first proposal - to bar sanctioning of any biker rally, with or without costs paid up-front - had lacked a second and died on the floor.
Sanchez, though, did not provide details of a plan and instead turned to City Manager Clint Quilter, asking him to state the potential wording in the motion. Shortly before the exchange, council members had taken turns briefly explaining their positions. All four in attendance - Brad Pike was absent - said they support the rally but wouldn't use taxpayer dollars to fund it.
After one of Quilter's explanations - Sanchez had asked him to repeat it - she replied how she would "state that motion" articulated by the city manager. Council members then voted 4-0 against sanctioning a biker rally unless costs are paid up-front.
When asked about the meeting today, Sanchez said she had been trying to clarify the prior discussion among council members.
"We were bouncing off so many ideas and what motion to really move forward with," she told the Free Lance. "We were trying to clarify what all of us were trying to say."
Quilter had this to say about the exchange: "You'll find that with councils all the time. They know what they want to say. But when they're asked to put it in a motion, ..."
Sanchez said council members "knew where we stood" based on the figures.
"If it's not financially sound at this point, from our perspective, it's not probably the best way to go at this point," Sanchez said.
Sanchez said she hadn't previously thought about two new council members - Victor Gomez and Ray Friend - coming aboard next month and whether to hold off on a decision.
"I'm not sure about that," she said. "That's a very good question. I didn't even think about that."
Still, she said, council members "had to move forward."
"It takes time to put everything in place for the rally," she said. "If you wait too long, it's really hard for the promoter to really let other people know what's happening."
Kollin Kosmicki Kollin Kosmicki is editor of the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 337 or editor@freelancenews.com.
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