There were many visitors at the Hollister Motorcycle Rally in 2008, but it didn't amount to a profit for the City of Hollister, which invested more than $300,000 on merchandise sold at the event.
The city is $96,280 short of breaking even on 2008 Hollister Motorcycle Rally merchandise sales, according to figures released Friday.
According to the documents released by City Manager Clint Quilter, the city spent $301,000 on merchandise to sell at the July rally - the first year for such an investment. The merchandise included 40,815 T-shirts, 5,000 hats and 5,000 pins - plus tax, materials and labor. The city sold 9,800 T-shirts, 2,050 hats and 5,000 pins at the event, according to the report.
With these numbers released, Quilter said there are "no more plans as of right now" for future rally merchandising. But he added that the numbers do not necessarily have implications about the event as a whole.
Regarding the loss, City Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia said members need to "really look close at it and make sure they are never caught in this bind again."
Valdivia concluded that even though the city was doing it to pay for services such as contracting outside police officers and potentially make a profit for the general fund, competition with private sellers was difficult, in hindsight, to undertake.
"Hopefully, we can sell the remaining shirts," Valdivia added.
The release of these numbers is only a part of the decision on the rally's future, said Quilter, who presented the idea to council members in January before they decided to take on the investment with taxpayer dollars.
"(The numbers) need to be taken in context with everything ... to see if the promoter is interested," said Quilter, referring to Horse Power Promotions and its owner, Seth Doulton.
Horse Power Promotions paid down $200,000 toward law enforcement costs at the 2008 rally, while the city had planned to use licensing revenues and merchandise sales to make up the rest.
That was a marked change from 2007, when Horse Power Promotions had raised $360,000 to pay Hollister up-front for security costs - half of which came from a private vendor who had been awarded rights to sell "official" rally merchandise.
Horse Power Promotions owner Seth Doulton declined to comment while contending that the Free Lance takes information he offers out of context.
Quilter will present the same data from the documents in a report on Monday.
He had planned to first release the figures at the Sept. 18 meeting, but did so Friday after the Free Lance last week submitted a public records request for the numbers.
The city manager still plans to discuss a more comprehensive report on the merchandise sales at the Sept. 18 meeting, he said.
Mayor Doug Emerson admitted that the result "wasn't what we had hoped for." But he added that city leaders have learned from the experience and how it was set to be the main topic at Monday's special council meeting.
Colin McConville Colin McConville is a reporter with the Hollister Free Lance. You can reach him by email or at (831) 637-5566.
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