COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT: Bike rally failure mostly due to lack of local support

When I read the editorials I am never surprised at the abundant supply of negativity that appears here and the recent piece regarding the “Spring Mountain Run” certainly did not disappoint me.

After residing here for four years and after attending town and county meetings it is so obvious that when “certain folks” in this town do not want an event or group to come here they will do everything in their power to discourage it and not support it. These same people who bask in this power unfortunately have the ability to influence others who sometimes are unable or unwilling to think for themselves.

After being involved with the planning of an event such as this I wish to make some comments.

1. Why would we hold a motorcycle event during the time of year that tends to produce triple-digit temperatures in the desert? If you are or have ever been a motorcycle enthusiast you know what I am talking about.

2. As I rode through town I must have missed all the “Welcome Bikers” signs and all the advertisements for food and drink specials available to them or maybe just some sort of indication we were glad to have them here. Instead, the lack of support and hospitality was evident. Thank you Saddle West and Best Western for your efforts.

3. Interestingly enough, as I walked through the vendor area of the event for a couple of hours both Saturday and Sunday I did notice that some of our “power people” were noticeably absent. However I was informed that our local Assemblyman James Oscarson had been there, a big thank you to him for that. If I missed some others or was not properly informed, accept my apology. I do believe if each of our public officials had taken at least one hour of their time to attend, they would have been hard to miss. In conversations with some of the vendors, they appeared to be discouraged with regard to the turnout. But all of us agreed that triple-digit temperatures and the lack of support led to the poor attendance.

4. From a law enforcement perspective, any event that draws any significant crowds to a particular area always has the potential for incidents to arise. It is inappropriate to classify all those who may ride into town as outlaws. Most of these individuals have invested large amounts of money into this very expensive hobby and are law-abiding citizens. Why would we plan this event the same weekend as the EDC in Las Vegas? If there was a concern that the attendees could become out of control, mutual aid from LVMPD or NHP would not have been available.

5. The $50,000 expenditure, while a concern, is dwarfed by the $250,000 plus spent on a “theme park” that will never be recovered or a reality.

To all the individuals and businesses that were against this event from the beginning, you should be very proud of yourselves. You were probably successful in your endeavor and may never see this event here again.

So my friends, bringing a successful event of any kind depends on good planning and support from ALL the major components in this town.

The negativity and characterizations of others here takes priority over actually getting things done. Until COMPETENT minds can sit down and rationally agree to disagree but negotiate through the issues, we will never be anything more than what we are. Very sad…