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BULLETIN: Paso cops clip “No-Cruise Night”

May 23, 2008

By DANIEL BLACKBURN

Paso Robles police officials are trying to corral the “First Annual No-Cruise Night” even as the spontaneous resurrection of a 30-year Memorial Weekend tradition gains steam. Participants want to return to Paso Robles one of the largest custom car events in the nation, and hundreds of the cars and their owners are expected to show.

Capt. Robert Burton arrived at the doors of Hunter Auto Body early today, said Vice President Joe Torres, to inform Torres that he lacked the proper permits for holding an event on his commercial property. Torres had slated a concert by the Bad Boys Band, but Burton squelched that, said the businessman.

“We are planning to let people come in and park at the shop… this won’t change much,” Torres promised. “We’ll move inside if we have to.”

Torres said he was told by Burton that there was “still time to apply for a city permit, but not to bother” because the application would go through both Burton and Chief Lisa Solomon, “and he guaranteed me it would not be approved.” A subsequent attempt to file a permit application at Paso Robles City Hall was rebuffed, said Ron French, co-owner of the venerable Pine Street Saloon.

By post time, Burton had not returned phone calls from UncoveredSLO.com.

The West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals left abruptly for Santa Maria last year after the Paso Robles City Council demanded a $30,000 fee to cover what officials termed additional police enforcement costs associated with the holiday event.

Taken by surprise, local business owners were left to worry about lost revenues; many said their businesses typically experienced a five-fold increase in sales over cruise event’s duration.

But legions of auto aficionados plan annual vacations around the Paso Robles cruise, and many of those have long-standing reservations at area hotels. So after the Santa Maria run is completed Saturday morning, a long line of customized, classic vehicles will head for the North County.

Hunter Auto Body is located at 1236 Railroad Street in Paso Robles, right across the street from the French’s historic saloon.


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Member Opinions:

By: Anonymous on 6/3/08

I am glad that we don't waste oil and make the corporations money and pollute the environment on such wasteful ideas of vanity. I think we could have a nifty time just emailing photos of old cars or maybe even our favorite trees to each other and check them out a home. A telecommuting car and tree show if you will? Ya?

By: Anonymous on 5/27/08

I heart Bear

By: Anonymous on 5/27/08

Maybe is we cut planning staff down to two people one boss one lackey they would need to concentrate on permit issuance instead of making new rules and regulations. They sure as hell couldn't have a worse track record on expediting permits. I have even a better idea. One planner and the applicant hires a consultant to plan check and approve and pays the cost for that service.

By: Anonymous on 5/26/08

Burton and Solomon (if that is her name again) are out of touch.


They think alike, so maybe Burton will be husband number FIVE! He has been on the fast promotion track??


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By: Anonymous on 5/25/08

Well in our opinion for the 1st "No cruise Night" it was a fun and hassle free day in Paso again. We all saved a little gas and even a $12 entry fee. Looks to us were are headed in the right direction. Now that other local downtown business's see it can be done they might even want to be a part of the next one.

As a local merchant that always thought of the memorial day car show as a our busiest weekend of the year,who knows maybe there is a chance for a comeback.Even though it only lasted a few hours this time , I can say for sure it was worth the time and effort.

By: Anonymous on 5/25/08

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SHOWED THEIR SUPPORT YESTERDAY, THERE WERE NO LAW ENFORCMENT PROBLEMS AND ALL WENT SMOOTH AS PLANNED, ITS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR SOMETHING BIGGER IN THE FUTURE WE CAN PICK UP WHERE WCC LEFT OFF! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR BIGGER!

By: Anonymous on 5/25/08

To all of you that came out to support the No Cruise Night thank you we had a great time and no problems.Everyone enjoyed each others company and having some of the locals showing thier support even made it all the more special!Hope to see you all again next year as this was the first annual NO CRUISE NIGHT and we intend to keep it going so thank you for your support!!!!!

By: Anonymous on 5/24/08

I don't care about cars or Paso at all… but I'd rather let you have your weekend in Paso than let a bunch of drunks on the road after wine-tasting. Hopefully the small businesses will survive without this weekend.

By: Anonymous on 5/24/08

I just wanted to say that I have never once missed a Cruise Night in Paso. Every year I, like so many other of you, invite people in from out of town to come not just enjoy the festivities, but to help bring revenue to the town I love. A town that is hard to describe sometimes to anyone who does not live here. From tractor parades, to the biggest little fair anywhere, to a gabillion wine and tapas bars, to the best damn downtown square anywhere, to the LARGEST CUSTOM CAR SHOW IN THE NATION. I don't, for one secone, believe that there is one person in this town who does not describe all of the above when people ask 'What is there to do in Paso?' Yes, there are so many functions (the Antique shows and Farmers Markets, the Home and Rec Shows, Wine Festivals, etc) there is always something happening in Paso. If there is one thing to say about anyone who moves from Paso- I am pretty sure- it is to say that at one point or another- they move back. No matter how much this town changes and grows (box stores, to housing, to 1,000 wineries) we all help to support the community we live in. Losing the car show and cruise night has been the largest mistake this city council has ever made. I guess at the time when the rumors started that it was moving to Santa Maria (who has their own gang and alcohol problems) to the time it was confirmed via the media- shock kept my mouth closed. And then at that point- who are you going to call? Well, I wish I had been more saavy to the ability of contacting the mayor, the police chief, the city council, or anyone else who would listen. Not just from the people who have the businesses, hotels, retail and what-not, but to the people who do not even have a classic car. There could have been a million other ways to help facitlitate West Coast Customs and the city at the same time before someone stuck their foot in their mouth by trying to charge an outlandish fee. I can probably name up 100 people who would have helped VOLUNTEER to keeping crowds at a happy medium. 100 more VOLUNTEERS to help clean up. Had the option been placed out there by the city, to help find ways to keep this show here, rather than have it be a loss-loss situation for everyone. If it got so big and out-of-hand, why was OUR fairgrounds not considered or looked into? Your going to tell me that this town can handle 150,000 people at the Mid State Fair, but found that the car show was more than they could handle? Give me and every other person that lives here a break! If the businesses brought in up to 5x the amount of money that they normally do, who's to say that they and the people of this town couldn't help to raise some funds to put towards enforcement if it was needed so bad? There are so many benefit motorcycle runs, benefit barbecues, benefit auctions, benefit this and that events that happen here and WE ALL SUPPORT THEM. And I am sorry, the auction is a great idea, but it was never ever going to replace what the Cruise Night and Car Show stood for. Which is Paso Robles. We supported it, and it supported us. Whoever thought that biting the hand that fed us was a good idea, needs to go back and re-evaluate what it means to support your community and not fail. I will go tonight with all of my friends and family that I sit here with after a very quiet Friday night of Memorial Weekend. And I will show my support to the people that have lost so much. And we will not get rowdy and out of hand. And I hope we can rub elbows with all the people who feel the same way we do. Bring it back home.


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By: Anonymous on 5/24/08

I WAS OUT TONITE AND THE PRPD IS OUT IN FULL FORCE SO EVERYONE BECARE OF THE ACTIONS THAT COULD TAKE PLACE, ONCE AGAIN LETS SHOW THEM WE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM AND ARE HERE TO SHOW THE PRIDE OF OUR RIDES AND LIKE LUCKY B SAYS LETS NOT LET THEM PUSH US AROUND!

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

Today was a very sad day as I drove through Paso Robles and did not see one kustom or hot rod. I have been planning our family's Memorial day weekend around the KKOA car show for years. The local city government (Jim App's group) and their underhanded push, to force the car show out of town, has left many resident's and buisness owners scratching their heads. These people are to represt us? They do not! The push to create another Napa valley, and promote only the wine industry is all that they can see. This is an election year, however the real head of the problem Mr. App is appointed, and not elected. We need to take back control of our city, control of our buisness' push these guy's out and keep tradition alive. This is our generation, we must make our mark!

Cop's are just guy's in suits, don't let them push you around…..

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

To: Gail Gustin Your comment about wine festival not bringing extra business to retail shops is not accurate. I don"t know who you talked to but I own a retail shop on 12th street across from our park and it has always been one of our busiest days for the last 5 to 6 years. I have been in business for 12 years and talk with many merchants who see very high sales over wine festival weekend. I'm not against the car show at all but very much support wine festival.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

Post Script by Dale Gustin, local watchdog who regularly attends Paso Robles City Council Meetings as well as being a member of several civic organizations and involved in many fund-raisers in the community:

1. Well, once again the local city officials have done all they can to discourage another worth while effort to bring peaceful visitors to our town.

2. Oh, you might claim that the Wine Festival was a huge success, but only for the Wine Industry, not the local retail sales people and restaurants, as my survey showed that no extra business came to Paso Robles for these people during the Festival.

3. However, my survey of downtown merchants tallied a different result for the Car Cruise and Car Show that our civil officials chased out of town after last year’s event at this time of the year.

4. Sometimes, I get so discouraged over the lack of common sense that our City Officials have used in making their decisions.

5. I suggest that you rethink your vote for these officials who claim to have our citizens best interest at heart when it comes to election time.

6. Oh yea, I personally hand delivered the three (3) hour (5 to 8 p.m.) one time use permit to Captain Robert Burton for his approval and true to his word, both he and the Chief acted in concert to reject that permit. This fund-raiser was designed to help the Dare Program as well as our Historic Society’s efforts to preserve our small town historic atmosphere.


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By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

TO EVERYONE COMING TO SHOW ANY CARS AT THE "NO CRUISE NITE" ONE THING WE HAVE TO REMEMBER IS TO NOT LET THE TRAFFIC GET CONGESTED AROUND THE AREA WE WILL ACCOMINDATE AS MANY AS WE CAN FOR PARKING IN THE LOTS WE HAVE THAT IS ONE THING I HAVE FOUND THAT THE PD CAN SHUT US DOWN FOR SO LETS NOT GIVE THEM A REASON IF WE WANT THE SHOW KEEP THE FLOW! WE ARE NOT THE BAD PEOPLE THAT THEY THINK WE ARE! SEE YOU ALL THERE!

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

I'll be riding in to see yah all. Hell my car has a killer radio. There will be plenty of music.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

I'll be there, ready to have a grand old time again. See you all at the non-event, and I agree that there should be a non-event for a few City Council comes election time.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

This started with the city wanting extra police to maintain orderly conduct and now the citizens are worried the the police will display disorderly conduct!! Vote out as many CC as you can in November.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

After 38 years as a locally established business and 26 years of the West Coast Car shows, we know what events are good for the downtown merchants and are a great family fun day. The car show was the best event by far for a small business like ours. Most of the other events that our city approves for us seem to pointed in a different direction than ours. It seems that the other events that we have are more suited for the out of city limits business’s. The “Pioneer Day” is still a good home town event, lets hope they wont be charged more for cleanup or containment of runaway horses.

We are trying to raise funds for the Historical Society of Paso Robles to help with the preservation of historic buildings. Such as the 150+- year old Pine St. Saloon building. They have been very helpful in its preservation since the tragic San Simeon earthquake.

So what better way to support our community than with a good ol hometown old car fundraiser. We are also donating 1/2 the proceeds to the Paso Robles “Dare program.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

The police had better not harass the citizens.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

The press will be at the "non-event" and I exspect the police to behave themselves. There better not be any inappropriate behavior by them because it will be captured on video where they least expect it.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

I'll be making plenty of music reving my machine.

By: Anonymous on 5/23/08

AS THE ARTICLE SAYS THE SHOW WILL GO ON. IT WILL BE A NON PROFIT BBQ WHICH THE PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE PR HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE DARE PROGRAM IN PASO ROBLES. WE ARE NOT GOING TO LET THIS HINDER OUR FUN AND LOVE FOR CLASSIC CARS. I WILL PERSONALLY SEE YOU ALL THERE FROM 5-9 ON SATURDAY THE 24TH. THANK YOU ALL WHO HAVE SUPPORTED WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO!


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