I just wrote a letter to the Snohomish City Council regarding this matter. I find it hard to believe the Council can award themselves raises and signing bonus's and totally disregard the businesses and vendors that pay taxes and look forward to this show every year for income… They should be ashamed! All we can do is wait for the next election… I am a Snohomish County resident and really embarrassed for them.

Frank G.

I have written a letter to the city council as well, beit that I am not actually from that area, I do however ride a motorcycle and find it rather disheartening that the city of snohomish would act this way, but then again, I'm not surprised that city officials think of themselves before thinking of the people that put them in office.

The shows in the past have been peaceful, fun, and security has been good. The City of Snohomish has welcomed this event with open arms…as have the businesses in town. However, this year because of extreme economic conditions, the nearby cities who previously donated their officers' help for this event for FREE can no longer afford this generosity. Unfortunately, most towns cannot. Snohomish, too, was left suddenly with a responsibility to foot this HUGE unexpected bill. That said, Chief Turner offered to reduce the number of officers req'd for this event from 70 down to 44. He did increase the security requirements. They were in fact reduced in consideration of the situation, while still ensuring safety considerations. And, he notified Abate immediately that there was a financial issue to solve. Further offering ideas to consider to offset costs (from charging $1-$2 to attend…with projected attendance figures, that would have covered the add'l cost incurred to pay for officers). We are ALL disappointed that things have changed so drastically and that Abate wasn't able to alter plans in time for the show this year. Timing is everything sometimes. Please continue to support the businesses and town who have supported this event for the past 12 years. Everything I've heard leads me to believe that the Chief of police, merchants and others have worked very hard to find solutions and compromise in order to make the 13th event another safe, fun show. These are tough times and it's impacting EVERY budget…mine, the City's, merchants, and clearly Abate's too. Wishing you well in Sultan and sorry to see you go.