The Lakeport City Council said no to hosting the event in a 3-1 vote Tuesday night.
The council made the decision after an hour-and-a-half-long public meeting held earlier in the afternoon, in which a majority of local business owners and residents spoke of their concerns that the event would bring to the city violence and underage alcohol drinking on a massive scale.
BoardStock promotor Rod Stimmel, who is in Italy this week, said in an interview Monday that he was concerned his event had been tarnished by bad publicity and activities not directly involved with the wakeboarding competition.
For the past two years, the event has been hosted at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, which reportedly decided to drop the event in February over concerns about numerous underage drinking citations at last year's event.
Acting City Manager Richard Knoll presented a staff report in which he recommended hosting the event, because he said it's consistent with other lake-centered events held in the city in the past.
He also laid out a list of stipulations for the event, including making it nonalcoholic and gated, and requiring that event promotion would not describe the party aspect as in years past.
The council wasn't interested in allowing alcohol, but they became increasingly against the idea, considering the amount of staff time needed and possible costs.
Lakeport Police Chief Kevin Burke said he spoke with the Stockton Police, where the event was nonalcoholic.
While the event reportedly went well, Burke said, Stockton Police made clear the event has a "following" of people who expect a party atmosphere. "We're not going to be able to control that aspect of it," Burke said.
Stockton also noted problems outside the city limits, which could happen here and which needed to be considered, Burke added.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell had said at the first public meeting on hosting the event, held March 6, that he spent an estimated $53,000 for extra patrol and other services needed to cover the event last year.
On Tuesday night, Lt. Dane Hayward of the Clear Lake office of the California Highway Patrol said it was an expensive event for his staff to cover as well.
"It cost us $23,000 last year, not counting the helicopter," said Hayward.
He said he wanted a reimbursable contract with the promoter but didn't get one. Hayward said CHP's first DUI arrest last year was of a drunken 16-year-old on the first day of the event who was driving a carload of other teens.
Councilman Ron Bertsch asked Knoll if he could pull off the event in just a few months.
Knoll admitted it has taken a lot of time just to get the discussion to this point, which hasn't included specific plans about how the event would be run. "We've been in the midst of a significant crisis in this city since Jan. 18," he said, referring to the sewer hookup ban issued earlier this year.
"It has put a strain on us, there's no question about that," Knoll said.
Replying to Bertsch's questions, he said, "Do we have enough time? Frankly, no.”
"The list of tasks we have to complete by Nov. 1 to achieve a handful of sewer connections is huge," he said.
"I'd love to see this even personally," he said. "I think it's good for the community."
The reality is, however, that their staff is already seriously taxed, he said.
Another major factor for the council may have been the news from Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells, who reported that the fire district board had voted to oppose the event.
Based on that information and concerns for staffing, Councilman Bob Rumfelt, who earlier has suggested looking at the event more closely, offered a motion to decline hosting the event, with Bertsch seconding.
They were joined by Mayor Roy Parmentier in voting yes, while Councilman Jim Irwin voted no. Councilman Buzz Bruns was absent for the vote.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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