By JOHN KOZIOL
Staff Writer

LACONIA — The city has no plans to cancel Motorcycle Week, Mayor Mark Fraser said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Violence at some motorcycle gatherings earlier this year has heightened safety concerns for the event scheduled for June 8-16. But a key Bike Week organizer blamed the media for sensationalizing the possibility of violence among outlaw motorcycle clubs.

Fraser also told the council that Police Chief William Baker has agreed that should a proposed ordinance that would create a gun-free zone during Bike Week not pass constitutional review by the city attorney, Baker will withdraw it.

The gun-free zone is one of the ideas Baker has explored to minimize the risk of violence at Bike Week in the wake of several deadly clashes around the country between motorcycle clubs. The incidents have reportedly been spawned by what law enforcement authorities have said is the break down of a truce between them.

The New Hampshire chapter of the Hells Angels has a clubhouse on Fillmore Avenue in the city and for Bike Week 2002 has permission from the Laconia Motorcycle Technical Review Committee to have 13 camping sites, up from nine last year, on that property.

The New Hampshire Hells Angels and their attorney were expected in Belknap County Superior Court this morning to contest the city Licensing Board’s denial last week of 11 vending licenses requested by it and affiliated Hells Angels clubs from around the U.S.

The board said granting the licenses could endanger the safety of vendors and attendees as the Hells Angels booths might be targeted by rival clubs.

As to the gun-free zone, the council has not yet even discussed its specifics, said Fraser, let alone voted on the measure. A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for next Wednesday.

Regarding speculation that the council may vote to cancel Bike Week, Fraser pointed out that the event would probably take place even if the city were to suddenly rescind the scores of vending licenses it has approved.

Visitors would come up to The Weirs whether Bike Week had the blessings of the council or not, he said, adding that many people have already worked long and hard to prepare for the event.

Fraser said the council is doing "everything it can" to ensure the safety of Bike Week patrons. He recommended that anyone who didn’t feel comfortable about attending, should not do so.

The city is committed to "aggressive prosecution" of persons who break the law during Bike Week, whether or not there is a gun-free zone in place, said Fraser.

When the floor was opened at the end of the council meeting for public comment, Charlie St. Clair, executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Rally and Race Week Association, said he wanted to clear the air about his group’s position on Bike Week violence.

The association endorses "anything that’s going to attain" the goal of public safety, he said, before moving on to his next point — the tone of reporting on Bike Week 2002.

St. Clair admitted he was "a little unnerved," by what he called "sensationalizing newspaper headlines" that seemingly make the case for the inevitability of violence between motorcycle clubs at Bike Week.

Those headlines contributed to the "hysteria" on the part of both Bike Week supporters and detractors, he said, and have created negative images of Bike Week and of Laconia.

But Ward 1 Councilor Paul Bordeau said the press was helpful in presenting Bike Week issues to the public.

Yes, St. Clair acknowledged, some bike shows have been canceled in the wake of the most recent violence among motorcycle clubs in Laughlin, Nev., but the media has failed to report that "hundreds of events" did subsequently take place without any problems.

If police have proof of a conspiracy to commit acts of violence at Bike Week, they should act on it, said St. Clair. He added that violence among motorcycle clubs is cyclical and that the response of Laconia Police to it this year is different from the past.

In the mid-1990s, there were two killings at a bike event in New York state, he said, a fact which did not, however, seemingly engender as much pre-Bike Week reaction in Laconia as did the several violent incidents this year in Nevada and elsewhere.

While saying he was "not downplaying anything," St. Clair expressed confidence in the ability of public safety agencies to keep order at Bike Week this year.

Resident John Scott said he was "somewhat distressed" to learn that the council would not hold a public hearing on canceling Bike Week.

At last Wednesday’s Licensing Board meeting, a New Hampshire State Police official with expertise in motorcycle clubs, told the board that "what happened in Nevada is quite likely to happen here," said Scott.

Laconia Police, he continued, would be hard-pressed to address violence on such a large scale. Scott then asked the council to "imagine the lawsuits" that would be filed against the city should innocent people be killed or injured during Bike Week.

"I plead with you to put public safety first this year," said Scott. "Please protect us."

Downtown businessman Peter Karagianis of Happy Jack’s Cigar, Pipe and Tobacco Shop, said Bike Week "is a good thing for our area." He asked the council not to penalize businesses nor the "95 to 98 percent" of Bike Week attendees who do not cause trouble by canceling the event.

Fraser said he hoped the council was "making the right decision" in not canceling Bike Week.

The intelligence the council has received about the threat of violence has raised members’ concerns, he said, but not enough to stop Bike Week outright this year.

Bordeau, who is an attorney, agreed with the mayor, saying the information about possible violence did not warrant canceling Bike Week because there was no compelling indication of imminent danger.

"Were the quality of information different," said Bordeau, he "would not hesitate" to work to pull all city vending permits for Bike Week.