JOHN KOZIOL
Staff Writer
LACONIA — Whether the local chapter of the Hells
Angels will be hosting an international gathering of
their brethren in the city this summer may become
known at today’s meeting of the municipal Licensing
Board.
At the meeting, which takes place at noon in Room
200B at City Hall, the Licensing Board is scheduled to
consider the application of Ed Shaughnessy, who is a
member of the New Hampshire chapter of the Hells
Angels, for a loudspeaker permit at the chapter’s
clubhouse on Fillmore Avenue in The Weirs.
Shaughnessy has requested an open-ended permit for
the loudspeakers from April 1 to Sept. 30. The
application also contains a separate request for a
permit from June 7-15 which is when Bike Week 2003
takes place.
Initially, Shaughnessy had requested the permit for
July 31, Aug. 1 and Aug. 2. These dates coincide with
the Hells Angels’ annual "World Run," an event that
draws representatives from Hells Angels chapters in 24
countries and nearly every state.
The operators of several local lodging
establishments did confirm that the Hells Angels had
sought to book rooms from them for the period covering
the World Run.
The Hells Angels’ appearance at today’s Licensing
Board hearing comes less than a year after they were
denied 11 vending permits for Bike Week 2002.
Last May 22, the board, at the urging of
then-member and now former Laconia Police Chief Bill
Baker, cited public safety concerns in refusing to
grant the permits.
City ordinance allows the Licensing Board to deny
applications if granting them would cause risk of harm
to people or property, cause a nuisance or create an
increased demand on city services.
Baker, concerned about clashes between the Hells
Angels and other "outlaw" bikers at Bike Week, sought
to get the Hells Angels to scale back the number of
their vending booths and to move them to what he
believed would be a safer location.
Though defeated at the Licensing Board last year —
the denial, in fact, was the first ever handed down by
the Licensing Board, according to city officials — the
Hells Angels ultimately prevailed at the New Hampshire
Supreme Court which overturned the board’s decision
and award the Hells Angels the vending permits for
Bike Week 2002.
The Laconia Licensing Board that meets today is
made up of Police Chief Tom Oetinger, Fire Chief Ken
Erickson and resident James Rogato.
