By JOHN KOZIOL

Staff Writer

LACONIA — Bike Week unofficially kicked off on Thursday at a press conference during which public safety agencies said they’re ready for the influx of visitors, and city officials and the promoters of the rally touted their new relationship and commitment to keeping it a "world-class" event.

The Naswa Resort on Weirs Boulevard again served as host of the annual pre-Bike Week press conference that is sponsored by the Laconia Motorcycle Rally and Race Week Association.

Officially, Bike Week begins on Saturday and goes through June 15.

Paul Lessard, who is president of Rally and Race, welcomed "all the riders and visitors" coming into the area for Bike Week.

He then thanked City Manager Eileen Cabanel and Mayor Mark Fraser and the City Council for working with Rally and Race to make Bike Week "a world class event."

Lessard also thanked local and state police for making it "a safe event" and ended his remarks with a call to Bike Week visitors to "respect our laws," but also to "have fun and go home safely."

Charlie St. Clair, who is the Association’s executive director, and Jennifer Anderson, who is its director, added that they expected a good turnout for Bike Week 2003.

Cabanel said she has learned a lot since Bike Week 2002 when the rally was embroiled in controversies surrounding potential violence at the event between rival motorcycle clubs and over limits on the size and number of "beer tents" in The Weirs.

Those controversies forced some introspection at the city level, she said, and the fundamental question that emerged was "is the city opposed to Bike Week."

The six city councilors, however, unanimously answered back "no," she continued, which was the signal that the city, working with Rally and Race, should try to make it "a better event."

She, Fraser and Lessard have met on numerous occasions since Bike Week 2002 and focused on "things we want to accomplish," said Cabanel, although she did not elaborate.

The City Manager said she was pleasantly "surprised" to find that the city and Bike Week supporters have "so much in common."

Laconia Police Chief Tom Oetinger said his department was working with state, county, and local law enforcement agencies to create "a safe environment" during Bike Week.

The overwhelming majority of Bike Week visitors are law-abiding folks who don’t cause any trouble, but a tiny number do, said Oetinger, and they are those who "over consume" alcohol.

Oetinger promised "a very aggressive stance to the abuse of alcohol" during Bike Week and later on Thursday, Aidan Moore, who is chief of the New Hampshire Liquor Commission’s Enforcement Bureau, said his officers would be out in force working side-by-side with Laconia’s finest.

State Police Lt. Harry Nedeau echoed Oetinger’s assertion that it was only a "small percentage" of Bike Week attendees who caused any problems.

The state police will be on hand to help Bike Week visitors in any way it can, said Nedeau, who then addressed would-be lawbreakers when he said "we’re planning to give you all the attention you deserve."