The controversy in Hot August Nights Swap Meet
The controversy began before the Hot August Nights Swap Meet did.
Some history:
Last year, the promoter of the event changed. The former promoter began a one day swap meet in Sacramento the weekend before the Reno swap meet.  Although we skipped last year (mainly due to this change, we wanted to miss the inaugaral growing pains), reports from those that attended were positive.
Fast forward to this year. Months before the event, the registration packet for the Hot August Nights swap meep arrived, nothing unusual there. Later, another letter came in stating that if vendors were selling certain items, a temporary vendor work permit would be required. If this work permit was not obtained, that vendor would not be permitted on the grounds.  This would require a visit to a Waschoe County government office, fingerprinting and background check. The work permit costs $65, and is good for 5 years.Â
A call to the promoter, Western Pacific events, more specifically Bob Davies, were positive. He stated that the county had not firmed up the requirements for the work permit yet and the county was not going to enforce the work permit requirement this year. So, we went forward with attending the event.
We arrived on the set up day, Wednesday, to no lines and no issue with getting in without the work permit. At the check in booth, no one even mentioned the work permit until I brought it up and I was assured that there was no concerns.
We came in Thursday morning bright and early to discover that there was a bunch of empty booths.  This is typically well attended by vendors with few empty booths. I thought maybe since this promoter is cracking down on the “flea market” aspect of this event and enforcing the auto related only, this kept some of the vendor space vacant.Â
Wandering around and chatting with other vendors and attendees, I heard some common concerns. The vast majority stated that they were not going to continue attending the Reno Hot August Nights swap meet if the work permit was required. Not only does Waschoe County receive tax revenue from the vendors, sales were slow, attendance at the event was down, and most felt although it is not a significant sum, this is just one more way to get into our pockets. Others were against the work permit on principal.  This event is the only selling many vendors do in Waschoe County and it seems a bit frivilous to require a work permit for a once a year event.Â
On Friday morning, a young lady with a clip board and a master list of vendors came through and wanted to see my work permit.  I advised Ms. Clip Board that I did not have one and was told by the promoter that one would not be required.  She asked who the owner of the space was and I told her. She asked if he had a work permit and I again said no.  I stated that we did not want to make a special trip to Reno to get fingerprinted and the background check done.  She said that Waschoe County left the office open extended hours to accomodate vendors and the Davies’ (the promoters) had that information. I told Ms. Clip Board that if they had that information, they did not pass it along to the vendors. She made a mark by Tom’s name and I asked her what was going to happen. Ms. Clip Board said this was a survey and she did not know what course of action would be taken. We politely argued a bit more, I stated that we might not attend next year, opting for the Sacramento swap meet if this was an ongoing issue and she went on her way.  We were in the first row she visited, and word of this “survey” spread quickly.
As Ms. Clip Board made her rounds, the rumors started swirling amongst the vendors. Would someone come through later and issue citations? Would citations arrive in the mail? Was this indeed just an information gathering survey?  Unlikely, in my estimation. I cannot imagine a county entity sending someone out if there was not a revenue generating motive.Â
Being one who likes to go to the source, I marched up to the information booth at the swap meet. There I asked what the results of the “survey” were going to be. I got a fair amount of blank stares and people looking at each other. After an awkward moment, a woman said “I don’t know.” We discussed that they had been fighting the county on this work permit to no avail.  I stated that we didn’t have a problem with the background check, we are not worried about getting our fingerprints taken (mine are already on file due to history in law enforcement work), it just seemed to be another revenue generator for the county when revenues were down for the vendors. I was preaching to the choir here, this was not the promoters idea, it was Waschoe County, so I stated that we may just have to skip this event next year and go to the Sacramento show. I turned off and marched back to the booth.
Later,  we noticed it. Vendors were packing up their wares and bugging out.  By Friday night, about half the booths were empty, despite having one more day, a typically lucrative day, to sell.
Will this be the death nell of the Hot August Nights Swap Meet? I think so. With a well attended one day swap meet without the logistical hassles only 100 miles and one week earlier, I suspect a good portion of the vendors will move to that event. With a shortage of vendors, there will be little reason to spend $8 to attend the swap meet for Hot August Nights.
Really, it is a shame too. With the promoter enforcing the automotive only aspect, which I feel is a good move, and doing what it takes to make this event a well-oiled machine for the vendors, this could be a top notch event. But, in typical government fashion, they will mire this event with bureaucracy and screw up a good thing.
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