Los Banos Rotary Club History
Fred McCargar Is Rotary Speaker

Fred McCargar, veteran secretary of the Salinas Chamber of Commerce and Salinas Rodeo Association, was guest speaker at the Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday noon. He gave an interesting message relative to operation of the famed Salinas Rodeo, activities of the Salinas Chamber, and comments relative to his recent study on parking meters.
Surprising to some Los Banosans who expect all local community functions and celebrations to be ventures in profit rather than potential advertising and community betterment, McCargar said that the last Salinas Rodeo cost $87,000 and that the businessmen of the city were more than satisfied with the gross receipts of slightly less than $70,000. The difference was made up by business and personal interests which realized that the $15,000 plus deficit is far more than made up by good will, favorable advertising, and a tremendous influx of new dollars into the community.

As to parking meters, McCargar said their greatest danger, from a community standpoint, is their tendency toward decentralization. Convenient parking, he emphasized, is essential for any business district, and progressive cities are rapidly making provision to provide free parking lots adjacent to the business district. Salinas, for example, is using money from their parking meters, to acquire parking lots in the downtown district, as is the city of Anaheim, in southern California, where at least seven parking lots are now being developed for convenience of the shoppers.
As to the results of decentralization, McCargar pointed to the downtown Los Angeles area, where assessed valuation of real estate has dropped 40 per cent in the last 10 years-due almost solely to the fact that the district is almost inaccessible to the motorist shopper.

A study of parking meters in Salinas, he said, shows that meters are detrimental to low volume stores where customers like to browse around and make their purchases leisurely. On the other hand, meters have benefited large volume, high-class stores, where the motoring public can quickly park, make their purchases and be on their way. After six months of parking meters in Salinas, McCargar said that whereas six months ago public sentiment was about 99 per cent opposed, it is now possibly 50 to 55 per cent opposed. Whether this trend will continue to be reflected in the future McCargar refused to predict. Salinas women, he said, are generally more opposed to parking meters than are the men, and people of substantial means generally find them more acceptable than

February 4, 1947

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