Dan Rice, owner of the 66-to-Cali souvenir kiosk on the Santa Monica Pier and an energetic advocate of Route 66, has learned in recent days that barring a late intervention, he likely will lose the lease on his business as soon as October.
In a telephone interview over the weekend, Rice said his three-year lease was shortened to one year about a year ago. Rice can re-apply to keep his vendor space on the pier, but said he’s been told the Santa Monica Housing and Economic Development Department will reject his application.
“I’ve been told they’re bought and paid for,” Rice said.
The application would also have to be approved by the pier corporation and the city council, but he said it’s uncertain whether it will even get that far.
Route 66 supporters should contact the City Council of Santa Monica and write about Rice and his efforts. Perhaps a wave of support could persuade a councilor or two to intervene. Information on emailing the council can be found here.
Rice said he blames his predicament on politically connected competitors who long ignored the lure of Route 66 — until he filled the niche by opening 66-to-Cali in July 2009.
“For a long time, it was anticlimactic to go to the pier and find there was no one who knew about Route 66.”
Rice changed that quickly.
He led the charge to install an “End of the Trail” Route 66 sign at the pier, which is considered the symbolic end of Route 66. The unveiling drew media publicity from all over the country and worldwide.
He also helped organize an 85th birthday party for Route 66 in 2010. He was chairman of the recently completed International Route 66 Festival in Victorville, Calif., which turned a robust profit in spite of brutally hot weather.
In addition to selling made-in-America apparel, Rice offered guidebooks and advice to budding Route 66 travelers.
“I don’t want to go, and I think I’ve done a good job,” Rice said. “All I want to do is promote the road and America.”
As part of the lease application, Rice says he must submit a business plan. Part of his 10-year plan is to establish a Route 66 museum at the pier, then eventually deed it to the City of Santa Monica.
But Rice says his competitors want to cash in on Route 66, and one business leader — who Rice says holds a vendetta — says “my days on the pier are numbered and he’d make sure I wouldn’t come back.”
“They want the money,” Rice said. “It stinks like three-day-old fish.”
When asked whether he had a backup plan if his application was turned down, Rice acknowledged he had a few Route 66-related side projects percolating, but nothing that would financially support his wife Jessica and a small child.
“I don’t have Plan B,” he said. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”
The others were sleeping while Dan Rice did ALL the WORK AND PROMOTION of Route 66 !!!!Now that they have seen how well he has done, they now want to cash in on all that work!!!!!!! It’s all about the almighty dollar and this situation totally STINKS !!!!!!!!!
I just emailed the councilpersons. As I told them, I am working on the 3rd edition of the EZ…and will have to scale back on Santa Monica if this goes thru.
We(The Owners Of El Trovatore Motel On Route 66 KIngman, AZ.) Were Shocked And Disappointed To Hear Of The Plight Of Dan Rice!!!! When My Husband Was Literally Ready To Throw In The Towel Dan Rice Showed Up Out Of The Blue One Afternoon Like An Angel Arriving At The Office Door In A Red Convertible Mustang Glowing With Energy And Enthusiasim And Comenced To Give Us An Hour And A Half Pep Talk And It Worked We Are Still Here And Doing Much Better Thanks To Dan”s Encouragement! So My Husband Proposes That All Route 66 Buisness”s Unite And Submit A Pettion To The Santa Monica City Council And The Governor Of California To Give Dan Back His lEASE On Life!!!
Sam & Monica
I just sent my email to support Dan Rice and his business to the council, let’s hope we can reach enough of a volume to stop this.
Email sent. Sounds like politics at it’s worst. Best of luck to Dan, whatever the outcome here is.
I wish him well, but his history of US highways is incorrect.
I fear all this commercialization of Route 66 will eventually be its downfall. I feel I’m already seeing it, with all the stores bars and restaurants appearing on 66, slap on a 66 logo and let’s make some bucks. Its getting less about the history (the -real- history) and more about “branding”. That’s a shame, and I hope I’m proven wrong. I doubt I will be though…
Good luck Dan.
This is so totally wrong. The officials of Santa Monica have to understand that this a small businessman trying to make a decent living. Just trying to share a little bit of AMERICAN history, with AMERICANS & others alike. Praying that they will reconsider & leave this small bit of history remain as it is.
Met Dan in Oct. 2010 at the Pier very nice man. This is not correct politics.. Santa Monica might not be so popular today if is wasn’t for Route 66. Instead of pushing out the people who are trying to preserve history maybe they should try and help out so that their future offspring will get to see first hand some “American History”, Instead of reading about it.
We’ve sent our 2 cents to the Santa Monica City Council as well! More important than the politics involved or even the business, we tried to stress the importance of the positive effect Dan has had to the community with regards to global tourism, and the revenues he has helped generate for them in these financially challenging times. Not to mention when people now think of the Santa Monica Pier, they don’t merely think of just the Pier, but rather “66 to Cali & the End of the Trail”, in hopes of a visit with Dan Rice, and that’s what he brought to all of them, that they never had before.
As a tourist that was drawn to the Santa Monica Pier by Dan & Jessica’s stall at the end of a trip down Route 66, I can only express my sadness at this situation! They are a lovely couple doing a great job for the tourism industry that surrounds Route 66 and the Santa Monica pier at the end of that great drive. This is a very short sighted decision and the council should be ashamed!
What a travesty to cater to a few greedy people! I just wrote a letter to the council as well in support Dan and Jessica. I hope this draws enough attention for someone to wake up. How about a petition on Change.org?
Is the local press involved in this?
Not that I’m aware of. It wouldn’t be the first time Route 66 News has reported a story and the local newspapers ignored it. A good example is the one about the guy who was trying to lease-purchase the TeePee Drive-In in Sapulpa, Okla.
We sent a letter on behalf of the Blue Swallow in support of Dan using the email link Ron provided (thanks, Ron!). Will also post a link to the story on our Facebook page.
SnottyMonica always does this to people who actually LIKE the history and heritage of America, and the city richly deserves the scorn and derision that it recieves. I avoid the city like a nice dose of syphillis and largely avoid doing business with any entity therein. I wish Dan the best of luck in dealing with impossible ‘people’…
Just a side comment. Emails should be The First Wave. But studies show that politicians respond more to actual letters. Send emails, by the dozens. And then….follow up with snail mail. Let’s fill mail sacks with letters!
We met Dan on the Pier in 2009 and were very positively impressed. He’s a reall asset to the business community on the Pier and to the Route 66 community.
I’ve just sent an email to the Santa Monica City Council urging them to do all they can to keep Dan and his booth on the pier.
ken bogren
I have sent my letter urging them to do the right thing. Considering the people we’re dealing with, we can only hope that some lug-head there realizes that hey, all those people who go to the pier just to meet Dan and get a photo with the sign SPEND MONEY. Wouldn’t bet on it, though.
Shame on them!
Thanks to everyone for your kind support and your letters to the city. My wife and I are very grateful. It’s important to remember there are some very good people in Santa Monica…this is the majority and we have been honored to represent them and the city to the world. If the acts of a few prevent this from happening further, it will be my personal loss, but also the city’s, and the Route’s, so we hope your support makes a difference. Until then, we will keep doing what we do until God guides us elsewhere. Once again, thank you for all the support.
I sent a letter and email. I am truly shocked by the action and hope someone surfaces for air and chooses to correct the situation. Dan, please take care.
Calling all Association Members from all over the world. High Profile California Mayors called for a boycott of the entire state of Arizona because of SB1070, hurting not only Caucasian business people but Latino Business owners as well. Let’s consider boycotting Santa Monica if this goes through. Santa Monica will then loose thousands of dollars from bed tax and sales tax revenues. If they want to destroy what Dan Rice has built then they too must face consequences.
While this is a terrible story, I am glad to come here and see so many comments from people supporting Dan and taking action. I also want to repeat and add to what Ken Youden said above…not only is he correct that old fashioned snail-mail letters carry more weight, but even better would be to find ways to encourage the citizens of Santa Monica to start bringing this up in person an their city council meetings. While I doubt this particular set of politicians cares much about doing the right thing, perhaps the better angle is to show them that those who put out information about Route 66 are a very tight community where information is shared fairly well and across many languages. Just as many Mother Road-related sites mentions somewhere that, sadly, folks should avoid the stretch that goes through East Saint Louis in the name of safety, it will surely spread like wildfire that people following Route 66 should not spend any money in Santa Monica if Dan is shoved aside…and if there’s one thing politicians of any party understand, it’s money and the fear of losing it.
Dan, if you’re still reading these comments, I do agree with Antaries Curve that your quick answer to people about Route 66 is a bit off. However, first things first. Let’s see if we can help save your butt and strike a blow in the name of good government. Then I’ll drive out there from Fontana someday to buy a few things and we can talk about seeing if we can adjust your answer a little bit but still keep it short enough to not make people’s eyes cross…which would be the exact opposite of this comment I just made. 😉
I spoke with Dan a few days ago and it certainly seems like he needs all of the Route 66 Community to rally on this issue. Route 66 travelers invest a lot of time and money while traversing the U.S., and can be very passionate about their love of Route 66. This money is spent in other areas of the country too. Many visitors do side trips to attractions such as The Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas (just to mention 2).
Check-out web postings by the City of Santa Monica. One such posting is–“Santa Monica Pier Community Visioning Process” Dated June 6, 2012. Item V. (on page 7) covers “Public Engagement Ideas”. This may save you some reading. Not once did I notice any mention of Route 66 or visitors who are winding up their travels on Route 66.
Emailing Mayor, Councilmembers, Boards and Commissions is fine and dandy, but follow this with a paper message. Spend the few extra bucks to send it via Certified Mail with a return receipt. Let them know that there are lots of us out there looking over their shoulders. Some/all of their meetings are streamed live over the internet. I’m courious to see how much bandwith they have.
I am a long time Santa Monica resident and I was thrilled when route 66 came on the pier to sell route 66 stuff. It’s been awesome and everytime I go to visit i am always greeted by a friendly face. But, i have to say, a few times i went looking to buy a shirt for family and friends, it was closed 🙁 I also want to caution a lot of you from bugging the council and making a spectacle. This could work against you. nobody wants drama and some of this seems like drama. from what i read, Mr. Rice will be able to submit his business plan again. did mr. rice know that his time on the pier was limitid?