Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1517742
10 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | APRIL 2024 By Clare Mendez, Resident In February, Mike Prestwich, the Hemet City Manager, accepted the invitation from Teri Collett to speak with us at Solera Diamond Valley. He was accompanied by five of his colleagues as well as City Council Member, Malcolm Lilienthal. The objective of these city officials is to enhance the appearance of Hemet and to keep the residents safe. As of 2024, the population of Hemet is approximately 90,000. It covers 27.8 square miles and has 360 miles of streets. Public Works Director, Noah Rau explained the challenges he faces with the cost of street repairs. (A question many of us wanted answers to.) Currently, our city is struggling to generate enough revenue to keep up with the cost of the necessary pothole repairs and the number of personnel (three) who work on the issues. That number has now been increased to six in hopes of getting more repairs done as quickly as possible. Rau's main priority is to repair the main corridors into our city. Many of us previously met Fire Chief Sell at Solera presentations. On this day, he brought a special guest, Laura Axcell. Battalion Chief Axcell is the first female Battalion Chief in 116 years (since 1908). Congratulations to her, and lucky for us, she is working with Fire Chief Sell here in Hemet. Last year the Hemet Fire Department responded to 18,719 calls. There are currently only five fire stations in Hemet making it the busiest fire department in all of our surrounding cities. Our closest fire station is #4. It is the second busiest fire station in Hemet. Police Chief, Michael Arellano said the Hemet Police Department has installed high-quality surveillance cameras at eight of the main intersections with plans to install more. There are 47 Flock safety cameras throughout the city as well and the 2023-2034 budget includes funding to install 20 more. The city also launched its new Drone First Responder program in April 2023. The drone will provide critical information and documentation of crime scenes. Hemet has shown strong economic growth since 2016. The Community Development Director, Monique Alaniz-Flejter, AICP showed some slides on the housing growth of Morgan Crossings and McSweeny Farms, along with apartment buildings and a couple of new upscale hotels to be built in the near future. A new 850,640 sq. ft. distribution center is in the building plans. It is proposed to be built on the corner of Acacia and Kirby. The big question is: How can you (and I) help with the efforts to improve the city of Hemet? • Install the See, Click, Fix app on your phone. If you see illegal dumping or something that needs to be cleaned up, take a photo and forward it to the city through the app so they can address it within 48 hours. Alternatively, visit www.hemetca.gov and use the Report a Problem button on the website. • Join the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). We currently have 32 CERTS living in Solera. Also, I encourage you to be an active attendee to the classes and demonstrations offered by the EPAC committee. • Become a Police Volunteer. Volunteers help with non-threatening jobs which free up the police to do their jobs more efficiently. For more questions call (951) 765-2400 or fill out an application online at hemetpd.com. • Attend the annual Hemet Beautiful clean-up on April 27, 7 am – 12 pm. Volunteers need to fill out the application on the Hemet city web page (www.hemetca.gov). Volunteers will meet at West Valley High School that morning to obtain assignments. • Attend city council meetings, held the second and fourth Tuesday each month, 7 pm, 450 E. Latham Avenue. • Shop, eat, and buy local including your next vehicle at the Hemet Auto Mall – our largest resource for tax revenue. • More information on all these programs is on the hemetca.gov website. HELPING HEMET