The Valley Chronicle - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - July 20, 2017ng

Take back Weston Park for skate park and splash pad

Dear Editor, This question is a no brainer. Let’s turn Weston Park into a skate park & splash pad for families. Bring the big equipment into Weston Park, with police protection – run off the derelicts and create a decent place for our young and families to bring their kids for a free, fun afternoon. The people of Hemet need to step up to assist the police in this matter. Stop writing the paper complaining about the police – call them, ask what you can do for Hemet. Let’s stage an event at Weston park; a fundraiser to get this started. We as a community CAN create a town people are proud to live in, a safe place to raise our children. I would like to be the first volunteer. Sincerely,

Judith H. Atherton, Hemet

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Let things die down…maybe they’ll forget

Dear Editor, In most of my articles printed in The Valley Chronicle, I have pointed out some of the misdeeds committed by the Hemet City Council and its departments in their day-to-day business. I have written about the City Council and Police Chief’s propensity for making excuses for their failure to perform their jobs competently. I called for the resignation of these city officials when the “war on crime” was announced in which the CHP, San Jacinto Police and Sheriff’s Department were excluded as vital participants in this effort. Most recently “Operation Valley Vigilance,” in which the Hemet Police Department played a minor role, Chief Brown’s swaggering threat to criminals “to find you and get you off our streets,” should not have to wait for another massive operation headed by external police agencies. I have written extensively about the compelling advantages of contracting with the County Sheriff for police services compared to the overwhelming disadvantages of having a city police department. Comparisons have been made with other like size municipalities in California and testimonials expressed by citizens and government officials have been repeated loud and clear about the significant improvement in public safety when hiring the sheriff. “Will the truth ever be known” was the title of another article in which I wrote about the shocking death of Anthony Norman, a mentally challenged young man from Murrieta, at the hands of two fully grown adult men, one of whom is currently the Hemet Deputy Police Chief, who has needlessly cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle a civil lawsuit against him filed by Anthony’s family and in attorney’s fees paid to a law firm in Los Angeles of which the Hemet city attorney and assistant city attorney are partners. Even though the public has a right to know, the exact amount is unidentified because the city government has refused to divulge any information. Mayor Linda Krupa’s disgraceful behavior during a City Council meeting in which she silenced and ordered to sit down a grieving mother that rightfully demanded that her son’s murderer be found and brought to the bar of justice. At the minimum, in the circumstances, a public apology from Linda Krupa should have been anticipated, but her conceitedness defeated any common courtesy. I have also dedicated ink to Measure U, the General Fund and Oversight Committee as well as the conflict of interest that some members of the oversight committee have with respect to their private activities; about how the City Council intends to use Measure U funds for unauthorized expenses such as legal fees, not related to fire and safety, for which the Measure was exclusively approved. Deficient city management, uncommonly high turnover rate of city manager’s; budget deficits in the millions; not knowing where the funds were spent as in the case of the litigation fund; lack of response to the State Auditors and so many other egregious failings should be sufficient for the citizens to want a major change in their city government. I am hopeful that these matters will not be forgotten.

Emmett Campbell Hemet