Wednesday, July 13, 2016

5 Years and No Improvement.


Starting in May of 2011, there were several council meetings that dealt with the issues facing our city; crime, homelessness and lack of job creation and industry.  Have you ever wondered why so many dollar stores came into town?  You can check the minutes from the Planning Commission Meetings.  The City Manager, at that time (per the minutes), stated that having the dollar stores is better than having nothing at all and that they are doing well in areas like Temecula and Murrieta.  With the renovation of the old Wal-Mart building, the south end of town will be left with not one, but two, large vacant buildings across the street from each other.  The vacant Kmart on the north side of Stetson and what will be the vacant Sprouts, on the south side of Stetson.  


There was a special meeting to discuss the direction of the city and economic development on Friday, April 15, 2016 at Simpson Park at 9am.  This was announced at the end of the April 12th council meeting.  There were only a handful of Hemet residents present.  A PowerPoint presentation was supposed to be given at a council meeting in May regarding what was discussed during the April meeting at Simpson Park.  It is now July and no update or presentation.  At the meeting, they established a timeline with target dates.  It was stated at the May 23rd council meeting by Youssef that they were already behind on their target dates.  There is another community Strategic Planning meeting planned at the library on Saturday, July 16th at 8am.  Meyerhoff said that there will be a brief overview of the April 15th meeting.  As an FYI: We are discussing economic development and our city does not have an economic development department.  We did up to a year ago, but it had been reduced to one person at that point, John Jansons.  He is now the City Manager of Farmersville and his position was never filled. 



April 15th Strategic Planning Meeting: taken from the minutes

The April 15th meeting began by Meyerhoff reviewing the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats).   Please see the attached agenda with the meeting minutes for more on this.  I will only list a few.   

Let’s start with the last recorded vision statement, which was October 18, 2005.  The vision was, “By 2009, the City of Hemet will be a vibrant community recognized for its diverse cultural, recreational, educational and economic opportunities”.  The previous statement and the following are taken directly from this meeting’s minutes. 
Strengths: Affordable and available land (#1), Optimal climate  Scenic, surrounded by mountains Diamond Valley Lake and other recreational assets, Western Science Center, Volunteerism, Ramona Bowl Identity – 100+ year history, Agricultural lands, Diverse demographic, senior communities, Attractions for “snowbirds”, Available workforce, Improving infrastructure, better access Clean air, Affordable housing (also listed as a weakness), Hospital ,Airport, Railroad, Good schools, Proximity to other attractions – mountains, deserts, beaches, Casino, Affordable living, Agriculture, Industry, Medical Industry, Walkable Downtown, Responsive Local Government, Street Grid, Engaged Community, Younger Community, Labor Affordability, Executive Team, Realistic Assessment, Status quo – No go, Willingness to engage Faith Community, Core Values, Volunteerism, Willingness of City Council to work together

Weaknesses: Perception of Crime, Aging Infrastructure, lack of access to the interstate, low median income, lack of retail opportunities, lack of industry, low employment, affordable housing (also listed as a strength), lack of university/college, dilapidated downtown district, lack of an identity, poor “curb appeal”, perception of being a regional dumping ground, limited direction for physical growth, isolation, losing attractiveness for retirees, “old money” not being replenished with new money, limited entertainment options (theatres, clubs), lack of enough quality hotels, lack of San Jacinto Valley Economic Strategy, transportation, identity crisis, growing obsolescence in housing stock, lack of vision, disconnect between skills and employment, lack of political will, gap between supply and demand, revenues, meeting needs of all demographics, business community perception of local government, inability to market effectively, negative press, lack of economic development strategy. 


Threats: State Government (AB109), Regional competition (Temecula, Moreno Valley, Perris, Menifee), County Government, Cost of Living in California, environmental issues, illegal immigration, crime, neighboring cities, state and federal government.


City Council Elections 2016

As a side note, we had council elections in 2012 (Youssef re-elected, Milne and Wright), 2014 (Krupa re-elected and Raver) and we will have elections this year.  Three council seats are up, District 1 (Milne), District 3 (Youssef) and District 4 (Wright).  I confirmed with the City Clerk, Sarah McComas, via phone call that a councilmember is unable to run for their council seat if they are running for County Supervisor.  This means that Milne will not be able to run for re-election on council.
http://www.cityofhemet.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/297  - October 9, 2012: Supervisor Stone tells Chief Brown (page 13) that he would assist with funding.  

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Saturday, July 2, 2016

Free Press: Our Constitution’s Lifeline



"I am... for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the Constitution to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents." --Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 1799.


It is now evident how controlled and dictated the journalism is in the San Jacinto Valley; so much so that I wonder if we call it journalism?  We have seen campaign funds thrown at local and national media sources, successfully curbing the outcome of elections.  Journalism and media is not what it used to be and this is problematic if we are to preserve our democracy and constitutional rights.  This problem is not unique to the San Jacinto Valley.  This problem is plaguing our nation.  I listened to a lecture given by Robert McChesney (radio host of Media Matters) about his book The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again, co-authored with John Nichols (The Nation), at Boston College.  The preface of the book begins by explaining the state of journalism in 2010.  Karen Dunlap testified before the Federal Communications Division in April 2010 that since 2000, the newspaper industry had lost 30% of its reporting and editing capability (McChesney and Nichols).  That percentage equates to $1.6 billion dollars.  Enter what is in my opinion the greatest threat to American Democracy; the imminent death of journalism.

Journalism is dying and democracy right along with it.  There is a direct correlation (McChesney and Nichols).  We all know that the number of employed journalists has been and is on the decline.  According to McChesney and Nichols’ research, we had PR reps outnumbering journalists, 4 to 1, possibly more now.   The majority of news articles originate from PR reps for politicians and corporations reaching out to journalists asking that a particular topic or event be covered.  This now dictates the majority of our news and is manipulating our free press and democratic values.  The original stories that journalists used to write, the ones politicians and corporations didn’t want covered, are no longer the majority; they are the minority. This has not always been the case.  There has been a gradual decline in original/investigative journalism.  What they also found in their research is that in 2000, about half the stories covered were original stories.  In 1991, a majority of the stories covered were original stories. 

The “old model” of journalism is decreasing and nothing is stepping in to adequately replace it (McChesney and Nichols).  Subscribership to newspapers are continuing to fall, as subscription fees continue to rise.  When you look at the news, most of it is either incidents or reprint of a story that originated elsewhere. Is the internet to blame?  With print, the volume of readers depends on how fast and far the paper can travel.  With the internet, our news is instantaneous.  It can also spread much faster and farther than print ever could.  We now have the ability to reach a larger audience in less time.  I think what happened is that news became more efficient and no one was really prepared.  Now, we just need to make what is efficient, effective.    

So, how do we obtain reliable, free press as it was intended by our founding fathers?

According to McChesney and Nichols, we cure the 3 media myths.  



  1. Government should play no role in our media system. 



  2. Press should mimic the free market economy.  If it can’t make money, then it should disappear.



  3. Any government subsidy of journalism is worse than no subsidy at all because it leads to tyranny and genocide.  



They make the point that historically, these three views are inaccurate (McChesney and Nichols).  We need to stop thinking of media as a business; it is a public service.  This view was shared by our founding fathers.  The first 100 years of American journalism was arguably the best journalism in the world at the time and it was subsidized by the government.  Our founding fathers believed that in order to have a democratic state that free press had to exist.  What assisted in providing our nation with the world’s best journalism?  The printing contracts were bankrolled by the government.  The post office also helped subsidize our nation’s early journalism.  Advertising emerged after the civil war, becoming the dominant subsidy of American journalism.  It was an “opportunistic relationship” that is still alive today but is also on the decline (McChesney and Nichols).  This tells me that unless we start demanding journalism, we will lose our country simply out of complacency for free press.

One very important factor is the media monopoly.  When the bottom line is profit, the product is going to sway in the direction to support that profit; threatening free press, particularly when a multitude of media outlets are owned by one corporation (McChesney and Nichols).  These media conglomerates are also heavy money contributors in the campaign world.  Meaning, ‘news is fast becoming propaganda’ (McChesney and Nichols).  

The US government allocates about $400million/year of the GDP to free press (McChesney and Nichols).  If government were to subsidize free press to the point it did upon its first hundred years, we would allocate $30 billion/year of the GDP to free press.  Do we need to spend that amount?  Absolutely not.  The internet gives us the advantage of lower operating costs.  The one cost that cannot be eliminated or dramatically reduced is manpower.  In order to provide good quality journalism, you need good quality journalists.  How do you maintain a free press if it is subsidized by the government? Simply remind people that free press is protected by the 1st Amendment.

“Bad men increase in knowledge as fast as good men, and science, arts, taste, sense, and letters, are employed for the purposes of injustice and tyranny, as well as those of law and liberty; for corruptions as well as for virtue.” --John Adams





Work Cited


Robert McChesney, John Nichols. The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again. Nation Books, 2009.

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