Ann Smith
Reporter

What started as a normal Southern California spring day, Friday May 14, became an opportunity to educate a licensed attorney about the law as it pertains to the freedom of a journalist to attend a meeting on public property. Specifically, individuals in California must have access to public meetings and public records.

The Hemet-San Jacinto Action Group hosted a private, by invitation only luncheon for a select group of people, primarily city employees, city council members and others with a specific vested interest. The group’s webpage says it is “a non-profit, non-partisan, non-political advocacy network of community leaders dedicated to improving the quality of life in the San Jacinto Valley.” After emailing the group and asking for its nonprofit registration number, the executive assistant emailed back writing the group is a 501(c)(4) association.

The luncheon, which included guest speaker Riverside County Third District Supervisor Chuck Washington, was held on public grounds at the Hemet Unified School District (HUSD) property on Acacia Avenue in Hemet.

On entering the building, I was told by Hemet attorney Rob Davis, who is an HUSD board member, that this event was by invitation only and since he was the one who sent out the invitations, he knew I was not on the list.

Davis was initially appointed to the board in September 2017. Vic Scavarda (Idyllwild’s representative) and then-Board Member Gene Hikel voted against the appointment in a 4-2 vote. Davis replaced his business partner Joe Wojcik after he resigned due to having already moved out of the district.

The invitation, which I received a copy of, was not clear regarding who was and was not invited. No problem with being excluded from the luncheon but there was a big problem when I was told I could not attend the portion of the event that was hosting Washington.

After protesting, Davis commented, “I’m a lawyer and I don’t know the law on this” and ushered me into the room.

The substance of Washington’s comments related to COVID: the impact it had on the county and the declining numbers of COVID cases. Many of his comments are public information appearing on various pages of the Riverside County website.

There were several questions asked by attendees.

Longtime Hemet City Council Member Linda Krupa asked Washington to comment on redistricting. He commented on the growing population and demographic changes within his district. Since it’s the California Assembly and Senate that deal with redistricting, he wasn’t able to provide an answer to the question, simply stating “the third district is the fastest growing district and we have the most population right now.” He stated that lines are redrawn from time to time.

The lines are drawn every 10 years after the census data is received by each state.

Former Hemet City Council Member Lori VanArsdale commented about the fact that hospitals were excluded from COVID financial assistance. She asked him to please try to get some help with that. VanArsdale served on the Healthy Valley Foundation (started in 1980 as the Hemet Hospital Foundation) executive committee as its secretary from 2015 to 2017. Davis served as its vice president during that time. The leadership portion of the website is not current.

Generally speaking, this event brought together many who are already in regular contact with one another.

As an aside, when introductions were being made, current Hemet Mayor Pro Tem Joe Males introduced himself to the crowd. We spoke briefly after the event ended. His comments took place before I was allowed access to the event. Males told me, “We were all given the chance to give our names and what we do. I said, ‘My name is Joe Males and I’m your Mayor Pro Tem of Hemet and I do not like special interest groups. The reason I don’t like special interest groups is because they have worked very hard to get me off city council. My last day will be May 27.’” This was Males’ recollection of his introduction to the crowd.