On Sept. 14, dozens of protesters gathered outside of Hemet City Hall in Riverside County. They gathered to combat severe budget cuts that the local government has planned to implement including closing the town’s public library, the Simpson Center, and ransacking $300,000 from the Valley Restart Center. The working poor and elderly in Hemet, a desert town with average daytime temperatures reaching between 85 and 100 degrees most of the year and little cover from the sun, depend on resources such as the library, Simpson Center, and Valley Restart Center for refuge and badly needed social services.
The Simpson Center is a resource center serving the elderly with housing, nutrition programs, a Braille Institute for those losing their eyesight, legal services, immunizations, and other health services. The Valley Restart Center that was robbed of $300,000 is a shelter providing emergency housing, a soup kitchen, social services, technical training and employment programs. The public library that is threatened with closure is the only public library in Hemet and as such is an essential resource for the community.
Demonstrators picketed outside City Hall with signs that read, “Tax the rich, not our kids!” and “Public services are a right!” As the Mayor and City Council entered City Hall, demonstrators of all nationalities and ages confronted them and demanded an end to budget cuts and the return of all the money owed to the Valley Restart Center. During the public meeting that followed, more than two dozen demonstrators representing local church organizations, community groups, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and ANSWER Coalition demanded that money from the Valley Restart Center be returned and that the local government end austerity measures.
The demonstration, lead by the PSL, resulted in a partial and temporary victory as the Council stayed their discussion of the public library and Simpson Center for further negotiation after realizing that they could not simply close the doors without facing a fight back from workers in Hemet. Despite unanimous dissent among residents speaking at the public meeting, however, the Council voted 5-0 to refuse to return money taken from the Valley Restart Center. The PSL and ANSWER Coalition will continue to organize and fight back against budget cuts in Hemet.
