Posted to Facebook 07/03/2023

“A picture tells a thousand words……July 4, 2022, Karlee Meyer, Dave Prieto & let’s see, other significant others — yes, I do miss Karlee, I truly do. She did so much in her early days & didn’t get a whole lot of help from anyone in the city. A year later, very little has changed. People are still keeping secrets or lying about what they are doing.” (photo taken from a public post on Facebook)

I’ve have gotten some pushback on the photo I posted of Karlee. Meyer with “friends”.  Let me be clear; this post was not aimed at Karley Meyer.  It was aimed at fire union chief Dave Prieto.  Karlee was no saint, to be sure, but up until the time she was diagnosed with cancer, she did her very best for not just her constituents, but for Hemet citizens in general and in some cases, folks others outside of Hemet. She was a friend to many and a mother, wife, daughter. In short, she was loved by many.

If you have not already done so, read my earlier blog “Liar Liar Pants on Fire” for a preview to this post.

When she was diagnosed, she went through all the things that any of us who have been diagnosed with cancer go through.  I was diagnosed with lung cancer in March, 2016.  I believe that diagnosis pushed my husband to an earlier death than he would likely have gone through.  He was more fearful than I was.  In my mind, I was going to be OK.  In his mind, he was terrified; who would be there for him if I was gone?  I lost a parent when I was sixteen. I watched the ensuging chaos and pain play out after he died.

I tried so hard to keep the door open between Karlee and myself.  She went back and forth with me.  It was aggravating and frustrating.  In her mind, I was “the enemy”, not so different than the way our current fire chief perceives me. I tell the truth and he immediately tries to dismantle it, that is, he and certain retired fire captains.

I watched certain people take advantage of her state of mind. That is what I was pointing to.  It was like taking candy from a baby.  You attack a person when they are at their most vulnerable. 

The union used Karlee to get Hemet’s former Fire Chief ousted.  That wasn’t enough for them though.  They literally had to destroy his reputation as a leader.  They didn’t like his style.  I heard all kinds of stories about former fire chief Scott Brown.  He wasn’t perfect either, but there is absolutely no comparison between former fire chief Scott Brown to our present fire chief, Eddie Sell.  At least Brown didn’t rob the city blind. To hear the current chief justify his unjustifiable behavior, he would tell the men he ostensibly led, “it’s all for you guys.” I call b.s. b.s.

Don’t shoot me; I’m just the messenger.

I do the things I do to try to make Hemet a better place to live.  I’ve watched mismanagement taking place in this city for years. Some of the problems were the result of really poor choices by city council members who did not understand what they were voting for or from employees with an agenda. I’m not sure any of it will ever be completely eradicated. 

When you want to get to the bottom of things, you look under the carpet. In this case, you go directly to the City of Hemet website and make a request for Freedom of Information. There are laws about the time frame in which they must respond. If they do not respond within the allotted time period, you can take legal action. If you don’t believe that, the city of Moreno Valley lost a lawsuit because they refused to comply with the law. They paid some money for the error and their arrogance. They apparently didn’t learn from that experience. They are doing it all over again! Please, let’s not let Hemet be another Moreno Valley.

Do yourselves a favor and attend some city council meetings. Learn how to read and decipher the agendas and staff report. Then the “news” you hear won’t come as a surprise to you.

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