IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Supporters of the Hemet Fire Department struck back this week at the city’s attempt to shut down the department and contract with Riverside County for fire and paramedic services.
About 6,000 signatures were submitted to the city clerk’s office Tuesday by residents who want to place a referendum on the ballot, according to a report in The Press-Enterprise.
That referendum would reverse the city council’s decision last month to discontinue the 105-year old department. The signatures, which must be verified by the county registrar, were collected during the last three weeks.
Ten percent of the signatures – about 3,300 – must be valid for the issue to be returned to the council. If that were to happen, and if the council left the decision intact, the issue would then go before voters, the report stated.
Unless a special election is called, the soonest the matter could be placed before Hemet voters would be next June, according to the report.
