"Council wants to make sure that Hemet ROCS really packs a big punch in this community."

Robert Youssef

Mayor of Hemet

A detailed update of the Hemet ROCS program delivered to City Council Tuesday revealed that the program is building momentum and delivering the results council hoped for.

In her report, Community Development Director Deanna Elliano said that since the inception of the program in November of 2011, 18 potential ordinances have been identified and six have been adopted.

The adopted ordinances include the prohibition of medical marijuana, the regulation of shopping carts, the moratorium on smoke shops, the Florida First programs, the sex offender location restric tions , and most recently the sex offender resident restrictions.

"As far as we know, there are no longer any medical marijuana operations in the city and if there are we want to know about it," Elliano said. "No new smoke shops or hookah lounges have been established either. It is not that we are prohibiting tobacco use, but those shops had a lot of drug paraphernalia as well."

The shopping cart ordinance has also made significant strides, according to Elliano.

"The shopping cart issue is not perfected yet, but its is definitely getting there," she said. "We are going to do another round to tighten that down. We also encourage the community to help us with it."

Hemet Police Chief Dave Brown gave an updated report on the success of the Florida First project at the meeting as well.

"The first thing I want people to understand is that this is not just an initiative by the Hemet Police Department. It is really a community initiative," Brown said. "We are happy to be a part of the program."

Brown said that Florida First has resulted in 308 traffic stops above the regular stops since September. There have also been 104 pedestrian checks and field interviews, 149 citations, 43 arrests, and six prostitution stings.

"The biggest thing we have done cannot be proved by statistics, and that is our increase in visibility," Brown said. "We have been out there so much more and our presence has been noticeable. We have received several letters of satisfaction from the community."

Brown said one of the most important components of Florida First is that it has allowed the police department to begin to collect data and establish information for the future staffing needs on Florida Avenue.

Other topics that the Hemet ROCS program plans to tackle are drug and gang related c rime , fore c l o s e d home abandonment, landscape and property ordinances, prostitution, alcoholic beverage permits, and congregation of parolees and probationers.

A major component of the update at the council meeting was for the mayor to establish an Ad-Hoc Executive Advisory Committee for the Hemet ROCS program and appoint a council member and alternate council member to serve on that committee with the mayor and other department heads.

That committee was approved and Councilman Jerry Franchville and Councilman Jim Foreman were named to the committee.

"The five of us are really jazzed to get this program going. Foreman and Franchville have really been on the ball with public safety and the protection of the kids in this community," said Hemet Mayor Robert Youssef.

"Council wants to make sure that Hemet ROCS really packs a big punch in this community." The other major approval under the ROCS update was that Youssef authorize the establishment of a Hemet ROCS Citizen Advisory Committee to provide input on proposed ordinances and community issues. That committee was also approved unanimously by council Tuesday.

The citizen committee will include an estimated 15 members who will meet at least one a month for six months to discuss current issues in the city. Members will be comprised of Hemet Unified School District members, a mobile home park owner, a mobile home park resident, two members from a nonprofit organization, a business owner, a property owner, a faith representative, and a resident of Hemet. The committee will be based off of the committee that was put together for the creation of Hemet's General Plan.

"Community involvement is key to the success of this program," said Deputy City Manager Mark Orme. "We are hearing that this program is essential and we want to be sure it is successful. We want to create a body of people and to be able to rely on citizens.

The three words we are hearing a lot of are renewal, revitalization, and responsibility."

Available at Hemet City Hall and on the City of Hemet website are forms for the public to fill out in regards to what they want to see from the Hemet ROCS program and what they wish to do to help accomplish those goals.

"There are stacks of the forms on the planning counter at city hall and it is readily available on the website," Orme said. "We want community input."

Hemet City Hall is located at 445 E. Florida Avenue in Hemet. The website is www. cityofhemet.org.