Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter
Four years ago, Jeff Hewitt startled the political world when he upset Russ Bogh to win the office of Supervisor in Riverside County’s Fifth District. He won as a Libertarian at a time when Libertarians were “also-rans.”
This time he has a variety of competitors from more established parties. However, he has a record of running on and a solid agenda if re-elected. I recently sat down with him over a beverage at Denny’s in Hemet and discussed his future:
Q: What’s different this time around?
A: To begin with, it is a realigned district.
Q: How so?
A: It has six cities in it; four from the old and an additional two in the new. Three Pass Cities – Banning, Beaumont and Calimesa plus Moreno Valley. Perris and Menifee have been replaced by Hemet and San Jacinto.
Q: After four years in office, what do you think you’ve accomplished?
A: Obviously, I’ve brought a different outlook into the district as one of the highest-ranked Libertarians in the history of our party. I came in with my number one agenda to solve CALPERS unfunded and unsustainable pension disasters. Riverside County has the largest employment of CALPERS employees, only after the state. The three larger counties have their own plans.
We have a 3.6 billion dollar unfunded liability. It was going to be my idea to help resolve something that most politicians have been kicking down the road so that future generations have been kicking down the road so that future generations would have to pay for the sins of their fathers.
Q: If you are re-elected, what do you think you can do to rectify that?
A: Had it not been for COVID I think I would have rectified quite a bit of it. With a second term, these public employee unions understand that I am the one person who wants to make sure that they get what they may have been promised . We can’t continue going on hiring new employees with this same unsustainable person plan now in place.
Q: I’m sure you are aware of the homeless situation here in the Valley.
A: I am. Every homeless person has a different issue. There are categories. Some are criminals who choose to be homeless. Many self-medicate and have serious health issues. They use controlled substances. And then, there are those who are just down on their luck who can’t find anywhere to live even when they have jobs. Their pay isn’t adequate to pay for housing in today’s economic situation. What I, as a County Supervisor can do is try to make sure we back up programs that work. Involve the non-profits who are willing to help out in finding a place for them to live until they manage to escape their situation. If we address these specific problems of homelessness for what it is, I think we will get a lot more traction.
Q: Only 17% of the workforce in Hemet actually works in the Valley. There is a lack of incentive for new businesses to move here, so our citizens also shop where they work. What can you do to try and eliminate that situation?
A: Right now, this Valley is a cul de sac. You don’t open up a new business in a residential cul de sac. The Mid Valley Parkway and realignment of Highway 79 should open us up to more access from the outside, making it easy to come and go from and to the outside world. If I am re-elected, it will happen.
Q: What else can you as Supervisor do to promote small businesses coming into the Valley?
A: I’ve been a small businessman all my life. I understand the challenges. As you know, when COVID fell upon us, just about all progress stopped. However, I have no intention of meddling in the sovereignty of two cities. In the County areas, I can do a lot by showing innovations in the sense that Riverside County is the first of the 58 counties of California, that came up with a home cooking program where, if someone wants to cook and sell hot meals out of their home, they can do that with our program where environmental health does a small investigation to make sure the environment and location is safe and all. I can work with our friends at City Council and say, “Hey, look, anyway I can help you that involves the County, I am there for you.” To make it more affordable and easier for people to become entrepreneurs to create jobs for people who can hire five or ten employees or more. That’s the way to recruit business. You will then see that 17% of the people that work here begin rising to 20 and 25% and even more.
Q: I am told by authorities who know that sex trafficking is rampant in the Valley.
A: The Coyotes have turned it into slavery with blind promises and threats. Then, we have runaway teens who are sucked into the system because of the money involved. We have a District Attorney, Mike Hestrin, who is very aggressive about that. He isn’t perfect, but he comes out and goes after these guys who operate that kind of business. He was also one of the first DA’s to charge drug dealers who traffic in Fentnal and other pills, with full knowledge that they could be fatal to some young kid. He is charging them with murder when that happens. Sheriff Bianco also comes down hard on sex trafficking and drug dealers. The Board of Supervisors controls the purse strings of both the DA and the Sheriff. We need to give them all the tools they need. We may not eradicate it but we can control it.
Q: Do you think rent controls would provide more fair housing?
A: Absolutely not! Rent controls make for less housing. That is the worst misconception that there ever was. The California Environmental Quality Act has been very abused and misused. We need to reform that. What we need is more housing with less stringent restrictions on developers. Why do developer fees in Riverside County average from $85 to $100 thousand dollars before anything comes in? That is ridiculous and only strangles attempts to build more houses. There are new technologies and innovations and we need to adapt them. We can do container houses and mini houses. People need a place to go.
Q: What kind of incentives should the government be giving to developers?
A: They don’t need incentives. The government should roll back some of the ridiculous strings we’ve tied them up with. It takes so long to entitle a project. When you have a politically favored project like a stadium that the Governor wants, for instance, it by-passes SEQUA. It is a travesty. When government gets out of the way we get some real progress.
Q: Any other ideas you would like to see come to fruition?
A: We are the most incarcerating people in the world, with so many people in prison for non-violent drug crimes. They come out stigmatized unfairly. We have some programs where the government will pay employers to hire this person out of prison for up to six months or a year. The former inmate knows they are only getting hired because the government is paying the employer to hire him or them. We need a program that really helps. When you get a good employee, hire them. Tell them you like their work and you’re not going to take the Government money anymore. You’re going to put him on your payroll. DIGNITY! DIGNITY! DIGNITY! They’ve paid their debt to society. Don’t stigmatize them for life. I’ve hired prison people over a lot of years. Some of them turned out to be the best I ever had. There will be a few bad seeds, but the good far outweighs the bad. We need to give these people a chance.
Jeff Hewitt struck me as a man who cares about people. He offered up solutions I’ve not heard before. Whether they work or not, I don’t know. I just know he comes off as a sincere human being. Is this a stepping stone toward higher office? Of course, it will all come out in the wash. Just sayin’
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