HEMET – (INT) – Petitions have qualified forcing the City Council to re-think its decision to close the city’s 108-year-old fire department and turn over fire protection to Calfire.

That vote would come December 9th. And Captain Steve Sandefer of the Hemet City Firefighters union says “I’m expecting that the ‘new’ city council would simply and quickly vote to reverse the decision because it would save the taxpayers a lot of money. They don’t need to have a special election and we wouldn’t be pushing for one.”

Sandefer says an election isn’t necessary, but it still could happen putting the fire department’s in the hands of the city’s voters.

There were twice the necessary signatures on the petitions that the County Registrar of Voters qualified Tuesday. More than 4,000 were checked.

Story Date: November 25, 2014