The absence of Hemet City Manager Christopher Lopez at the last two Hemet City Council meetings has brought questions from the area news media, including the Valley News.Lopez, Hemet City Manager since November 2019, had rarely missed any meetings of the council where he provided updates on regular city business. In the past two years Lopez helped the council keep all city departments running through the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the required 2022-2023 fiscal budget deadline looming, he was not in attendance at council’s April 22 and May 10 regular meetings. Inquiries from the media of his whereabouts or employment status have not been mentioned following closed sessions. Those closed sessions included city manager work evaluations and police and fire union memorandums of unde
