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u Clergy h Lolly United for Economic Justice Board of Directors Rev. Norman Copeland Chair So Cal AME Church Rabbi Dr. Aryan Cohen American Jewish University Rev. Jim Conn, Dealt United Methodist Church (Ret.) Rabbi Dr. Stephen J. Einsteii Congregation B'nai Tzedek Emeritus), Fountain Valley The Rev. Francisco Garcia Treasurer Holy Faith Episcopal Church, Inglewood Father Mike Gutierrez St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Baldwin Park Rev. Dr. Sarah Halverson- Cano Fairview Community Church, Costa Mesa September 18, 2018 Mayor Pulido and City Councilmembers City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Bo 1988, M31 Santa Ana,CA 92701 RE: Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report Support Development of a Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program As CLUE, we educate, organize, and mobilize the faith community to accompany workers and their families in their struggle for good jobs, dignity, and justice. The need for housing affordable to low-wage earners in Orange County, California, is enormous. Ranked among the top ten least affordable metropolitan areas in the counts lll, Orange County is suffering from an affordable housing crisis. A resident must earn at least $36.08 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment at a fair market rent of $1,876 a month.lzl As rents and the number of residents needing affordable homes have continually increased, the number of affordable homes being built for lower income households has not kept up with the demand. Betty Hung, Esq. The average asking rents in the City is $1,687, which is a nine percent increase from the Glynndana Shevlin Disney Worker, UNITE -HERE year before and rents are expected to continue to increase. l3l With lower wages that are Mary Stancavage not keeping up with rising rents, many renting families continue to struggle financially to Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society live and work in this City. Approximately 60 percent of renter households are lower Bishop Mary Ann Swenson incomel4l and 84 percent of residents held moderate and low-income occupations that United Methodist church (ret.) paid less than $53,500 per year.l51 In order for rent to be affordable, only 30 percent of anProf. Najeeba Syeed Claremont School of Theology individual's income should be used towards housing costs. Unfortunately, 57 percent of Rev. Heidi Worthen -Gamble renters overpaid or spent more than 30 percent of their income towards housing Presbytery of the Pacific, PCUSA eosts.lel All TweiniTeamsters Local 2010 Richard zaldivar I] Out of Reach 2018- The High Cost of Housing, National Low Income Housing Coalition, p. 14, 2018.' The Wall Las Memorlas Project z] Out of Reach 2018- The High Cost of Housing, National Low Income Housing Coalition, p. 38, 2018. Staff 31 O.C. Rents forecast to rise 9.4% by 2018. Jeremy Arnold al City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014-2021, p. 14, January 2014. Rev. Rebecca urrur Juan Carlos Durruthy lsl Cit of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014-2021, 12, Januar 2014. Y g p• Y Lucero Garcia e] City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014-2021, p. 20, January 2014. Rev. Rae Chen Huang Pastor Cue Jn-Marie Kevin Johnson Rabbi Jonathan D. Klein It is necessary that the City create a Tenant Rental Assistance program t0 Executive Director Sandra Ortega sassistSantaAna's rent burdened residents. A HOME Investment Partnerships1J Guillermo Torres Program funded Tenant -Based Rental Assistance program would provide a rental subsidy to help make up the difference between what a renter can afford to pay and the actual rent for a home. For the 2017 - 2018 fiscal year the City of Santa Ana received $1,207,942 in HOME funds. For this 2018 - 2019 fiscal year the City has received $1,783,000 in HOME funds. The City has the ability to use these funds to provide direct assistance