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April 16, 2019 www.kemedycommission.org 17701 Cowan Ave., Suite 200 Irvine, CA 92614 949 250 0909 Mayor Pulido and City Council Members City of Santa Ana 22 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Agenda Item #83A: Discuss and Consider Giving Direction to Staff to Provide Options Regarding the City's Ability to Address Rent Increases in Mobile Home Parks Dear Mayor Pulido and City Council Members: The Kennedy Commission (the Commission) is a broad based coalition of residents and community organizations that advocates for the production of homes affordable for families earning less than $20,000 annually in Orange County. Formed in 2001, the Commission has been successful in partnering and working with Orange County jurisdictions to create effective housing and land -use policies that has led to the new construction of homes affordable to lower income working families. The Commission urges the City to take action and move forward in directing staff to analyze and provide effective options to protect residents by addressing sky rocketing rent increases at the City's mobile home parks. The City should be proactive and commit to ensuring the mobile home park residents and their livelihood are protected. In addition, the Commission recommends the City to take the following actions: 1) Meaningfully outreach and engage mobile home park residents to thoroughly analyze the impacts of excessive rent increases. Residents should also have an opportunity to address their concerns and be part of the process to identify effective options in addressing excessive rent increases. 2) Adopt a city-wide ordinance or moratorium to temporarily stop rent increases at mobile home parks and to ensure the impacts of excessive rent increases on residents are properly addressed. 3) Implement effective rent regulations, such as a city-wide Space Rent Stabilization Ordinance, that will not only protect mobile home residents from excessive rent increase but will also allow landlords to increase rent each year by a specific rate/ fair amount. Ranked among the top ten least affordable metropolitan areas in the country', 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 .2 Over the past seven years, Orange County renters have paid an average of $355 more a month and rents are projected to Out of Reach 2018- The High Cost of Housing, National Low Income Housing Coalition, p, 14, 2018. Out of Reach 2018- The High Cost of Housing, National Low Income Housing Coalition, p.38, 2018.