CORRESPONDENCE - SPECIAL PRESENTATION

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In response to the Federal Lawsuit regarding homeless services, in early May of 2018 Mayor Miguel Pulido committed Santa Ana in court to a 600 shelter bed facility. The intention behind the number 600 was to create extra capacity for City use, in addition to the Courtyard population of 425. To facilitate this collaboration, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was initiated by the City with the following stipulation: The Parties Intend for the Site to provide 425 beds to fully replace the Courtyard facility, provide 125 guaranteed beds allocated to Santa Ana, and provide the balance of beds to serve the needs of the Central Service Planning Area (SPA). To achieve these purposes, it is understood that the Site will feature bed space for up to approximately 600 individuals solely from the Central SPA. Of this amount, 425 beds are intended for County use to relocate the individuals currently residing at the Courtyard. The City shall have guaranteed access to 125 beds at the Site(s). Other than the guaranteed 125 beds, the Parties mutually agree that any available beds or services provided at the Site(s) will be limited to individuals from the Central SPA, and will be allocated based on the proportionality of unsheltered homeless Individuals in the Central SPA. The Santa Ana City Council voted to approve the MOU on September 4, 2018, although only 3 councilmembers who voted to approve that MOU remain today. From the beginning, community outreach was the foundation of what the County and City were to do going forward. During that council meeting, then Councilman Sal Tinajero publicly stated the importance of engaging the community, school district, and community college to ensure compliance with Santa Ana's Sunshine Ordinance (Ordinance), which aims at improving public transparency. The County followed suit and approved the MOU one week later. The initial site identified by the City in the MOU fell through, and the Yale Street property was quickly identified as an alternate site by Mayor Pulido and Santa Ana Police Department's Deputy Chief Ken Gominsky. The Yale Street location was then communicated to the County via a letter, dated October 25, 2018, and thereafter advocated for publicly and in court by the City. Throughout the fall of 2018 City Councilmembers, Chief Gominsky and City executive staff toured the property with County staff. Based on the City's request, the County purchased the Yale Street property. As we moved ahead in devising an operation plan, I began to hear opposition from some members of the current Santa Ana City Council. I also heard concerns about the project from the community during my town hall meetings with different neighborhood associations. I learned from community members, particularly those closest to the Yale Street property, that there has been no community outreach or information from the City to inform the community of the City's plans as to where to house the homeless, especially when the OC Link closes in approximately a year.