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j_ATI N O March 17, 2020 HEALTH Mayor Pulido and Members of the City Council A c Cr-55 City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Bo 1988, M31 450 West Fourth Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 Suite 130 Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Coronavirus' impact on Santa Ana Housing Ph: 714-542.7792 Fax: 714-542-4853 Dear Mayor Pulido and Members of the Council, latinohealthaccess.org In light of the recent outbreak of the highly contagious Coronavirus in California, the potential economic toll of the pandemic, and requests by public officials, employers, and universities for employees to work from home, we ask that you immediately pass an emergency ordinance that would provide a moratorium on all rental increases, evictions and foreclosures in Santa Ana. As you know, Latino Health Access has been working with the community to enact solutions to Santa Ana's housing crisis for some time. We are once again seeing the critical intersection between health and housing. Amidst this coronavirus outbreak and with Santa Ana being one of the densest cities in the country, it is critical that you act today to ensure Santa Ana residents remain housed during the remainder of this pandemic. We know that the need to protect residents that live paycheck to paycheck from the economic fallout of this virus includes protecting them against facing eviction and homelessness which would only further spread this disease and make its containment harder if people don't have a home to care for the health, safety and welfare of their families. As you may know, many cities have already issued ordinances protecting their residents against evictions amid this crisis including San Jose, San Francisco and the City of Los Angeles. On March 16th Governor Newsom said, "Over the next few weeks, everyone will have to make sacrifices -- but a place to live shouldn't be one of them. I strongly encourage cities and counties to take up this authority to protect Californians." As a representative of a California municipality, the state with the highest homeless population in the country, the need to protect residents facing eviction and homelessness and the potential spread of this disease is of paramount importance to the health, safety and welfare of your constituents. I urge you to immediately docket emergency ordinance that would provide a moratorium on all rental increases, evictions and foreclosures in Santa Ana until public health professionals have determined that the Coronavirus outbreak has been contained. We look forward to hearing your response on containing this serious outbreak. Sincerely, America Bracho, MPH, CDE President & CEO PREVENTION EDUCATION ACTION