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Chispa <br />4/21/2020 <br />Mayor Pulido and City Councilmembers <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />P.O. Bo 1988, M31 <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />Re: 75B. COVID-19 Response Funding Plan <br />Dear Members of the Council, <br />Chispa is a brave organizing political home for young Latinx identifying peoples. Chispa seeks <br />to engage with excluded peoples to uproot systems of oppression and cultivate systems grounded <br />in community accountability, solidarity, and self-determination for our communities to thrive. <br />The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated needs that were already existing in our communities. <br />As you make amendments to your 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan to access emergency funding <br />intended to assist in making a timely response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic we ask <br />that you consider/prioritize Economic Development, Housing, and Mental Health resources. <br />Economic Development: <br />Small businesses have been especially impacted as many do not have the working capital to <br />weather months of mandated shut -down while maintaining payrolls and employment benefits. <br />The amendments being proposed include expanding the city's existing Small Business Incentive <br />Program with $500,000 to provide additional loans and grants. We recommend the following <br />actions to make the program more accessible to the city's small businesses: <br />1) creating a Worker Cooperative Development Fund for grants to nonprofits or <br />community organizations that provide incubation and conversion programs, training and <br />technical assistance, 2) rebuilding a robust local economy by waiving business and <br />occupation taxes, permit and license fees for small businesses. For microbusinesses—those <br />with less than five employees —we call on the city to provide grants that cover 40% of <br />payroll costs for the duration of shelter -at-home, and 3) holding larger companies <br />