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the housing stability and health of low-income renters and people experiencing homelessness in
<br />the City of Santa Ana.
<br />The rent freeze under Executive Order No. 2-2020 is a proper exercise under state law the
<br />Municipal Code and Charter for the CitY of Santa Ana because the city enacted it pursuant to its
<br />emergency and Police powers as a valid emergency price control
<br />Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution empowers each city and county to "enforce
<br />within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict
<br />with general laws." This broad authority is traditionally known as the City's police power, and it
<br />enables local governments to legislate on matters of "[p]ublic safety, public health, morality,
<br />peace and quiet, law and order..."' A wide range of regulations on property rights have been
<br />upheld as legitimate exercises of a government's police power.' Likewise, the City of Santa Ana
<br />is empowered under its City Municipal Code and Charter to proclaim laws, pursuant to a
<br />declaration of emergency, which are necessary to protect the health and safety of its residents.'
<br />As the City Council is aware, these aforementioned powers are heightened during a state of
<br />emergency proclaimed by a local governing body. Government Code section 8634 authorizes
<br />local governments during local emergencies to "promulgate orders and regulations necessary to
<br />provide for the protection of life and property, 6s Governor Gavin Newsom further expanded the
<br />scope these powers through his Executive Orders issued on March 16 and March 27, 2020, in
<br />which he found that " because homelessness can exacerbate vulnerability to COVID-19,
<br />California must take measures to preserve and increase housing security for Californians to
<br />protect public health; and ...local jurisdictions, based on their particular needs, may therefore
<br />determine the additional measures to promote housing security and stability are necessary to
<br />protect public health or to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19."'
<br />Moreover, the police power of the City of Santa Ana, and in particular, to its City Council,
<br />applies to the "use of real property," and generally, "so long as a land use restriction or
<br />regulation bears a reasonable relationship to the public welfare, the restriction or regulation is
<br />constitutionally permissible."s The broad authority of the police power likewise extends to local
<br />governmental authority to enact price controls, including on rent, provided the legislation is
<br />"reasonably related to the accomplishment of a legitimate governmental purpose.i9 Local
<br />governments are authorized under the police power to regulate landlord/tenant relationships even
<br />if these relationships are "private" and the regulated activity associated with that relationship is
<br />civil in nature.
<br />'Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26, 32 (1954).
<br />See Penn Cent. TransP. Co. v. Newyork City ("Penn Cent."), 438 U.S. 104, 124 (1978).
<br />'See Cal. Gov. Code §8634; Santa Ana Mun. Code & Charter §2-404.
<br />6 Cal. Gov. Code §8634.
<br />' Cal. Exec. Order No. N-28-20 (March 16, 2020), available at https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-
<br />content/uploads/2020/03/3.16.20-Executive-Order.pdf; see also Cal. Exec. Order No. N-37-20 (March 27, 2020),
<br />available at https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-conteliUuploads/2020/03/3.27.20-EO-N-37-20.pdf, last visited on April 29,
<br />2020.
<br />' California Building Industry Assn. V. City of San Jose, 61 Cal. Ah 435, 455 (2015)
<br />s Birkenfeld v. City of Berkeley, 17 Cal. 3d 129, 158 (1976). See also Nebbia v. New York, 291 U.S. 502, 539 (1934)
<br />("Price control, like any other form of regulation, is unconstitutional only if arbitrary, discriminatory, or
<br />demonstrably irrelevant to the policy the legislature is free to adopt, and hence an unnecessary and unwarranted
<br />interference with individual liberty.")
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