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Salas, Diana From: Tenants United Santa Ana TUSA <tenantsunitedsantaana@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2020 12:07 AM To: Pulido, Miguel; Sarmiento, Vicente; Villegas, Juan; Iglesias, Cecilia; Penaloza, David; Bacerra, Phil; Solorio, Jose; Ridge, Kristine Cc: eComment Subject: Protect and Expand the Santa Ana Rent Freeze Attachments: 20200502 Sign On Letter to City Council.pdf Dear Mayor Pulido and City Council of Santa Ana, Thank you for the protections you enacted for renters in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following -up on our ask from two weeks ago, attached is a new letter signed by TU Santa Ana and 29 other community organizations and community churches. We continue to call on you to extend the rent freeze for six months beyond the date which statewide emergency orders are lifted. This will ensure that tenants do not fall further behind on rent repayment and will match the timeline of the city's eviction moratorium. If tenants face rent increases during the repayment period, it will make it impossible for them to also pay their current rent and past due rent, and many WILL lose their homes. This rent freeze is not permanent. A temporary rent freeze should not have long-term economic impacts on property value. However, the rescinding of the rent freeze WOULD have long-term negative health and economic impacts on Santa Ana's majority renter population. We urge city council to prioritize the housing stability of Santa Ana renters during the pandemic and during the period of recovery immediately after the pandemic. The City of Santa Ana has been granted emergency powers under its City Municipal Code and Charter to make decisions necessary to protect the health and safety of its residents. We believe that it is in the elected official's best interest to protect the well-being of its constituents, and we insist that keeping the rent freeze intact does that. We are advocating for the families who have lost income, or are working on the frontlines for minimum wage, risking themselves and their families becoming ill. It is unfair for them to be fighting a mountain of debt or homelessness while recovering from the pandemic. Please let us know how we may be of continued assistance to ensure residents receive all they need to remain healthy and housed during this crisis and for a long time thereafter. We look forward to continued work and success together. Sincerely, Tenants United Santa Ana i71q