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Salas, Diana From: Soto, Daniel Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2020 8:52 AM To: eComment Subject: FW: Item 60 A From: Maria Ceja <ceja.maria95@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 8:45 AM To: Pulido, Miguel <MPulido@santa-ana.org> Cc: Penaloza, David <DPenaloza@santa-ana.org>; Solorio, Jose <JSolorio@Santa-ana.org>; Iglesias, Cecilia <Clglesias@santa-ana.org>; Villegas, Juan <JVillegas@santa-ana.org>; Bacerra, Phil <pbacerra@santa-ana.org>; Sarmiento, Vicente <VSarmiento@santa-ana.org> Subject: Item 60 A Good Morning Mayor Pulido, First and foremost, I hope you are doing well. My name is Maria, I am a Santa Ana native who is an active Santa Ana volunteer tenant rights advocate and tenant counselor. Throughout the period of the Safe at Home order, there have been an increased number of calls received by the Tenant Rights hotline I volunteer with. Many of these calls are from tenants all over the city that have confided in me to express their experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, their fears, and worries of not being able to pay rent. I believe it is extremely important to state that the tenants I have worked with have almost all mentioned that it is not because they do not want to pay the rent, but because they can't because of job loss in their household, loss of income, and having to stay home with their children due to school closures. I am here to express my concerns over item 60A that will be discussed at tonight's city council meeting. If the council decides to rescind this emergency order of the temporary rent freeze, there will be severe negative impacts. One predicted impact is the increased number of evictions that could potentially correlate with an increased number of homelessness in our community after the eviction moratorium is lifted. I am sure you are aware of the increased number of job loss at the national and local scale. In Orange County, the reported number of job loss has documented over 13,200 jobs lost due to the pandemic in March alone. In our present state, one can be confident in predicting that number was significantly larger in April, and will continue to rise. How are unemployed tenants expected to face a potential rent increase in the middle of global pandemic? How is it ethical to expect tenants to choose between essential needs like food and shelter? As mayor, you are aware that Santa Ana has a high number of extremely low-income and low-income populations who were already struggling before the pandemic. Now their situation has intensified at an exacerbated rate. Put yourself in their shoes. A number of Santa Ana tenants have trusted me with their experiences. They have confided in me, many stating that their landlords have forced an inordinate repayment plan on them without explaining to them the eviction moratorium or even making them aware it even exists. Many have also expressed to me that their landlords are threatening them with eviction. I have heard from other tenant counselors, tenants they have helped have been kicked out of the room they rent because they incapable of paying all of the rent. Is this what the apartment association calls "working with tenants"? I strongly believe that tenants should not face a rent increase in the middle of a pandemic. I also believe that the rent freeze be extended to match the eviction moratorium's 6-month repayment period. It is evident that we are 12,y