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Orozco, Norma From: Sandra Pocha Pena <pocha@pocharte.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 1:42 PM To: Pulido, Miguel; Sarmiento, Vicente; Penaloza, David; Solorio, Jose; Bacerra, Phil; Villegas, Juan; Mendoza, Nelida Cc: eComment, City Council; Ridge, Kristine; !City Clerk Subject: 20/21 BUDGET: FUNDING FOR HISTORIC FIREHOUSE Importance: High RE: APPROVE FUNDING FOR CONTINUED SHUTTERING & SECURITYOF CYPRESS STREET FIRE STATION Dear Mayor, City Council Members, City Manager and City Staff, I appeal to you as a local history advocate and arts leader to help save an important part of Santa Ana's history, the Cypress Street Fire Station, for generations of future Santa Ana residents. We have only two historic assets in my neighborhood of Pacific Park/Eastside, the Halladay House and the Cypress Street Fire Station. Please help save our Cypress Street Fire Station from destruction. Approve resources in our 20/21 Budget to retain this property. Located at 625 S. Cypress St, just a few blocks south of downtown Santa Ana, the historic Cypress Street Fire Station is a small parcel that has suffered greatly due to City neglect. Now after a decade of ignoring dozens of resident calls for action and organizing efforts, staff recommended that this property be placed on the surplus property list without alerting any community stakeholders or giving them a chance to organize. As a result of this oversight, you the Council voted to put this property up for sale as affordable housing in compliance with state Surplus Land Act requirements. This is a travesty! The Cypress Street Fire Station should never have gotten onto the surplus property list in the first place. It's a pity that City Staff didn't think to notify any of the dozens of local advocates who had been writing to and having meetings with the City about this property. The staff report you were presented on the Cypress Street Fire Station was a hugely flawed distortion of reality. * Please see the attachment below for a summary of advocacy efforts and a full picture of how this property was misrepresented in the staff report, and areas of opportunity for rehabilitation. * We can work out the details of how to get this property off the Surplus Property list later, but for now please approve continued site security for the Cypress Street Fire Station and ask City Staff to STOP from aggressively marketing the property to developers. Because of the small size of this parcel, there is no way a developer would be able to use it