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July 7, 2020 1► Mayor Pulido and Members of the City Council r City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza LATINO P.O. Bo 1988, M31 HLALTl1 Santa Ana, CA 92701 A CCE55 RE: Public Comments at City Meetings 450 West Fourth Street Suite 130 Dear Mayor Pulido and City Council Members, Santa Ana, CA 92701 Ph: 714-542-7792 We would like to thank the City of Santa Ana for the support and collaboration as we work Fax: 714-542-4853 with the County Healthcare Agency, Community Clinics, SAUSD, and UCI as well as other latinohealthaccess.org partners in reducing the spread and transmission of COVID-19. Just this week, we were able to launch our outreach and education project in the 92701 zip code and increase access to testing in the neighborhoods -the mobile clinic at Walker Elementary served over 300 people. Through our collaboration and with the support of City leadership and staff, we have been able to bring these much needed services to our community quickly and will continue to do so in the coming months. Because we are all on board to reduce the spread and transmission of COVID-19, especially in Santa Ana hot spots, we are very concerned about the Council's recent announcement to resume taking the public's comments for city council meetings in person only and not allowing for comments over the phone. We urge you to reconsider this decision and continue to accept comments from the public over the phone in order to ensure everyone's safety. The Orange County Health Care Agency recently released COVID-19 data that shows Santa Ana is one of the cities being hit the hardest, with 4 of the 8 zipcodes with the highest number of cases and deaths in the county, with numbers increasing yet each day. According to a UCI report, the disease is disproportionately affecting low-income, Latinx residents, and many of them are concentrated in our Santa Ana neighborhoods due to filling the essential workforce. This data was extremely concerning for us at LHA, and so we quickly moved to respond with a community -based public health approach, but it will require further measures atthe city level to facilitate our community residents' efforts to shelter in place and isolate if they test positive or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. This includes giving members of our community the option to actively participate in city council meetings virtually and via phone. While we work together to ensure our community's health during this pandemic, important decisions are being made at city council meetings that have a direct impact on all residents and deserve careful and meaningful participation. The decision to accept only in -person comments contradicts the efforts being made to fight the pandemic. Santa Ana residents want to participate and engage with their council, as evidenced by the over 100 public comments that were given at the June 16th council meeting. If only one option is given to participate, people will be putting themselves, their fellow residents, city staff, and council members at risk of transmission. PREVENTION EDUCATION ACTION