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0y. t EL ENTF� C1_1LTUl A.L PW DC IL ICO August 18, 2020 Santa Ana City Council and Mayor City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Re: OPPOSITION to Agenda Item 75B: AMENDMENTS to Housing Opportunity Ordinance and Affordable Housing Funds Policies and Procedures Dear Mayor Pulido and City Councilmembers, El Centro Cultural de Mexico is an alternative, volunteer -based, cultural, educational, and artistic space in Santa Ana where community members can strengthen their identifies, develop their talents, foster a sense of leadership in their community, and collectively mobilize towards social justice. Our letter of opposition to the proposed amendments to the Housing Opportunity Ordinance and Affordable Housing Funds Policies and Procedures is joined by over 80 letters of opposition sent to the Planning Commission on Monday, August 3rd from Santa Ana residents and organizations that serve Santa Ana residents. All those in opposition understand that as working families continue to face economic uncertainty because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic it is crucial that the City preserve its Housing Opportunity Ordinance (HOO) as a funding source for creating new affordable housing. The creation of housing at all income levels is vital to our recovery. Creating new affordable housing needs to continue to be a top housing priority in Santa Ana. The City of Santa Ana is a renter majority city and despite the City's progress towards meeting its Regional Housing Needs Assessment(RHNA) allocation for very low and income housing there continues to be a great need for housing that is affordable to its residents. The current pandemic has increased the economic and housing pressures on low-income families in Santa Ana. As incomes are decreasing and jobs are being lost, many low income families are struggling to remain housed. This is especially true for the majority of Santa Ana's low-income households that are suffering with the impacts of housing cost and economic uncertainty. As an example, according to the City's local data, 70 percent of Santa Ana renters are low and very low-income renters. While the city has seen increased production of affordable housing there has been a larger increase of above moderate housing with the city's 2,409 RHNA above moderate allocation being exceeded by 2,677% per the City's RHNA progress reports submitted to the state. With average rents of $2000 - $4000, none of these above market rent units are affordable to most of Santa Ana's working families. The need will be much greater as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated needs that were already exisfing in our communities. Housing costs in Santa Ana have been out of reach and will continue to be out of reach in this current economic climate. Households that live in the 92701 zip code, the city's most affordable zip code, must earn $35.68 an hour to afford two -bedroom housing. (National Low Income Housing Coalition's "Out of Reach: The High Cost ofHousing in 2020" Report) The proposed amendments further incentivize housing units with market rate rents and are not affordable to the majority of the City's residents. The proposed amendments do not address the city's needs and create further inequity for the City's residents with the greatest housing need. "Cuando la cultura muere, la gente muere...° www.elcentrocuIturaldemexico.org