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Orozco, Norma From:Michael Jiang <MJIANG@BESTWESTERN-OC.COM> Sent:Wednesday, October 07, 2020 2:31 PM To:eComment Subject:The proposed SAMTD Michael Jiang President Hotel Investment LLC Best Western Plus Orange County Airport North 2700 Hotel Terrace Drive Santa Ana, CA 92705 Clerk Of the Council Office 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92702 RE: Levy of An Assessment on Certain Lodging Businesses within the SATMD To Whom It May Concern: I am the owner of a lodging business, specifically, a hotel in the City of Santa Ana that operates 148 guest rooms. I would like to protest the SATMD assessment for the following reasons: 1. The entire hotel industry in California has suffered significantly due to the impact of the novel virus Covid-19. My property alone has lost more than 50% of its business revenue because people are no longer choosing to travel. Regular patrons no longer visit for business or leisure such as going to Disneyland (which remains closed due to the pandemic) and beaches (which only reopened recently). We do not forecast the hotel industry being able to recover for another few years as the pandemic continues. 2. The City of Santa Ana is located in central Orange County where federal, state, and city government and legal departments operate. Some visitors of the Santa Ana area visit to handle official matters with the different levels of government entities and businesses. Aside from DTSA and official businesses, there are not many points of interest to solicit travelers to stay at lodging businesses in Santa Ana compared to neighboring cities such as Anaheim with Disneyland and beach cities. 3. The City of Santa Ana collected 11% from 9% visitors tax for more than a decade because the City needed additional funds to repave Hotel Terrace Drive and take over maintenance from the Hotel Terrace Association. However, 10 years have passed and the street is filled with indecent activities due to homeless vagrants. They litter and trash the street, as well as inside and around private property with their belongings as well as their feces. They damage, steal, and sleep on hotel property, bother regular guests, and scare away potential customers. On most days, Hotel Terrace Drive looks like an abandoned area filled with garbage, drug dealing, prostitution, and homeless people. The current situation requires help and improvement for the hotels that line the streets to continue operating. We have been struggling to survive since March 2020 (losing hundreds of thousands of dollars), holding onto hope in order to make it through the Covid-19 pandemic and reduce the ill effects on the hospitality and tourism business that the homeless have on our street. Without relief and support from the government and others, hotels are and will close their doors one after the other very soon. Please stop the establishment of the SATMD and the levy of assessments on lodging businesses in this city. 1