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<br />December 1, 2020 <br />www.kennedycommission.org <br />17701 Cowan Ave., Suite 200 <br /> <br />Irvine, CA 92614 <br />Mayor Pulido and City Council <br />949 250 0909 <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br /> <br /> <br />RE: 75A and 75B: Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report and Second <br />Amendment to the COVID-19 Response Funding Plan <br /> <br />Dear City Councilmembers: <br /> <br />The Kennedy Commission (the Commission) is a broad based coalition of residents and <br />community organizations that advocates for the production of homes affordable for families <br />earning less than $27,000 annually in Orange County. Formed in 2001, the Commission has <br />been successful in partnering and working with Orange County jurisdictions to create effective <br />housing and land-use policies that has led to the new construction of homes affordable to lower <br />income working families. <br /> <br />The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated needs that were already existing in our communities <br />and it is important that recovery efforts include both immediate and direct assistance to residents <br />alongside a vision for the economic recovery post Coronavirus pandemic. As you make <br />amendments to your 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan to access emergency funding intended to <br />assist in making a timely response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic we ask that you <br />direct staff to ensure that assistance programs will be implemented without barriers and that they <br /> <br /> <br />Housing: <br />Affordable Housing and Homelessness prevention must be a community priority to prevent <br />increase in homelessness as statewide housing protections are lifted. Our recommendation would <br />be that these investments are made in a way that addresses immediate housing needs and creates <br />opportunities that can be leveraged in the near future to create new permanent affordable housing <br />opportunities. <br /> <br />Rental Assistance Program <br />We support the proposed amendment allocating $1,103,328 for Emergency Rental Relief for <br />Tenants and encourage the City to increase wherever possible. There is a need to increase the <br />amount of funds available for Emergency Rental Relief for Santa Ana residents and it is <br />important that it is accessible to residents with the greatest need. This includes residents that are <br />undocumented and have very-low and extremely- low incomes. <br /> <br />Affordable Housing: <br />The Commission urges you to consider and prioritize developing programs and policies <br />that facilitate the production of affordable housing development. While the city has seen <br />increased production of affordable housing it has not been enough to address the past deficits and <br />Working for systemic change resulting in the production of homes affordable to -income households <br /> <br />