CORRESPONDENCE - 20C - Laserfiche WebLink

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Flores, Dora From: joaquin torres <joaquin@thedencafeoc.com> Sent: Monday, December 14, 2020 11:00 AM To: eComment Subject: We support item 20C WE SUPPORT ITEM 20C, BUT WITH THE REQUEST TO FUND ITEM AT $500,000 (THE NORMAL, FULL FUNDING LEVEL FOR CLEAN AND SAFE OPERATIONS DOWNTOWN). Downtown Santa Ana is hanging on by a thread through pandemic, civil unrest, massive construction, homeless impacts and wild economic uncertainty. Despite all these challenges, downtown businesses continue to open and serve the public as best they can despite very difficult times. As one of the most important economic engines of the City, DTSA has been able to create our own revenue funds (both parking and BID revenue) to sustain Downtown Clean and Safe Operations, marketing and communications and even capital improvement costs like building public restrooms. We also contribute to the City of Santa Ana through sales taxes, property taxes, permits and fees. During the pandemic, Downtown's self -generated revenue has been deeply impacted: in particular parking revenues are down nearly 75% due mostly to the coronavirus and in part due to popular programs promoting 2 hour free parking in downtown parking garages. Due to the revenue shortfall, the City of Santa Ana is proposing to help downtown sustain its Downtown Clean Team operations which clean nearly 86 blocks of downtown on a daily basis. But the City is proposing not to cover the cost of the $100,000 annual Downtown Security Team and to let that contract lapse. While we deeply appreciate the protection of the critical Downtown Clean Team program, we are appealing to you to one-time gap fund the Downtown Security program as well. This year, service calls to security increased from 2,600 to 5,200 (50% increase) and trash bags collected rose from 45,000 to 90,000 (50% increase). The Downtown Security program is a cornerstone of downtown's success. The program is already 50% underfunded from what is needed, but still provides an affordable full-time protective force to downtown. Security is vital as a service to businesses and for visitor perceptions as "Lack of safety" and "Homelessness" remain two of the primary reasons people don't like to visit downtown according to studies conducted by the City. This year, downtown vandalism costs have tripled including over $40,000 in costs of vandalism paid out by the City alone. Reducing our Downtown Security force will increase the burden on private and public vandalism costs in 2021 and is not supported by the Downtown Police Officers. Please consider covering this year's gap in downtown's self -funded critical services to keep our engine running and supporting our downtown businesses. Overall, the total impact of your decision here is another $100,000. Yet this is a critical cost -saving and protective investment considering the alternatives of increased vandalism and decreased safety perceptions in downtown. Sincerely,