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Orozco, Norma From:Maria Ceja <ceja.maria95@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 3:16 PM To:eComment Subject:Nonagenda Item Public Comment Mayor Sarmiento and City Council Members, As a Santanera, it is important to express my appreciation for the city's efforts to support our community, particularly renters, throughout these difficult times. That being said, I want to express that we could do much more to support our most vulnerable residents. I would like to focus on renters and the Emergency rental assistance program and funds. As a volunteer tenant counselor, there have been observations made about the barriers associated with the application process for these funds. These barriers revolve around inaccessibility. They include the lack of access to resources (i.e. computer) to get information about the funds and to apply, the lack of outreach on the city's behalf to inform residents about the availability of these funds, and certain requirements that require third party (i.e. landlord) cooperation that is difficult to obtain. It is crucial to state that there has been growing awareness over the absence of communication between the city and applicants who have been awaiting their application status over a long period of time (4 weeks or more) to know whether they are approved for these funds. The city needs to evaluate its program and process for the distribution of these emergency funds. Certain demands require attention including: 1. Some people have waited more than 4 weeks and still don’t know if they qualified for funding, so how can the city increase this response time? 2. Establish an appointment system for in-person assistance to help tenants who have difficulty using the computer or no access to internet/computer devices to apply for rental assistance in a socially distanced manner. Allow for tenants to have access to printing, copying, and scanning their personal documents. A large number of tenants do not have access to these devices at home or have difficulty navigating the software and need guidance. 3. Update the requirement about the letter to the landlord to give tenants the option to write a letter to the city in the case that they are afraid of landlord retaliation. Especially because tenants might not receive funds for 4+ weeks, and find other ways to pay rent in the meantime. Writing a letter to their landlord can make them a target for retaliation just to apply. In the past, the city has allowed tenants flexibility around this requirement, but it isn't explained anywhere on the website. 4. Get city staff to create a video in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese that walks tenants step by step through the application process so that tenants who better understand visually know how to apply. 5. Landlords can apply for rental assistance on behalf of their tenants but what is the city doing to ensure they aren't double-charging their tenants? 6. Increase visibility and responsiveness of the city's helpline for tenant support. Currently, the phone number to call for help from the city is difficult to find on the website. Please redirect your efforts to keep our community houses and protected as we progress deeper into the pandemic. 1