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Orozco, Norma From:Victor Payan <victor@masamedia.org> Sent:Monday, May 24, 2021 2:59 PM To:eComment Cc:Sarmiento, Vicente; Penaloza, David; Phan, Thai; Lopez, Jessie; Bacerra, Phil; Mendoza, Nelida; Ridge, Kristine; Gomez, Daisy; Hernandez, Johnathan; !City Clerk Subject:Say NO to Sale of Historic Cypress Fire Station Hello, Mayor, City Council and City Manager, I am writing to say that as a Santa Ana arts leader and resident, I am strongly advising that you vote NO on the sale of the historic Santa Ana Fire Station building at 625 S Cypress St. Tim Rush has stated that the cost of securing and maintaining the property has cost the city $1 million. If this is the case, selling the property at a fired sale price of approximately $300,000 would result in a LOSS to the City of $700,000. Not to mention that this is significantly below market value. A real estate professional we consulted says the value of the land alone is at least $800,000. As you see, the numbers do not add up, and a sale of this historic property in the current terms would not only be fiscally irresponsible, but it would almost certainly become an election issue. Additionally, as we learned from the sale of the Santa Ana Fire Department, once the sale is done, you will not be able to get it back. I reiterate my view, and that of numerous community leaders and residents who have already contacted you about this issue, that the property is perfectly suited for the following uses: • Community Technology Center • Digital Library • Artist Residency Space • Use of CARES Recovery Funds to rehab the building for community use within two years. Since the property is already zoned for commercial use, this is already a reason to plan to use the building as a community center in a community that desperately needs one. This is also in alignment with the Santa Ana General Plan and Santa Ana Arts Master Plan. My organization, Media Arts Santa Ana (MASA), would love to partner with the City to provide media arts training, literacy and youth education classes and programming, to help a community center in that building succeed and thrive. I would even help to work on grants to help secure funding for this purpose. As a resident of the Eastside/Pacific Park neighborhood, in which the historic Cypress Fire Station is located, I can also attest to the public benefit that such a facility would provide for Santa Ana youth and adults. If it is necessary to start by using the building as a residency space, that would be great, as it would buy time to come up with a plan and funding path to create the community technology center that Santa Ana needs, deserves and is due. On the other hand, selling the property would result in a loss of over $700,000 in City monetary investment, and a greater loss in community investment in Santa Ana's future. 1