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July 26, 2021 www.kennedycommission.org 17701 Cowan Ave., Suite 200 Mayor Sarmiento and Council Members Irvine, CA 92614 City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza 949 250 0909 P.O. Bo 1988, M31 Santa Ana, CA 92701 Re: Support: Strengthen Housing Opportunity Ordinance and Affordable Housing Funds Policies and Procedures Dear Mayor Sarmiento and City Councilmembers, The Kennedy Commission (the Commission) is a broad-based coalition of residents and community organizations that advocates for the production of homes affordable for families earning less than $27,000 annually in Orange County. Formed in 2001, the Commission has been successful in partnering and working with Orange County jurisdictions to create effective housing and land-use policies that has led to the new construction of homes affordable to lower income working families. Our letter is supporting the proposed amendments to the Housing Opportunity Ordinance and Affordable Housing Funds Policies. Many working families in Santa Ana continue to be impacted by the rising cost of housing and the scarce housing available at rents they can afford. In addition, many continue to face economic uncertainty because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and loss of jobs. It is crucial that the City strengthen the Housing Opportunity Ordinance (HOO) to ensure that housing opportunities are created for all residents in Santa Ana. Increasing affordable housing development opportunities along with market rate housing will be crucial in creating new affordable housing that residents in Santa Ana can truly afford. The creation of housing at all income levels is vital to our recovery and stability of the majority of Santa Ana residents that are struggling with housing availability and cost. Creating new affordable housing needs to continue to be a top housing priority in Santa Ana. The City of Santa Ana is a renter majority city and despite the City’s progress towards meeting its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation for very low and income housing there continues to be a great need for housing that is affordable to its residents. The current pandemic has increased the economic and housing pressures on low-income families in Santa Ana. As incomes are decreasing and jobs are being lost, many low-income families are struggling to remain housed. This is especially true for the majority of Santa Ana’s low-income households that are suffering with the impacts of housing cost and economic uncertainty. As an example, according to the City’s local data, 70 percent of Santa Ana renters are low and very low-income renters. 1 City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014-2021, p. 14, January 2014. 2 City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014 – 2021 page 11 3 City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014 – 2021 page 20