Correspondence - Non-Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

August 31, 2021 www.kennedycommission.org 17701 Cowan Ave., Suite 200 Mayor Sarmiento and Council Members Irvine, CA 92614 949 250 0909 City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Bo 1988, M31 Santa Ana, CA 92701 Re: Support: City of Santa Ana Community Preservation, Rent Stabilization, Tenants’ Rights Act Dear Mayor Sarmiento and City Council members, 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 ordinance, City of Santa Ana Community Preservation, Rent Stabilization, Tenants’ Rights Act presented by Tenants United Santa Ana. 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 pass the Community Preservation, Rent Stabilization, Tenants’ Rights Act to ensure that residents in Santa Ana are protected during the ongoing pandemic. The City of Santa Ana is a renter majority city. There continues to be a great need for housing that is affordable and accessible to all Santa Ana 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. 80% of renters in Santa Ana fall into the moderate, low, and very low-income category and 84 percent of residents hold low-income occupations that pay less than $53,500 per year. Santa Ana’s households are predominantly families comprising 81% of households. These households are also rent-burdened and live-in overcrowded conditions. Due to financial hardship caused by the covid-19 pandemic, tenants have accumulated rental arrears, debts elsewhere to avoid arrears, or housing situations that could be cause for evictions. The City of Santa Ana will see a wave of evictions at the end of eviction protections for the tenants on September 30, 2021. This impact will not only leave Santa Ana families in a vulnerable housing crisis and at risk of becoming unhoused but will also lead many families to acquire more financial hardships beyond the financial challenges they experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and vulnerable to the spread of the virus. As the COVID-19 infection