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Advancingsocial justice and buddingpower with working-class Vietnamese and �J immigrant communities in Orange County. • Garden Grove, CA 92843 I www.vietrise.ore I general@vietrise.org I @vietriseoc September 21, 2021 Mayor Sarmiento and City Council Members City of Santa Ana 22 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: In Support of Agenda Item #33: Adoption of Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Protections Dear Mayor Sarmiento and Santa Ana City Council Members, On behalf of VietRISE, I urge you to vote in favor of Agenda Item #33 to enact rent stabilization andjust cause eviction protections for renters and mobile home residents in Santa Ana. As it stands, current emergency eviction moratoria and housing protections under COVID-19 will expire on September 31, 2021, and —unless action is taken to protect renters in Santa Ana —many residents will face eviction and displacement from their homes. As the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, this looming eviction crisis is a public health hazard as well as a serious threat to the working class, immigrant, and refugee communities who define Santa Ana. The proposed rent stabilization and just cause eviction ordinances are desperately needed by the residents of Santa Ana, where over 56% of all residents are renters. These ordinances, which would be even stronger than the state legislation for rent stabilization, would help ensure that renters —many of whom are working class, immigrants and refugees, elderly, or living on fixed incomes —have stable and affordable housing, thereby allowing them to continue to build their lives, families, and communities here without the threat ofgouging rent increases and displacement. In 2019, senior -aged mobile home residents brought forth efforts to establish a rent stabilization ordinance in the city of Westminster. These seniors shared story after story about how they are living on fixed incomes and face threats of rent hikes and displacement from the land they live on. Ultimately, the entire city council abstained, so the ordinance failed. This ordinance would have provided not just the physical safeguards to protect these seniors from facing increasingly unaffordable rent hikes and ultimately, displacement or homelessness, it would have been a statement from the city council of what they are willing to do to protect our senior generation. Santa Ana has the opportunity to make that commitment and do even better. The efforts by Santa Ana residents to enact rent stabilization multiple times in the last decade is proof alone that there is a strong need for these ordinances. It is time for the city to be proactive and address the root causes of displacement and homelessness and take measures to ensure that families in the city can thrive. These ordinances are a great step to ensuring the future stability and success of the city and all its residents, from our elders to young people, who make Santa Ana the beautiful city that it is. As an organization, VietRISE urges you to vote yes on Agenda Item #33. Best regards, �rzti Tracy La Executive Director VietRISE