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UCI Community Resilience December 7, 2021 Santa Ana City Council c/o Daisy Gomez Clerk of the Council 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92702 ecomment(a,santa-ana.org Re: Public Comment to Agenda Item #37 for December 7,2021 Santa Ana City Council Meeting Dear Mayor Sarmiento and Council Members: I am writing to express concerns that the community outreach process for the Santa Ana General Plan Update has not sufficiently engaged with the perspectives and needs of impacted residents in Santa Ana. Furthermore,the policies the city is proposing to adopt into the General Plan do not adequately address the decades-long soil-lead crisis and its toll on the health of our most vulnerable communities. UCI Community Resilience Projects, a unit within the UCI Office of Sustainability,has supported iPlo- NO! Santa Ana! (Lead-Free Santa Ana% a community-academic partnership formed in 2017,to investigate and remediate soil lead in Santa Ana and to advocate for the health equity needs of Santa Ana's disadvantaged communities. Through soil sample testing,we found that over 50%of residential samples had levels of lead that exceeded California EPA recommendations.What's more,we found that the neighborhoods most impacted by soil-lead contamination were also: • Predominantly people of color • Lower median household income • Lower%of college educated residents • Higher proportions of renters • Higher fraction of residents without health insurance • Higher proportion of residents with immigrant status background • Limited English proficiency • Predominantly Latinx/Hispanic residents These frontline communities in Santa Ana face a disproportionate impact of lead in their everyday lives, and yet they have been left out of the decision-making process that decides how to address the issue. This is why it is critical that moving forward we ensure that stakeholders that can give voice to their community are included in the city's planning efforts. The City Council has shown a willingness to engage in this process before. Last fall,the City Council paused the adoption of the General Plan Update and invited community stakeholders, including iPlo-NO! Santa Ana!,to a series of roundtable discussions to inform the development of a community survey for outreach and engagement. Additionally,the City Planning Department invited iPlo-NO! Santa Ana! to a series of meetings to present research and inform policies to address the soil-lead crisis. 1 Ma61 ing ddirass: c/o UCI II...aw, 401. l::::ast II::�aIkasoirn II)irve, 3u to 1.000, Ili 6irwa, CA 92 97...1.000 I::�h s6call ddirass: Suirnirneir 3ass6oirn I13' (13uH6ir:g 230), 3u to 1.1.0, umU ll, Ilia ine CA 92697 (949) 824 2489 coirrwirrwu ini tyiras61l6eirnce.u.:c6.edu.: