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II <br />January 14th, 2022 <br />Mayor Sarmiento and City Council Members <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />Re: Item 8: Strengthen Housing Opportunity Ordinance and Affordable Housing Funds <br />Policies and Procedures <br />Dear Mayor and City Council Members, <br />Chispa is a political home for young Latinx in Orange County. Chispa seeks to engage <br />with excluded peoples to uproot systems of oppression and cultivate systems grounded in <br />community accountability, solidarity, and self-determination for our communities to <br />thrive. <br />We are writing to support the amendments to the Housing Opportunity Ordinance <br />and Affordable Housing Funds Policies. The changes will ensure that development in <br />the City addresses housing needs for all residents in a balanced manner. Many working <br />families in Santa Ana continue to be impacted by the rising cost of housing and the scarce <br />housing opportunities available at rents they can afford. In addition, many continue to face <br />economic uncertainty because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The creation of <br />housing at all income levels is vital to our recovery and will provide stability for the <br />majority of Santa Ana residents that are struggling with housing availability and cost that <br />existed long before the pandemic. It is crucial that the City strengthen the Housing <br />Opportunity Ordinance (HOO) to ensure that housing opportunities are available for all <br />residents in Santa Ana along with new housing options being created in the City. <br />The City of Santa Ana is a renter majority city and despite the City's progress towards meeting <br />its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation for very low- and low- income <br />housing, there continues to be a great need for housing that is affordable to its residents. The <br />current pandemic has increased the economic and housing pressures on low-income families in