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October 17, 2023 <br />Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />ecornrnent(i),santa....ana.oray <br />Via Email <br />RE: SUPPORT ITEM 27 - Placing Measures on 2024 Ballot to: <br />1) Adopt a Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance <br />2) Whether to Permit Non -Citizen Voting in Municipal Election <br />Dear Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers, <br />I write on behalf of Chispa to express our support for Item 27, to place two issues on the ballot: <br />the adoption of a Rent Stabilization (RSO) and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (JCEO), as well as <br />whether to permit non -citizen voting on the November 2024 ballot. <br />As an organization based in the City, Chispa seeks to engage with excluded peoples to uproot <br />systems of oppression and cultivate systems grounded in community accountability, solidarity, <br />and self-determination for our communities to thrive. We are a membership based organization <br />for young Latinxs advocating for systemic changes across Orange County. We are strong <br />advocates for civic engagement and democratic elections that empower voters. <br />The City Council (Council) has recently taken steps to strengthen the City's RSO and JCEO <br />policies, policies that are the result of decades of community advocacy that has included support <br />from community members impacted by housing instability, charitable organizations, faith -based <br />organizations, and more. Bold policies such as these should allow input from voters. The <br />proposed ballot measure would provide voters with an opportunity to affirm the RSO and JCEO <br />policies; a request that has been made by impacted community members for years as they asked <br />the Council to put Rent Control and Just Cause Evictions on the ballot. <br />Furthermore, Chispa urges you to place the issue of whether to permit non -citizen voting on the <br />November 2024 ballot. Per the Staff Report produced for this agenda item, "Non -citizen <br />residents make up about 24 percent of Santa Ana's population."' About 30 percent of voting age <br />1 Ron Hayduk, "Early American History," accessed September 9, 2023, https://www.immigrantvotingiights.com/americanhistory <br />