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February 5th, 2017 <br />Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilmembers <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />P.O. Box 1988, M31 <br />Santa Ana CA, 92701 <br />RE: Work Study Session on Rent Control/Stabilization - <br />Support Tenant Protections Ordinance <br />Vecindario Lacy en Accion (VeLA) is a group of residents from the Lacy neighborhood that <br />have united to advocate for their community. The group includes: mothers, fathers, students, <br />individuals with special abilities and community leaders that share the vision of improving the <br />quality of life in their neighborhood and the city of Santa Ana. All with the purpose of creating <br />more opportunities for families to succeed. <br />VeLA supports the efforts by community groups and stakeholders to pass an ordinance that will <br />afford tenants the protections that they need. Santa Ana has a large renter population with 56% <br />of the city's total households serving as rental homes (2017 American Community Survey). We <br />are a part of this renter population. We believe that tenants have the right to live in <br />dignified housing; and we need a Tenant Protections Ordinance immediately as Santa Ana <br />tenants live in fear of recurring rent increases and retaliation in the form of unjust <br />evictions. <br />The city's Housing Element illustrates the need for such ordinance for renters, especially our low <br />income residents. `Approximately 54 percent of households earn lower incomes... Renters <br />typically have the highest percentage of very low income households...' (pg A-10) These low <br />income households have very high rates of rent burden, as they're paying well over 30 percent of <br />their household income on rent. `The 2011 ACS reports 31,676 households (43 percent) overpaid <br />for housing. Of this total, 57 percent were renters (21,496 households)... Housing <br />overpayment is most severe among extremely low and low income households and special <br />needs groups.' (pg. A-20) <br />It is important to protect our immigrants, workers, and youth from the traumatic effects that <br />displacement has on our communities. Policies such as Just Cause Evictions have been <br />successfully implemented in jurisdictions throughout California while protecting the rights of <br />tenants and property owners. The City needs to deepen its commitment to working alongside the <br />community in the development process, to ensure that the community's needs are being met and <br />