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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - 60A Orozco, Norma From:Juan Gonzalez <juan_gonzalez@berkeley.edu> Sent:Monday, August 03, 2020 8:27 PM To:eComment Subject:Juan González, Public Comment for 08/04 Special CC Meeting Dear Members of the City Council, I want to first express my gratitude to you and City staff for the significant time and effort that you’ve invested in protecting Santa Ana’s vulnerable residents since the start of the pandemic. As a low-income, Latino product of this city, I commend your commitment to ensuring that the newly allocated CARES funding benefits those most marginalized and at-risk for contracting COVID-19. With that in mind, I must ask you to consider that the City’s proposed spending plan omits the needs of perhaps one of the most vulnerable groups in Santa Ana: the unhoused. Not a single dollar of the proposed spending plan is expected to directly benefit the unhoused population of our city, an omission that jeopardizes not only their well-being, but that of the city as a whole as well. In 2019, the County identified 1,769 unhoused people residing in the City of Santa Ana, a figure that is assuredly an undercount. These 1,769+ unhoused human beings are more than four times as likely as sheltered people to report a physical health condition, and are three to six times as likely as the general population to have diabetes, heart disease and HIV/AIDS, all of which are severe risk factors for COVID. Santa Ana’s unhoused population also previously faced difficulty with accessing basic needs such as food, clean water and hygiene supplies, difficulties that have only been aggravated by the effects of the pandemic. If even one unhoused person were to become ill, an outbreak of dramatic proportions is to be expected. This outbreak would have the possibility of spreading not only among encampments, but also, at sites where the general population works, travels, plays and congregates. I call on you as City Council to consider investing a portion of the CARES Act funding in hygiene supplies, testing and outreach services to unhoused encampments throughout Santa Ana. The omission of this vulnerable population from this critical opportunity would be continuing the dangerous narrative that unhoused people are not part of our community, are not as worthy of health and well-being as us sheltered folks are. The metric for the moral compass of our city is how we treat its most marginalized residents, and so I expect that you heed that call with compassion and humanity. Sincerely, Juan J. Gonzalez Ward 1 Resident and Born-and-Raised Santanero -- Juan J. González UC Berkeley School of Public Health | MPH Candidate UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design | MCP Candidate Pronouns in Use: He Him His 1 Orozco, Norma From:Maria Ceja <ceja.maria95@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, August 04, 2020 12:44 PM To:eComment Subject:Item 60a To the Mayor and City Council, I urge you all to allocate funds from the $28.6 million received to an eviction defense fund and rental relief fund. We are going to encounter a wave of evictions unlike one we have ever face in our lifetimes. Santa Ana is extremely vulnerable and will likely be hit harder than we can anticipate. Over half of the city are renters, many extremely rent-burdened, who were already struggling with making rent prior to the pandemic. The catastrophic economic impacts exacerbated by the pandemic has placed on Santa Ana households. We have been quarantined since March, for the renter that has not been able to pay rent since then, that is thousands of dollars of accumulated debt against their will. Renters are not paying rent because they don't want to, they financially are unable to. Our city needs to be prepared for what is to come. We need a larger and accessible rental assistance fund and an eviction defense fund. The $500,000 rental assistance fund was proven to be not enough after it was exhausted after just one week. The city of Anaheim was able to provide $3 million dollars for their residents, I ask that you allocate $4 million dollars from the $28.6 million received to the rental assistance fund. Considering the predicted waves of evictions, it is important to recognize that many can be considered illegal and put the tenant(s) through an unnecessary traumatic experience. From receiving the notice to navigating an inaccessible court system, an eviction defense fund could alleviate some of those pressures. This could especially help since legal resources are limited. There should be at least $2 million reserved for this. Again, I urge you to use the CARES Act funds appropriately. Use it to truly support our community, especially those affected most by the pandemic. Thank you, Maria Ceja 1 Orozco, Norma From:Valeria Esqueda <valeria.esqueda97@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, August 04, 2020 1:50 PM To:eComment Subject:AGENDA ITEM 60A - Public Support for Eviction Defense Fund & Rental Relief Fund Hello Council Members and Mayor, My name is Valeria Esqueda and I have lived in Ward 3 for the last 16 years. In the past, the council agreed that you all would use CARES package funding to support and assist low income renters in Santa Ana. In the proposed spending plan of the $28.6 million, it was extremely upsetting to see that Rental AND Child Care assistance is lumped into one category. Child care is expensive and deserving of its own category as it is for the development of our future and community. Rent relief is much needed by individuals and families all across Santa Ana. Rent relief deserves its own category - renters must earn 3.7 the state minimum wage to afford the base median rent of $2,261 for a two bedroom. Santa Ana continues to be a 56% majority renter city and 64% are rent-burdened, paying a disproportionate amount of their income to rent. With the uneven impacts of the pandemic affecting low income and immigrant communities the most, I ask that you all: 1. Allocate the funding from CARES to establish an Eviction Defense Fund of 1 million dollars that will protect a Tenant's Right to Counsel. Many renters do not seek out legal aid during an eviction case because of financial inaccessibility and thus are excluded from our right to due process. Legal representation in court ensures vulnerable tenants have an opportunity to defend themselves otherwise the case leans in favor of the property owner. 2. Expand the "Coronavirus Emergency Rental Relief Fund" by 2 million dollars. As you must all be aware, the fund that was set up in May for Santa Ana renters was flooded with applications and shortly closed after a brief week. I do not understand how you all thought it sufficient to only allocate 500,000 whereas Anaheim allocated 3 million to theirs. Low income renters continue to be harassed and evicted for rent payment even though the conditions of unemployment have been raging in response to economic shutdown and shelter-in-place. The lack of social safety nets have been in decline for decades as a result of increasing police spending and slashing of social programs. Please, as representatives of Santa Ana's people, use the CARES funding compassionately and intentionally, otherwise, we will never move forward with short-sighted planning. Thank you, Valeria Esqueda 1