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Home My WebLink AboutCORRESPONDENCE - 20A Orozco, Norma From:Allegra Ringo <allegraringo@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, August 16, 2020 10:40 AM To:council@santa-ana.org; Villegas, Juan; eComment Subject:Comments for 8/18 City Council meeting Hello City Council members, My name is Allegra Ringo, and I'm a resident of Mr. Villegas' ward in Santa Ana. I'd like to comment on the following items for the upcoming meeting on 8/18: Item 3: NO: Please do not approve the sale to Mike Harrah. The community has called for the old YMCA to be turned into a community center. We do not need further gentrification by Mike Harrah. Item 20A: YES: Please vote to bring mobile library services back to Santa Ana. Item 22B: NO: We do not need armored vehicles. The fact that "civil unrest" is cited as one of the reasons this vehicle is "needed" is a huge red flag. As the city calls for the police to be defunded, this would be a huge move in the wrong direction. Please vote no. Item 25A: NO: Again, we do not need any more gentrification by Mike Harrah. Item 25E: NO: We do not need to increase revenue to cite parking violations during a time of national crisis, nor do we need any more money to go toward the police department in any capacity. This, again, is the opposite of what your constituents are calling for. Item 75B: NO: We need affordable housing more than ever, and this proposed change to the HOO would make it easier for developers to avoid building their required number of affordable units. As rental prices skyrocket and people lose their housing during a pandemic, this is absolutely not what we need. Thank you, Allegra Ringo 1 Flores, Dora From:Nathaniel Greensides <mynci90@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, August 18, 2020 9:37 AM To:eComment Subject:PUBLIC COMMENT AGENDA ITEM 20A I am in favor of this item. In fact, I hope that more funding can be given to these types of programs in the future. Mobile Libraries will help encourage lifelong learning and reading especially during a pandemic. Best regards, Nathaniel 1 Flores, Dora From:Manuel Escamilla <manueljescamilla@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, August 18, 2020 9:04 PM To:eComment Subject:Comments for 8-18-2020 Council Meeting Dear Mayor and Council, My apologies for the connection issues during the call in phase of the meeting. I attempted to call back in but the call in line has been locked. Please work with staff to ID the technical issue so that our residents are able to address the Council. Though this email will reach you after the decisions have been made, I still wanted to share my thoughts and observations on the following items. 20A - I'm supportive of this, thank you for bringing back the book mobile. We need to do everything we can increase literacy access in our community. 22B - I do not believe that this item will provide any additional value to our city. I recommend that the Council and Mayor ask the Police Chief if we have enough hazmat suits, decontamination units, mobile testing facilities, and other emergency response materials. As the pandemic has shown us, we have had to scramble for basic supplies to fight an ongoing biological threat. We should spend our federal grant funds on other supplies that add to our ability to save lives in case of the unspeakable. 25A - I understand that the expense of restoring a historic structure like the YMCA will be substantial and that it will be beneficial to get the property restored and back on the property tax rolls before a disaster like the one that occured on Santa Ana blvd a few months ago. However my concern is regarding whether or not the purchaser will be able to honor the timeline being described here. As it stands there are 4 other major projects that they are involved with but have shown little progress. I would recommend that the City proactively seek out alternative bids if Caribou Industries is unable to uphold its obligations under the terms of the sales agreement. 25D - Maybe this is the most innovative cost-effective program available but I’m seeing red flags. Why did the staff report just copy and paste the promotional material from the America on Track website? There was a sentence where the staff report just changes the point of view from first person to third person. The drug program descriptions on the organization's website referred to were from a controversial 'weed and seed' program. This program was studied and found to be ineffective and counterproductive according to a 2005 study in Criminal justice Review. America on track's website also included out of date statistics from a government agency that hasn't been around since 2012. Our contracting decisions should be guided by the idea that the City can use these types of smaller contract opportunities to grow local institutions. Are we really saying that in the nonprofit center of Orange County we were not able to find any local organizations with an ongoing presence that would be able to tell kids that drugs are bad? 55C - Thank you and the Public Works team for their efforts on expanding these safe routes to school. We need to continue the City's efforts to emphasize safety in all aspects of our transportation network. 1 75B - I'm in opposition to the revision of the Housing Opportunity Ordinance as it is written. My understanding of the proposals indicate that these revisions will remove the applicability of an affordable housing requirement for all development projects within existing specific plans, specific developments, and overlay zones. If this is the wish of the council, then you should be able to publicly defend the idea that the Main Place Specific Plan should not include nor financially contribute to the affordable housing fund. That will be the direct result of your decision. 85B - I'm supportive of the idea of granting an extension for the collection of signatures. The unusual circumstances around the coronavirus pandemic significantly delayed the collection of signatures. If only because this extension would further encourage the participation of residents in the democratic process. I realize that this is not a proposal that the members of the Council are supportive of, but I hope that your faith in the democratic process outweighs your reservation of the specifics of the proposal that is gathering signatures. Stay golden, Manny -- Manuel J. Escamilla https://www.escamillaforsantaana.org/ Master of Urban and Regional Planning | Design and Development, 2018 UCLA | Luskin School of Public Affairs | Department of Urban Planning Master of Library and Information Science | Archival Studies, 2014 UCLA | Graduate School of Education | Department of Information Science Mobile 714.585.5523 Facebook MannyForSA Instagram Full_Metal_Archivist Podcast Puro_Policy_Pari 2