HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - Non-Agenda
Orozco, Norma
From:pjmeszesan <pjmeszesan@yahoo.com>
Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 7:38 AM
To:eComment
Subject:Night Star Towing- 1335 N. Santiago St. #A Santa Ana, 92701
I sued Albert Siordia DBA as Night Star Towing on January 14, 2020 and he agreed to pay me
$2000.00 through mediation. It has been over a year and so now it is a default judgement. My
research in preparing my case showed that Mr. Siordia was operating his business in Santa Ana
without current permits and insurance. He also had not payed his taxes to the city for many years,
falsified documents, damaged my vehicle, broke every tow law in the book, and even told me he was
filing for bankruptcy last July. His BBB rating is an "F", yet he continues to do business in your
city. Mr. Siordia continues to profit from his business (he bragged to me about the number of cars he
tows every weekend when I was paying him to get my car back). I doubt if the pandemic has affected
his business but I would not be surprised if he applied for pandemic assistance fraudulently. He gets
approximately $400.00 per tow. If you google reviews of his business you will see that countless other
citizens have been affected by Night Star Towing's substandard practices. I believe Mr. Siordia has
no intention of honoring his agreement.
My question for the council is:
1. Should a business be able to operate with a judgement(s) against it except on cases under an
appeal?
If there is not such a law, then I request that the city council create one so businesses will be held accountable.
There is something "not right" about a business continuing to profit without regard to the laws, in my case, a
judgement. Additionally, it is my belief that if a business does not follow one law, then they are probably not
following other ones as well. The city council should be able to write a letter to said businesses for compliance
purposes or be shut down. I'm sure those businesses will comply. Everybody wins, the city, and the citizenry. If
not, these rogue businesses will continue to flourish under the radar at the expense of all who are unfortunate
enough to cross their paths. Thank you for your consideration.
All for now,
PJ Mesesan
949.537.9625
pjmeszesan@yahoo.com
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
1
Orozco, Norma
From:Jonathan Hawes <jonathanhaweselmonte@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 9:02 AM
To:eComment
Subject:Public comment for next city council meeting
Good evening. My name is Jonathan Hawes. I served as El Monte City Clerk from 2013 to 2018. Since 2015 I
have been a whistleblower on Andre Quintero and Team El Monte’s embezzlement of $10 million from the El
Monte Promise Foundation scholarship fund. I have interviewed dozens of El Monte residents who have
privately confirmed that Promise funds were used for fraudulent trips to Vietnam and Haiti, a bogus consultant
in Salt Lake City, house repairs, and other criminal activities. I have myself been interviewed by the FBI about
two dozen times. Documents proving the embezzlement have been submitted to the FBI and the District
Attorney’s Office and are now available to the public online
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v434alh1dkikaj4TCNZLMsZkhftmtA8f/view?usp=drive_web). I am asking
the Santa Ana City Council to call out these crimes and protect the vulnerable residents of one of the poorest
cities in southern California. El Monte children, who should’ve been provided with college scholarships, were
robbed. Andre Quintero and Team El Monte members must go to prison. If you have any questions, please call
or text me at (626) 863-2149. Thank you.
1
Orozco, Norma
From:Stop Santa Ana Street Racing <stopsa.racing@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 1:29 PM
To:eComment
Cc:Ridge, Kristine; Penaloza, David; Sarmiento, Vicente
Subject:Santa Ana City Council - comment regarding Penn Way
Dear Santa Ana City Council,
We are reaching out to you as the voice of several residents of the city of Santa Ana. We live by the
road on Penn Way and 17th St towards the exit/entrance of Interstate 5 South, which has been used
for ongoing daily street racing and reckless driving by drivers with very loud car exhausts. Over 30
units are living by this street. We have been experiencing non-stop noise pollution, and also unsafe
driving conditions on this road. Every time these cars are driving, our walls are shaking because of
the very loud exhaust.
On top of affecting our daily life, this also makes the life of the other drivers on this road unsafe. Since
last September 2020, we have been reporting this ongoing issue in detail to the Santa Ana Police
Department, but we are still dealing with this problem on Penn Way. We noticed sometimes when we
report, if the police show up on site, they do not take any further actions other than showing up on
Penn Way. No tickets or citations are issued. We want real action and consequences for these
reckless drivers and their loud car exhausts. California law forbids drivers from modifying their cars to
have loud exhausts. These drivers have clearly broken speeding laws and California Vehicle Codes
21750 and 21751, which are the California vehicle exhaust noise laws. We want the Santa Ana police
department to take real action. We are reaching out to you to be our voice on this ongoing unsafe
situation which is affecting many residents and also the whole city.
In the past 6 months we have been monitoring these activities on Penn Way and most of these
drivers show up between 2pm-6pm almost every 10 minutes on Monday to Friday, and also from
8pm-11pm on weekends. We understand Santa Ana Police are working hard with many other
responses, but we want this issue to be resolved before it results in tragedy.
We would like to ask law enforcement to plan to possibly be present during these hours of activities
and take real action towards these drivers at least once a week, or once a month. Otherwise these
drivers keep coming back. Furthemore, they are the same cars repeatedly racing with loud exhausts
in the past 6 months. We are happy to provide you with more details and information. We want to
know how this matter can be advanced in our neighborhood.
Best,
Residents of the city of Santa Ana
1
Orozco, Norma
From:Maria Ceja <ceja.maria95@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 3:16 PM
To:eComment
Subject:Nonagenda Item Public Comment
Mayor Sarmiento and City Council Members,
As a Santanera, it is important to express my appreciation for the city's efforts to support our
community, particularly renters, throughout these difficult times. That being said, I want to express
that we could do much more to support our most vulnerable residents.
I would like to focus on renters and the Emergency rental assistance program and funds. As a
volunteer tenant counselor, there have been observations made about the barriers associated with
the application process for these funds. These barriers revolve around inaccessibility. They include
the lack of access to resources (i.e. computer) to get information about the funds and to apply, the
lack of outreach on the city's behalf to inform residents about the availability of these funds, and
certain requirements that require third party (i.e. landlord) cooperation that is difficult to obtain. It is
crucial to state that there has been growing awareness over the absence of communication between
the city and applicants who have been awaiting their application status over a long period of time (4
weeks or more) to know whether they are approved for these funds. The city needs to evaluate its
program and process for the distribution of these emergency funds. Certain demands require
attention including:
1. Some people have waited more than 4 weeks and still don’t know if they qualified for funding,
so how can the city increase this response time?
2. Establish an appointment system for in-person assistance to help tenants who have difficulty
using the computer or no access to internet/computer devices to apply for rental assistance in
a socially distanced manner. Allow for tenants to have access to printing, copying, and
scanning their personal documents. A large number of tenants do not have access to these
devices at home or have difficulty navigating the software and need guidance.
3. Update the requirement about the letter to the landlord to give tenants the option to write a
letter to the city in the case that they are afraid of landlord retaliation. Especially because
tenants might not receive funds for 4+ weeks, and find other ways to pay rent in the meantime.
Writing a letter to their landlord can make them a target for retaliation just to apply. In the past,
the city has allowed tenants flexibility around this requirement, but it isn't explained anywhere
on the website.
4. Get city staff to create a video in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese that walks tenants step by
step through the application process so that tenants who better understand visually know how
to apply.
5. Landlords can apply for rental assistance on behalf of their tenants but what is the city doing to
ensure they aren't double-charging their tenants?
6. Increase visibility and responsiveness of the city's helpline for tenant support. Currently, the
phone number to call for help from the city is difficult to find on the website.
Please redirect your efforts to keep our community houses and protected as we progress deeper into
the pandemic.
1
Thank you,
Maria Ceja
2
Orozco, Norma
From:Yoselinda Mendoza <yoselinda.mendoza@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 3:55 PM
To:eComment
Subject:E-Comment Non-Agenda Item (02/02/21)
Dear Santa Ana City Council,
My name is Yoselinda and I am a resident of Santa Ana. I am urging you all to take the necessary steps to make the rental
assistance program more accessible. In doing so, it makes it easier for Santa Ana residents to apply and complete the
application, which will help provide some alleviation for folks experiencing housing insecurity and keep people housed. This
will also help limit the spread of COVID-19.
As a volunteer tenant rights counselor and along with other volunteer tenant rights counselors, we have identified ways to
make the application process more accessible: 1) shorten the response timeframe when letting people know whether they
received the funds, 2) implement an appointment system for those that need in-person assistance (e.g., those that do not have
internet/computer devices), 3) updating the requirement to write a letter to the landlord and instead to allow tenants the
opportunity to also send a letter to the city to avoid retaliation from landlords, 4) create a how-to video in Spanish,
Vietnamese, and English about how to complete the application, and finally 5) since landlords can apply for rental assistance
there needs to be a way to hold them accountable and not have them overcharge their tenants.
Thank you,
Yoselinda
1
Orozco, Norma
From:Pat D <pat7oaks@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 6:27 PM
To:eComment
Subject:Why are you harassing El Centro Cultural de Mexico ?
As a long time advocate for the unhoused in Orange County, I was shocked to receive frantic calls several weeks
ago from community and other volunteers who were onsight and fearful of the life threatening harassment
targeting the unhoused outside El Centro Cultural de Mexico. El Centro Cultural de Mexico provides a range of
valuable community engagement activities. I am shocked and disappointed to learn that instead of supporting
their mission and community reach, by partnering with El Centro to address the needs of the houseless people
who congregate outside, the City of Santa Ana has decided to turn the blame for its failures to this community
organization, issuing repeated citations and fines instead of support and services. In addition to being offensive
and life threatening to those on the street, this practice is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
The City of Santa Ana is making unreasonable requests of El Centro. Has the city not learned from their past
punitive practices challenged in the court that this is not the way to proceed? Placing the entire burden and the
cost on El Centro and the community looking for shelter, further demonstrates that the City has terribly failed to
provide the services to help those with the greatest need and now demanded El Centro violate the CDC’s advice
on how to stay safe during a dangerous pandemic.
I am writing to support El Centro in that they have been placed in an impossible position as a small non-profit
organization and demand that the City of Santa Ana fulfill the following:
1. Rescind these improper citations and immediately discontinue the violations
2. Return all funds taken from el Centro
3. Take full advantage of the available project Roomkey Funding
4. Provide non-congregate placements and health services for all the people on el Centro’s property due to
the City’s failures
5. Provide support for organizations like el Centro that are working with community during a housing and
health crisis
I demand that the City of Santa Ana meet its obligations to the community including those without homes,
members and staff at El Centro, and our neighbors, instead of dumping that responsibility on a small local
organization.
Sincerely,
Pat Davis
1
Orozco, Norma
From:Deyanira Nevarez Martinez <deyanira.n.martinez@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, February 02, 2021 6:46 PM
To:eComment
Subject:Comment regarding El Centro Cultural de Mexico
To whom it may concern, it is completely inappropriate for the City of Santa Ana to criminalize poverty and
reprimand a small non-profit for doing the work that the City should be doing to support the local unhoused
community. The City should be grateful that local organizations are stepping up to support the community
during this crisis. The City should dismiss these citations and assist El Centro Cultural in providing services for
the most vulnerable in the community.
Deyanira Nevarez Martinez
Ph.D. Candidate, Housing Justice Scholar
--
Deyanira Nevarez Martinez, MS, MSGIST
1