Read the October 5 meeting.

Mayor Pro Tempore, R.C.D.: Great, thank you everybody, let me go ahead and call this special and regular City Council meeting and housing authority meeting for October 5th, 2021 to order. Mayor Pro Tempore, R.C.D.: Let me just begin by making a few opening remarks. This meeting is taking place with in person attendance and by teleconference via zoom. The public may access the meeting via the Santa YouTube channel or the city's website. So as usual, please bear with us as our technology may be interrupted, may interrupt the flow of the meeting. So Madam Clerk, if you'll please call the vote.

Council Member Becerra? Here. Council Member Hernandez? Here. Council Member Lopez? Here. Council Member Mendoza? Here. Council Member Fan?

Council Member Fan, I see that you're logged into Zoom. If you would please select the microphone icon.

Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa?

Here.

Mayor Sarmiento.

Here. Sorry about that, Mayor.

Thank you. I'm here.

Great. I was about to say, even though you're not here with us physically, you're here with us in spirit and you're logged on via Zoom as well. And so just for the public's information, Council Member Phan is gonna be joining us remotely. So with that, I'm gonna go ahead and ask the council if there's anybody that wishes to announce any abstention on the closed session items.

It's on the special meeting item. It's an open session, Mayor.

Got it, got it. All right, do we have any speakers, Madam Clerk, on the special open session?

No, we do not, Mayor.

All right, any additional comments from the council? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and adjourn into closed session unless there's anything.

Mayor, we have an action item that requires a motion and a second on a resolution.

Go ahead. Go ahead. I'll entertain a motion or if there's any questions or-I'll motion.

Phil Bacerra

Mayor, I'd like to ask that we move the item, but in regards to this item, I'd like to add a caveat to the resolution that this particular item expires as we expire our state of emergency.

Sonia R. Carvalho

Yes, and also the City Council, so just to give this some context, the resolution that's before you is placed before you because the governor's executive order that allowed virtual meetings without complying with teleconferencing rules expired, and he extended that. In order to take advantage of having virtual meetings, you need to adopt this resolution. This resolution would also need to be readopted every 30 days while you determine whether social distancing is still a good idea in your community so what you would be doing tonight by adopting this resolution is finding that

Sonia R. Carvalho

you do find that there is health reasons for continuing social distancing and that you will permit virtual attendance by any of your council members without complying with the teleconferencing rules that's what you would be doing tonight 30 days every 30 days if you adopt this tonight which we are recommending that you do so as we do have council member fan wanting to participate virtually. I will ask that she not participate in this vote until you voted on the reso and made the finding and then you would have to renew it every 30 days. That's good to know.

Phil Bacerra

I'll just go ahead and move the item as is.

All right. Is there a second?

Sonia R. Carvalho

I can second.

Okay. We have a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, please. Or do we are using the device on this?

You may use the device.

Council members should be able to cast your vote.

Well, I think the council member is not gonna vote on this for the city attorney's recommendation. This is council member Fan who's remote.

Phil Bacerra

I mean, yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you. So if council members, if council members Becerra, Hernandez, Lopez, Mayor Pro Tempe, Alyssa, Mayor Sarmiento voting yes, and council member Fan abstention.

Great. Thank you. So moving along, let me go ahead and adjourn the special open city council meeting and convene the special closed session meeting kind of confusing so bear with us there's going to be a lot of confusion tonight, unfortunately, with respect to procedure and process. Let me go ahead and call the special closed session meeting to order and with the same remarks as I made before that the meeting is taking place in person and via teleconference via Zoom. And the public may access the meeting by the Zootoot, San Ana YouTube channel or the city's website. And again, please bear with us if the technology fails on us.

And Madam Clerk, if you'll, do we have to call roll again on this one?

Yes. For the closed session? Yes.

All right.

Council member Becerra?

Here.

Council member Hernandez?

Here.

Council Member Lopez. Here. Council Member Mendoza. Here. Council Member Fan. Here. Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa.

Here.

And Mayor Sarmiento.

Here. So on this one, are there any abstentions on the closed session items by any members of the council? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers for any closed session items?

Not for any closed session items.

Great, let's go ahead and recess in the closed session and we'll reconvene now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the regular meeting for the Santa Ana City Council for October 5th, 2021. Let me go ahead and begin with some opening remarks. This meeting is taking place with in-person attendance by teleconference via Zoom. the public can access this meeting via the Santa Ana YouTube channel or the city's website and as usual please bear with us as our technology may interrupt the meeting and the flow of the meeting as we go forward so I'll turn it over to the clerk to go ahead and call roll. Thank you mayor.

Councilmember Becerra? Here. Councilmember Hernandez? Here. Councilmember Lopez? Present. Councilmember Mendoza? Here. Councilmember Fan? Here. Thank you. Mayor Potempeñalosa? Present. Mayor Sarmiento.

Here, and just for the public's information, Council Member Fan is joining us remotely, so you will hear her by audio only. Let me go ahead and just let you know that pursuant to State Elections Code 21627.1, subsection D, there will be a public hearing on item number 24 that's scheduled for 7 p.m. So it may interrupt what we're doing at that time to go ahead and set that time aside for that public hearing. We'll go ahead and take it up then to see if we're gonna have the full public hearing or if we adjourn it to some date certain and some time certain. So Madam Clerk, before we go on to the Pledge of Allegiance,

can you go ahead and make your opening remarks?

Thank you, Mayor. In accordance with the council procedures, calls will not be accepted after the public comment session has begun. For regular open session speakers who are not in the speaker queue by 6 p.m. will not be permitted to speak. Please hold your comments on public hearing items until the mayor opens the public hearing to request to speak on agenda or non-agenda items within the city's jurisdiction dial star 9 from your phone or click the button labeled raise hand from zoom at this time you will be asked to announce your name and ward or neighborhood you

reside in within the city of santa anna for the record thank you thank you for that let me go

ahead and turn it over to mayor pro tempena losa who's going to lead us in the pledge of allegiance

David Penaloza

tonight. Thank you, Mayor Sarmiento. If you could all please join me in rising and putting your facing our flag and putting your right hand over your heart and repeat after me. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

thank you for that if you'll all please remain standing as we do our invocation for tonight and we invite uh ossam ailush to join us here at the podium i believe he's a person welcome thank you sir and uh please uh feel free to go forward with the invocation

Thank you. Your Honorable Mayor and Council Members, dear residents of Santa Ana, I greet you with the Muslim greeting of peace. As-Salaamu Alaikum. May peace be with you. Que la pas este ikona steres. As Muslims, we begin every prayer and every action by reciting the following verse from the Quran. In Arabic it says, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. In English it translates as, in the name of Allah, Dios, God Almighty, the most compassionate, the most merciful.

oh god we sincerely seek your compassion and mercy upon us upon our families our leaders our neighbors and all those who are struggling with sickness financial need unemployment or any other challenge we sincerely ask you to bestow compassion and mercy into our hearts minds actions policies and thoughts. Oh, compassionate God, we ask you to make us among those who show gratitude to you for your compassion by being compassionate towards others. Please make us among those

who understand that the best leaders are the ones who are the most compassionate servants of their communities. We ask you, oh, merciful God, to bless our mayor, our city council members, our city staff and all healthcare professionals and their respective families as they serve the need and ensure the well-being of the residents of our city. We ask you to guide them to serve our city with mercy and to advance justice, equality, liberty and dignity for all people. We ask you to inspire them to lead and strive for America's founding ideals.

for an America that embraces and cherishes its diverse people. Oh God, we ask you to unite and bless our city, our country, and all of humanity. I mean, amen. Thank you.

Thank you.

Let me go ahead and move along to the next portion of the meeting, which are our ceremonial presentations. And I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa to recognize our Director of Planning, Ben Tai, and Alvaro Nunez on a Code Enforcement Appreciation Week recognition. Thank you, Mayor.

This one here, Madam Clerk?

David Penaloza

We need to move it closer? Yes.

David Penaloza

Perfect. Thank you. Gentlemen, hello. Let me...

Right.

David Penaloza

Okay. So, for anyone who isn't familiar with these two gentlemen, this is Min Tai, our Executive director of planning and building who also and and our um assistant director of executive planning and building alvaro nunez uh who also is is the the code enforcement manager um so it's a code enforcement officer appreciation week i know uh people like tim rush are very appreciative these two gentlemen right here so um we want to acknowledge them for all their hard work that they do in this city, a lot, a lot of work that they do do in our city, regards when

David Penaloza

it comes to code enforcement. So, court enforcement officers provide for the safety, health and welfare of citizens and communities throughout the state of California. Code enforcement is able to keep our communities safe through the enforcement of laws and ordinances dealing with various issues of building, zoning, housing, animal control, environmental, health and life safety. The job of a code enforcement officer is challenging and demanding and often they do not receive recognition for the roles they play within the community, improving the quality of life for

David Penaloza

both residents and businesses. Code enforcement officers were dedicated, highly qualified, and highly trained professionals who share the goals of preventing neighborhood deterioration, enhancing communities, ensuring safety, and preserving property values. As of today this year, the Code Enforcement Division have inspected over 16,723 violations and closed 15,593 violations in the city with a total improvement valuation of $1.8 million to our community.

David Penaloza

Today, the city of Santa Ana recognizes and honors the code enforcement officers that serve our community and acknowledge the role in leading the way to improve the quality of life within our community. And I want to point out that even I, as a council member here in the city, about a year, two years ago, came home, a little violation notice on my front door. I'm like, what the heck is this? You know, the city of Santa Ana violation, and it was at my numbers on my house for the address. Were the same color as a house, so you can't really see them from the street.

David Penaloza

I didn't know that was a thing, but that's just the type of work they do. You know, I was like, come on, really? So but we got that address. I painted them black now, so now they stand out. But you know, it's just one of the many things that they that the code enforcement office does. Also last year during the pandemic, it's not just about going out and finding people and and citing them for whatever reason, but they were out there boots on the ground, knocking on our doors and offering services to people. Everything from I mean testing,

David Penaloza

COVID testing, rental assistance, information, what else I mean?

David Penaloza

Yeah, so getting everything out there, all the, you know, it was the code enforcement team that was out there knocking on these doors, providing services of numerous kinds to our community. And, you know, and they loved it. It was a whole different side that they got to do in interacting with our community during COVID to offer services. So thankful for all of the work that you guys do. If one of you wanna say a few words, please step forward. Here's the proclamation.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, and thank you, Mayor and City Council Member. It is with great honor that I receive this on behalf of our Code Enforcement Division. The women and men that works in our Code Enforcement Division are extremely hardworking, very diligent, I have said this before, and not only to Elvro about Elvro, but also the entire division is that code enforcement does everything and anything that the city needs to help address from healthcare issues during COVID to addressing

vacant properties, historical properties and various property maintenance. They are the Swiss Army knife of City Hall. So on behalf of our men and women in the code enforcement division i'm honored to accept this thank you all right all right

David Penaloza

i thought it was the number one guy here so i mean any dilapidated commercial area that you guys see out there in our city there are dozens of them so the work never ends you know uh call it in phone it in email it we'll make sure that alvaro takes care of it yeah all righty thank you Thank you guys.

And Alvaro is also smart because he's the first to the boss to go ahead and make the comments. There we go, good stuff.

Congratulations. Let me go ahead and turn the floor over to Council Member Adnandez, who's going to be making a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples Day to Nellie Legaspi. Nellie Mia Turtle Heart Legaspi. So go ahead, Council Member.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Hello that's better. Well, thank you everyone for for standing up here today and for making time to come here and celebrate this historic proclamation. Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated on the second Monday, October 11th this year, to honor the cultures and the histories of Native American people. The city of Santa Ana recognizes that Indigenous people of the lands that would later become known as Americas have occupied these lands since immemorial. Several Native American tribes dwelled in this area.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

We are standing on Native American land right now, including the Tongva, Juaneno, Luiseno, before the Spanish colonization began in the late 1700s. These two major groups of American Indians in Orange County were thought to originate from the Xochitl.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

The city recognizes the values, the many contributions made to our community through Indigenous peoples' knowledge, through their labor, through their spirituality, through their technology, through their science, through their philosophy, through their arts, and their deep cultural contribution that substantially changed the character of Santa Ana. accepting indigenous peoples day proclamation is Nelly Maya Turtle Heart Legaspe Nelly is in

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Oglala Lakota Church Chiricahua Apache and she is also the mother of four a grandmother of eight she represents Ward five the district we sit in as our personnel commissioner the director of the American Indian Movement of Orange County. She's a survivor of domestic violence and a champion for advocating and raising awareness and education on intimate partner violence. We'd like to thank Nally today and her family for joining us today as we honor and celebrate the thriving cultures and the

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

positive values of Indigenous people of our region. In Santa Ana we will always celebrate Indigenous this people's day congratulations

won't be left to the city council members and to jonathan where'd you go ryan hernandez who i have actually adopted as my nephew First off, behind me you see a representation of the different tribes that live in Southern California, besides the Tongva, the Waneno, the Ahasemen, the Luis Anjos. Some names were given to them by the missionaries that came in and enslaved, raped, and killed a lot of our people, our ancestors. That is the reality, that is the truth of the land that we all stand on.

Each and every person behind me is a member of my family, whether it be through my belly button or by tribal affiliation. As the American Indian Movement Director of Orange County, it falls on me to make sure. And when I say me, I don't really mean me because there are many people, ancestors that have come before myself that were here. But it comes upon us to make sure that First Peoples, First Nations, Native American, Indigenous peoples' rights are protected, and that we are acknowledged for being the keepers of the land and those first here.

It is sad, unfortunately, that one of our young brothers is not able to be with us tonight. Unfortunately, a week ago tonight, a relative was taken, Brandon Lopez, but his dad stands here with us. Uncle Tony. Thank you. We remember those who go before us. We remember those who will come after us. Because without our history, we don't know who we are, where we came from. We are not a melting pot. We are not a blended people or a simulated. We all

retain our traditions, our cultures, our religious, we didn't even use the term religious, spiritual practices, our medicine ways. Our ways are important to us. Indigenous Peoples Day is for all First Nations people, whether they call themselves by their tribal names or by Mexican Americans of Mexican and native descent, indigenous. They are Apaches or Yaquis. They come from so many tribes that I would be here all night stating them.

So when you see someone that looks like me or someone that looks like those behind me, remember this is their land that we all are on. You cannot be illegal on stolen land.

My purpose as a personnel commissioner is to make sure things are always done fairly, objectively, with integrity. And anyone who really knows me in this community knows that that's how I walk. I pledge no allegiance to anything other than my ancestors and my descendants. And I have to give thanks to the Tongva elders, their leaders, the Hashiman leaders, and their elected tribal council members that could not be here tonight. There are sovereign nations here in Orange County. So again, thank you to Jonathan and to the city council, all of you, and my representative of my ward three, Jessica Lopez.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it all. And I hope to see you all next Sunday, rather this Sunday, at the first Indigenous Peoples Day picnic at the park right here on Ross and 4th Street, which is going to be the beginning of a great relationship. Mopila Tosca.

Thank you.

. . . . . . .

Thank you.

Thank you Councilmember and thank you Nellie to the entire family and everybody who is

here welcome to the people's house this is your house let me go ahead and now turn the turn the floor over to Councilmember Lopez who's going to be presenting a certificate of recognition to the blinking owl distillery. So council member Lopez.

Welcome. So I really wanna give everybody a little bit of background

Thai Viet Phan

about the blakey now because i yeah we have the bottle um the diets here

Jessie Lopez

because i think it's important um so the blakey now is the very first craft distillery in orange county they are one of the first distilleries in the state of california to hold the type 74 for craft distillery license, allowing us to operate our very tasty room and sell bottles. They decided to make booze the long way from grain rather than pre-made spirit. They mill it, smash it, mash it, ferment it, distill it, and in the case of whiskey, barrel age it. All of the grain they source is certified organic and from California farms.

Jessie Lopez

The ingredients are beautiful. I've been there. Truly, it's delicious. And most most certified organic grains, fruits and botanicals, but they also purchase items from great local folks who are using sustainable farming practices, such as the oranges from the Heritage Museum of Orange County, which is here in the city of Santa Ana. Brian and Robin, Christine Christensen, longtime Sonano resident, had heard stories of the mid-century blinking owl bar on the corner of Birch and Third Streets, known for an iconic owl sign that would blink.

Jessie Lopez

Inspired by the craft cocktail movement and the farm to table movement and the current thriving craft distilleries, the husband and wife team saw an opportunity to bring a local distillery to the city paying homage to the history of Santa Ana and Ryan is their leader head distiller and joined the blinking owl team in 2014 and was and is an integral part of the startup process and after years of perfecting his home beer brewing Ryan began his distilling career at Journeyman Distillery in Michigan.

Jessie Lopez

And Ryan is passionate about making quality spirits thoughtfully from soil to the glass. And I had the pleasure of meeting Ryan and Dylan, who is not here, during their Distilled California event at the Bowers Museum. And that's how I learned about the history of Blinky Now in our city. And you may also know the Blinky Now because of their generous efforts during the beginning of COVID last year when they decided to really provide PPE for healthcare professionals in different organizations in our city, but really throughout the county and state. And so on behalf of War III Families,

Jessie Lopez

thank you for all that you do and all the contributions to the city of Santa Ana. Thank you. If you'd like to provide any support.

I'll just say thank you to the city for being so supportive. We really appreciate the continued support from city council members to city staff, to the police department. And all the support of the community means the world to us. We have residents come in from all over the city that express great gratitude and love the venue we've created. So thank you, everybody, citywide. And thank you for supporting us with your hand sanitizer. It helped us and allowed us to help many, many people.

Thank you to the mayor and thank you to the council members and Councilmember Lopez. Really appreciate the honor. We were just really proud to be able to serve the community with the hand sanitizer work that we did and also proud to be Orange County's first craft distillery and not the last for sure.

And we have great city water here.

Yeah.

So I thought you were going to remind everybody not to drink the hand sanitizer, even though looks good right use it for external purposes only um thank you councilmember lopez and thank you to the blinking owl let me go ahead and now turn it over to councilmember mendoza who's going to make a presentation

And just to let the public know when the clock strikes at seven or as close to it as possible, we're going to have to go directly to a public hearing item that's already been pre-scheduled for 7pm and that is our redistricting public hearing and we'll go ahead and maybe interrupt if we have to either that or council member if you want to make this as brief as you possibly can.

May I have the people who are receiving the award from Office Depot please come up.

As they come up I will begin to tell you a little bit about them and all of you are familiar with Office Depot. We've all been there rushing to get the last minute supplies for our kids or something for ourselves. So we're very proud today to present this award. And who will hold it?

Come on over here.

Don't be shy. We're not shy when we buy your supplies. We're just going quick.

Office Depot. And here with us today is Charlotte Blanche, who is the Senior Key Accountant Manager. Stephen Blythe, the Senior Vice President of Sales. and Sharon Sowers, who is Vice President of the Business Solution Division. Office Depot has partnered with Santa Ana Unified School District for 37 years, and they've done this to create and maintain healthy and engaging learning environments to advance the well-being of students, educators, and communities.

Launching in 2018, Start Proud is their signature philanthropic back-to-school initiative for empowering education and is designed to foster brighter beginnings for schools and low-income communities nationwide to give students, parents, and teachers the supplies they need to start the year with confident, prepared and proud. Start Proud 2021 operates in 15 key markets, partnering with 18 school districts and respective Title I elementary school within each district.

To date, over 18,000 backpacks full of school supplies and a $20 gift card, Each backpack retailing for $120 each, equaling over a significant $2.16 million value nationwide. Additionally, 18 all-star teachers were selected to receive nearly $2,000 worth of critical classroom essentials.

In-store donation drives took place across the country for our back to school campaign during the third quarter, which resulted in a total of $1,792,970,000. Let me say that again.

1,792,970. That is significant. Going to school in the greatest need. In 2021, Santa Ana Unified School District received 875 backpacks filled with premium school supplies that included the $20 gift cards, totaling $105,000. One all-star teacher from Carver Elementary Elementary School received $2,000 worth of classroom supplies. Carver Elementary will receive an

additional $30,417 for Principal Jimmy Brule to support his teachers. We would like to thank Office Depot and its StartProud program for providing critical support to Santa Ana students, education and community as a whole. And as a personal note, as a teacher, I know how valuable our supplies are. It is critical that our students have the proper resources and supplies in order to do their assignments properly. So without Home Depot, I'm sorry, well Home Depot too,

we also need them for repairs around the house to shelter our students. but without Office Depot and their generosity, our students would not have the proper resources to have the success that they that they do today. So please give a big hand of appreciation to Office Depot.

Well, quick, because we've probably got 10 seconds, but we just want to say thank you. we cherish our relationship with Santa Ana Unified, and more importantly, we cherish the opportunity to help the future. So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you to everybody at Office Depot. Thank you for that abbreviated presentation. Thank you for your understanding. Let me go ahead and interrupt the meeting to. take a matter out of order and this is item number 24.

So item number 24 is a public hearing on the redistricting matter. So let me go ahead and make just a quick comment before hearing the public hearing on item number 24, Madam Clerk, are you gonna provide any instructions to the public for anybody who'd like to make a comment on this public hearing item only?

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

And maybe even before then, look, it looks like we only have one public comment on this. I was gonna go ahead and request from the city council that we have about over 160 people that are gonna be addressing us tonight, about 114 people in person and approximately 60 online. So waiting to speak. so this presentation my understanding madam clerk is about 45 minutes so um i would maybe request that the council uh open the public hearing and adjourn it to next uh meeting on october 19th at a

that is a date certain with a specific time certain as well and maybe we do that instead of 7 p.m maybe 8 p.m to give us time to get through the bulk of public comments and then we have this public hearing then. So that would be something for the council to consider. But let me go ahead and at least open the public hearing because if we do continue it, it has to be adjourned to a date and time specific if that's the will of the council.

Phil Bacerra

Mayor, if I may ask real quick, Daisy, if we were to do what the mayor's asking us, does that jeopardize anything in regards to the timelines that you've set out? Because I know we adopted a resolution with certain benchmarks, if you will, that are in place so will us adjourning this item to a date certain in the future impact that timeline

no it will not okay great so let me go ahead and at least just go through the um the uh opening of the hearing this is the first public hearing regarding the redistricting board boundaries madam clerk we know we have the consultant available let me go ahead and just open up the public hearing for the record and I'll entertain a motion by a member of the council to put this matter over to the October 19th meeting at 8 p.m because it not only is a date certain but it has to be time certain as well and by 8 p.m at the following meeting we'll have the full

presentation by the consultant who's going to be walking us through this and we will interrupt the the meeting at that time at any point that we are either in public comments or in the business calendar or consent calendar.

And Mayor, I'm sorry, what date did you say?

The next meeting, which is October 19th.

But that is also a public hearing for this item at 7 p.m.

Can we adjourn this public hearing to 8 p.m. instead of seven, because it seems like at seven, we're still right in the middle of the bulk of our public comments and 8 p.m. might be a little easier for us to have gotten through most of our public comments by that

Sonia R. Carvalho

time does that work um madam city attorney i'm going to defer to the city clerk it's her public

hearing oh so the 8 p.m you want to have it at 7 is that what you're saying well we already have

established our public hearings and the second public hearing is going to be at october 19 at 7 p.m so we keep it consistent you want to do it at seven so we should yeah we should be at 7 p.m if we're moving everything back so then it does change the timeline if we're doing it to the next regular meeting i i thought maybe we were going to council would consider maybe adjourning this to a special meeting to another meeting date prior to the 19th so i'm open to

that as well if the council wants to take out its calendar right now to go ahead and do a special meeting in advance of the October 19th meeting but that's uh that's something that I'm open to

Jessie Lopez

if the council is ready to to do that. Casey, City Clerk, could we push this one to the next council session and then figure out the one that's scheduled for the next one um via email between the council members to see when we can push that one?

adjourn the next one yeah yes yes and then I'll have to bring back the resolution of intent to make sure that it's being published that way because I do want to make sure that the public's aware of the changes so yes we can we'll just have to bring back the item at a future meeting to make sure that the dates are aligned it will push back though if we do move this meeting or this public hearing to the next regularly scheduled meeting it will push it back to the next meeting which i believe will be the first meeting in january which i believe since the first meeting

in january is typically canceled due to the holiday it'll be is it january 17 just just so

Phil Bacerra

you're aware 18. so the mayor's to the mayor's request maybe we pull out our calendars and

Jessie Lopez

figure out when we can right and we don't have to wait till january we can have our own special

session that's correct yes that is correct all right so i'll go ahead and um you know either we push this to the next meeting or we push this to a special meeting that's really the question

Phil Bacerra

that's correct yes i'll suggest um monday october 18th to get the ball rolling

Phil Bacerra

at what time uh 7 p.m we're going to stay consistent mr mayor this would be a single

item agenda that's correct it would be a single item agenda right now just for this public hearing thank you for the clarification is that does that work for noticing purposes uh madam clerk um yes

i as long as we as long as you announce it yes exactly today then it's going to you're adjourning it to a dirt date certain and time certain and sophia i wanted to make sure that that you are available or someone from redistricting partners for Monday, the 18th at 7pm.

Yes, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Okay, yes, we will make ourselves available for whatever date you choose. And just as a kind of a reminder to the Council and the public that under the Fair Maps Act, you need to have at least four public hearings. And because the last meeting and at this meeting we won't be talking about the redistricting items so currently you're at zero public hearings. And another reminder your deadline is not December 15, like other cities, it is late April so you do have a larger window of time to have your hearings and and give it the time that it needs so just want to put those two comments out there.

Yeah, and that's what I wanted to remind the council is that we have till mid April to do this so I don't know if there's the urgency to get it done before the end of the year we can go into January and still have three months to finalize this process.

Thai Viet Phan

Mayor this is Ty.

Yes, go ahead Council member.

Thai Viet Phan

I cannot do Monday the 18th. I do have a work commitment that night. I think we should just update the noticing since we are moving this to the, I would like to move this to the Tuesday and update the noticing for the rest of the schedule. I think that would just make it cleaner and that way, you know, we know exactly what to look forward to because having two meetings back to back, I'm not sure how much input we can get. and how much of a difference of input we can get between those two days.

I tend to agree, council members, so I'll interpret that as a motion substitute.

Thai Viet Phan

Yes, I'll move to adjourn this public hearing to the next council meeting, which is October 19 at 7pm and direct the city clerk to update the timeline for the rest of the public. I will second that.

And did I hear 7pm not 8pm is that correct?

Phil Bacerra

And just for clarification that means you'll also bring back the updated resolution on the 19th. That's correct. Okay, thank you.

Alright, so we have a motion by Councilmember Fan, actually a substitute motion by Councilmember Fan, and a second I believe by Councilmember Lopez.

Any other questions or comments?

David Penaloza

I just wanted to say that I don't care when we have it just I'll make myself available.

Thank you for that. All right I think there's no other questions or comments. So we the motion is to adjourn to October 19th at 7 pm.

We will keep this public hearing open just to make sure that we are consistent and in noticing and requirements. So Madam Clerk, if you'll please call roll, or do you want us to use a device?

Yes, if council members can please cast your votes.

Council member Hernandez, if you...

Okay, motion passes with 6-1, and we're council member Becerra Lopez Mendoza-Fan, Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa, Mayor Sarmiento voting yes, and council member Hernandez is absent.

Great, thank you. Thank you for that. We'll go ahead and revisit that item at the next meeting. Let me go ahead and thank you to the consultant for their flexibility on this matter as well. So let me move along to staff presentations, and that is the update on COVID-19, and I'll turn it over to the city manager.

Okay, we do have a very brief presentation, but i'll go ahead and begin while Daniel is loading that. So good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council tonight's brief COVID-19 update includes information about new COVID-19 vaccination mandates for students and a proposed vaccine requirement by OSHA for employers with 100 or more and i'll also update you on my operational directive to mandate it for our employees. So this past Friday, Governor Newsom announced plans to require student vaccinations, adding the COVID-19 vaccine to a list of vaccinations that are already required for school.

This means that students will be required to be vaccinated for in-person learning starting the term following the FDA full approval of the vaccine for their grade span. The California Department of Public Health will be adding the COVID-19 vaccine to other existing vaccinations required for the in-person attendance specifically this will be accomplished through promulgation of regulations as permitted in current law the mandate will be a condition of in-person attendance for all students of any private or public elementary or secondary school the vaccine requirements will be phased in by grade span students will be required to be

vaccinated for in-person learning starting the term following the fda full approval for their grade spans grade seven through 12 first followed by K through six based on current projections for full approval for ages 12 and older it is anticipated that these requirements would apply to grades seven through 12 beginning on July 1st 2022 of note the current verify or test requirements for staff will be converted to a vaccine mandate no later than when the first phase of the student requirement becomes effective the state will initiate a formal rulemaking process

which includes public comment and the regulations will address many details of the requirements including the scope of exemptions and questions about these planned vaccine mandates should be directed to the California Department of Public Health. Last month the federal government announced that Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA is working on a rule that would do an emergency temporary standard that would mandate employers with 100 or more employees to make the requirement that their employees get vaccinated or submit to regular COVID-19 testing. OSHA's

announcement currently specifies that this rule will apply to private sector employers. However, OSHA has not released their emergency temporary standard or written policy on this matter, and therefore we will need to evaluate if the rule, when it is released, if it's going to apply to public sector employees most of the individuals in this area right now do believe they would extend it to public sector employees like santa anna but as mentioned before at a council meeting i did make an operational decision to make a mandate to move forward with all of our employees

with that we have notified the different bargaining groups and today there was a first kickoff held by our hr director with each one of the bargaining groups where they are we are working collaboratively on addressing any of the impacts of this decision. And one of the first steps that we are in agreement with the unions on doing is doing a thorough survey so that we will be able to determine exactly what percentage of our employees have already been vaccinated. This certainly will help us in implementing those procedures in the near future. And I will

definitely keep you updated on our progress. Finally, booster shots. You've probably heard lot about the booster vaccines in the media the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for booster doses for the most vulnerable individuals this includes individuals that are 65 and older long-term care residents and people age 50 to 64 with underlying medical condition conditions the vaccine eligibility will expand to other groups once those individuals have had the opportunity to receive their booster vaccine and where to get your booster vaccine if you meet the

requirements to having that they're available through all health care providers clinics and neighborhood pharmacies eligible residents can contact their health care provider or simply visit myturn.ca.gov to make their appointments and that concludes tonight's presentation on covet and certainly be happy to answer any questions you may have thank you for that presentation

madam city manager any questions or comments for the city manager on this item mayor pro tem

David Penaloza

No questions, Mayor, but just wanted to give a bit of information. Maybe at the next COVID update, Madam City Manager, you could add the website where residents could get the digital vaccine record. a lot of people still don't know about it it's myvaccinerecord.cdph.com or gov if you could verify that but um it's basically getting your your physical card and getting a digital record of it so you could have on your phone which is convenient so maybe if you could include that next time that'd be awesome certainly sir thank you great thank you for that uh council member lopez

Jessie Lopez

Do we have an ongoing list online or anywhere else that people can access of where to get vaccinated? We just saw the equity map and we saw that I don't think we're at. We do have

information on where to contact but we could add to it to make it more robust to specific locations.

That'd be great. Thank you. Okay. Great. Seeing no other comments. Just one last thing Madam City Manager, I know that in your conversations with the bargaining units during the meet and confer process, we are making clear that in the event that there is some religious verifiable religious reason or underlying medical condition that will prevent somebody from receiving the vaccination, there will be alternative options made available like showing a negative COVID test. So there is some option for those employees.

Absolutely there will be built-in exemptions and we're really looking forward to OSHA's rule when it comes out because we would certainly look to it for guidance on the best way to

handle those required exemptions. Great thank you for that so let me move along to the next item which is to ask the city attorney if there's anything to report at a closed session. Mayor

Sonia R. Carvalho

council members and members of the public we did have two closed session or three closed session of this evening but we do not have any reportable action great thank you uh madam city attorney

let me go ahead and move uh along to the next matter so i'm going to take something out of order normally what we do is we have our uh council member comments at the uh at the very tail end of the meeting but um you know uh a week ago tonight there was a tragic incident that occurred here in the city we had an officer involved shooting where one of our residents lost his life and that was you know a very tragic tragic moment there was a shooting that occurred

that was initiated by the Anaheim police department within the city boundary so I've We have advanced other items in the past before that are of significant interest to the public. This one is even more personal because it is it was a relative of one of our one of our colleagues here Council Member Hernandez. So as chair, I want to advance the council member comments now and at the request of council member Hernandez as a point of personal privilege for him to address the public on this matter.

Now I'm gonna go ahead and move the council member comments to this moment at the meeting. I'll invite any other council members who would like to speak early and now, and those who don't can go ahead and speak at the tail end of the meeting. But let me go ahead and start with council member Hernandez and mayor pro tem.

I just had a quick question, Mr. Mayor.

David Penaloza

Because we do have a youth commissioner waiting to get appointed. and i don't know how long this discussion will be so can can we move up item number 10 from the consent calendar since it'll take less than five minutes i think that makes sense do you mind

council member hernandez for us to go ahead and swear in our new youth commissioner we care about children in this city there we go all right so let me go ahead and advance item number 10 i believe

David Penaloza

right yeah um and i guess i'll just make the motion uh to well pull number item 10 from the consent calendar and make the motion to approve or to appoint Kimberly Cabrera to the youth commission for a partial term expiring in December of 2022.

And I'll second that. So we have a motion and a second, seeing no comments or questions on that. Madam Clerk, if you'll please call roll on that. I believe she's here too, to get sworn in.

Yes, she is. And if I could ask the council members to cast your vote, please.

Council member Mendoza, if you could please cast your vote.

Thank you. Motion carries seven zero with council members, Becerra Hernandez, Lopez Mendoza, and Mayor Potempeñalosa and Mayor Sarmiento voting yes. Thank you.

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will

bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States

and the Constitution of the State of California

and the Constitution of the State of California that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion that I will

well and faithfully discharge the duties

upon which I'm about to enter. Thank you.

Congratulations.

Thank you for that reminder, Mayor Pro Tem. We certainly don't want to have our new commissioners having to wait another few hours just to get sworn in so that was a good call let me go ahead and bring this back to the council as I said we're going to be advancing any any of the council members that would like to address the public at this point and I'm going to begin by calling on council member Hernandez who I know asked for a point of personal privilege to address the council on the item that on the issue that happened a week ago so council member Hernandez thank you Mr. Mayor I'm going to start by sharing

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

I'm hearing a quote.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

It's never been this isn't the quote, but it's never been so hard to be strong.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Today. The quote is from Maya Angelou.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

We may encounter defeats. But we must not be defeated.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Having been raised in this community, I understand exactly the complex challenges that our residents are facing on a daily basis.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Last year, I watched Derek Chauvin kneel on George Floyd's neck for nine plus minutes.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

as other officers stood on the sidelines and watched.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And I know in their heart of hearts, they wish they could do something.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

But would they be safe had they done something?

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And as a result, George Floyd died.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

I remember watching that and just feeling frozen and asking myself, when is it going to end? And are we next? And I decided to run for office because I didn't see a voice of reason. I didn't see a champion for justice and dignity and hope. And to be an advocate for justice is not to be anti-anything.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And so I decided to run for office. And ironically, my opponent was a sheriff.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

There is no, when I have council meetings, I don't have anybody call me before a meeting and tell me how to vote. What you see in how I govern is the voice of people. People who have been oppressed, marginalized, disenfranchised, and kept out of these conversations. So if my voice makes you uncomfortable today, expect more of us up here.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

and as i ran for office a lot of people counted me out a lot of people attacked me and i hope people understand just how important our voices are now more than ever i told my community the only way cops are going to stop killing us and there's amazing officers that we have in san anna pd compassionate good-hearted officers that truly do care about our community i mean what are the chances we have a chief of police that grew up in this community you don't

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

see that very often there are good officers out here but unfortunately many of them are seeing I'm singular in this broken system.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And when I ran for office and I was elected, I knew that on my worst day, I needed to be a champion for causes that made people uncomfortable.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Because I grew up on a side of town where there are no support groups for what I'm going through today. I grew up on a side of town where my cousin's kids had to go to school the next day. His sister had to go to work.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

So when you see young men and women fall through the cracks in our community, stop asking yourself why.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Stop asking yourself why is there so much gang violence in this community when we're building a streetcar but we're not building more libraries, parks and recreational centers.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

what's shocking and appalling about the people that are clapping is the people that aren't clapping because they look the same

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

last week

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

as a professional i work for a county program as as a mental health professional i work with children ages 5 to 18. I was dealing with a de-escalation of a child that struggled with mental health conditions since he was a baby. And I effectively de-escalated the situation at around 530, maybe 545. And I needed to decompress. So I went to the gym. And on my way to the gym, I saw Santa PD do a very good job of containing a situation that I had no idea was going to be so

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

close to me. And I drove past it. And I said, this looks contained. And I went to the gym. And as I was in the gym, I got a call from my mother saying the person that is in that vehicle is your cousin brandon and anaheim pd is on site and i immediately left

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

not only

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

did i leave because this was my loved one but because i know my cousin's trauma forward and back we grew up in the same community he's my blood i grew up playing on a carpet with him playing with tech decks as we went through a CD album with all of our favorite CDs. Sometimes we'd go to my grandmother's bathroom and steal his sister's CDs from under their restroom cabinet.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

TLC is a good group, I must say.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

But what I was alarmed by as a mental health professional is that I know that people with untreated mental illnesses are 16 times more likely to be killed by police during a police encounter than other civilians when they're approached or stopped by law enforcement. According to a new study released by the Treatment Advocacy Center, numbering fewer than 1 in 50 U.S. adults, individuals with untreated severe mental illnesses are involved in at least 1 in 4 and as many as half of all fatal police shootings.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

We live in a country that is dismantled mental health treatment mental health systems. These such tragedies. Underscore the need to get police and prosecutors out of the business of responding to mental health and public health.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

not only is the data reflective that if you are having a mental health crisis it may very well equal death in the hands of the police i've experienced this firsthand i don't want to be in this position today I have seen some of the most disgusting comments I've ever seen in my life. I have received death threats. I have seen people tarnish my name, my cousin's name, as if I want to be in this position today.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

When I arrived on the scene, and this is all public record, these police cameras, legislation was passed. And I can assure you there are people that are going to obtain these body cams. And when I arrived to the scene, I saw my neighbors on Bristol and Santa Ana Boulevard by the Clinica.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And I told law enforcement, SAPD, there was three officers, two female officers, one male officer. And it appears he may have recognized me. And I said, I have some intel that can change the course of this investigation. I said, that is my cousin. He's having a mental health crisis. And I'm a mental health professional. And I'm also the elected that represents this district. And as she had her hand on her gun, her immediate response was, you're no more special than anyone else here.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And I said, why are you so aggressive and why is your hand on your gun? I'm trying to make sure that we do our job right in Santa Ana. I'm trying to make sure you don't kill somebody.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

and if there isn't any more evidence indicative of the danger that we are in in the hands of police when it comes to mental health her response was people kill people every day

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

and i said but you'll get away with it

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

i was there two hours before he was shot killed by anaheim pd

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

and as i told her that her response was if you're so concerned about keeping people safe how about you tell your neighbors to go inside so they don't get traumatized the issue is here is i'm sure she's a good person she just masterfully understands the system that she works for she understands how it's designed and i'm sure she wanted to see him get saved as well but she understood there's nothing we can do.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

That's what that response meant. People like myself that have been on the other side of these issues, we've been studying these departments from the inside. We have experienced the hyper-policing in our communities. The fact that my voice makes so many people here uncomfortable is alarming because your loved ones are one bullet away from being a hashtag.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

The irony that last year I marched for George Floyd. This is our March today. It's at the dais.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And it's only going to grow.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

So I wanted to take this opportunity to tell my neighbors, we're in danger. There's a narrative that, oh, my cousin's name is in the media because I'm an elected. You got it wrong. The reason why my name is being brought up is because it does not matter if you're an elected. It doesn't matter if your father's watching you get slaughtered by a police department. They'll shove him in the back of a cop car and they'll say shut up essay. You're not his dad. How do I know you're his dad? And when they do find out you're his dad, the first question is, does he have a gun?

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

If you don't stop making noise in this car, I'm going to roll up your windows.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

the worst part was the sounds of him getting executed we were there for hours already and you know what Santa Ana did a good job de-escalating and I was actually very proud

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

but Anaheim came in like the big dog

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

predominantly Anglo-American officers came into an urban community and turned it into a war zone

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

and dapped each other after and left leaving us people of color children moms sisters families to pick up the pieces we don't want to mourn his loss on a construction site on the crossroads

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

but now we're forced to build community

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

and even if my voice makes you uncomfortable you should be proud that there are voices like mine in government because history is riddled with people like me getting murdered because my voice reverberates throughout this community there's a reason why people are showing up on the streets we're not gonna tear down buildings we're not protesting We're not burning things. We just want to mourn. But unfortunately, you put us in a position where we have to organize.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

My family's here today.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

And I never would wish the trauma that they're going through on anyone. I've never been more afraid in my life around police.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

i was shaking as i walked into the chambers today

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

this issue is real everybody this isn't political this issue sees no political boundaries anymore this issue is not just something you're going to see on tv it's coming into our backyards and it's taking the people you love So film the police.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Run for office. Submit public comment cards. Fill the council chambers. We're not going to protest and go to the belly of the beast. They just killed us. But we are going to your bosses.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

In closing, in closing, I understand the very danger I'm putting myself in. I understand the danger of recall campaigns. I understand they're going to smut my name. I understand that. But I'm a something that you're not going to work outwork us in our neighborhood. If I didn't show you that once, I will show you that again.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

and you know what santa ana police department

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

i saw them do their best at one point there and i was very proud but let me tell you why we're having this issue there's two police departments in this city there's chief david Valentin who's doing a great job and you know who's on the other side.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

So if we want justice, we can't come together and fight for it today, fight each other tomorrow. If you care and you have had any experiences with trauma in this community and you went the wrong direction in life, I'm telling you, get help. If you are struggling with mental health,

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Talk to us, reach out to me. If you're from a barrio and you gang bang, stop killing each other because what we're going up against is bigger than us.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

There needs to be a better way. And I'm telling you, we need your voices now more than ever. I am in a very ugly position that I never thought I would have to to be in. And I'm doing this today so that you don't have to be here tomorrow. But my cousin Brandon's shooting won't be the last.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

So officers, please understand.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Our lives are valuable. My cousin Brandon didn't ask to be traumatized. He lived in a community where this happens on a daily basis. And if you made an oath to protect and serve, and you are not a qualified mental health professional to understand what happened in that car, then let us do our job. Then let the mental health professionals help people in need. Because a mental health crisis should not equal death.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

long live Brandon Lopez and everybody else who has been a victim to police violence that concludes my comments.

Thank you Council Member and as I said, I advanced the option of any Council Member making their public comments here at this point. Those who wish to defer and do it at the end of the meeting you're free to do so, but let me just go down the list of the Council and ask them if they'd like to address and make a public comment now or go ahead and reserve it to the tail end of the meeting, so let me start with Council Member Sarah.

Phil Bacerra

Oh wait till the end of the meeting right Council Member Lopez.

I differ.

Council Member Mendoza.

Yes, I will say a few words. Every life is valuable and it is tragic when we lose another person. My condolences to my colleague, Fernandez, and my sympathy to the family. No parent should ever have to go through this pain. I also want to commend the men and women in uniform. I was also downtown Santa Ana when the chase started. And I was very proud to see that our officers

were keenly aware of the traffic and the dangers and the risks that they were putting themselves and the public in. And they did a marvelous job. So I'm very proud of our Santa Ana Police Department.

Great thank you for those comments Councilmember Mendoza let me go down the line Councilmember Fan I defer Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa end of the meeting great thank you I'll go ahead and address the public now I have some brief brief comments to make and I just want to extend my sympathies to my colleague council member Hernandez and also to the family of Brandon Lopez so let me begin by just saying you know Brandon was not perfect as all of us aren't perfect and that doesn't mean

though that he wasn't he wasn't entitled to due process or did he abdicate his civil rights you know as with other police pursuits this one shouldn't have should have ended with an arrest should have ended with a detention, but it shouldn't have ended with a murder. He was headed home, he was blocks from his house, he was in his neighborhood, he was trying to get home to his family. This was essentially a property crime which was occurring for a vehicle theft. And let me reiterate what I think others are trying to distort this into.

this is not a statement that is meant to intend that all police officers are bad that's too simple a response for a complex question like this when we're talking about an excessive force case or a wrongful death case you know i think our officers here in santa ana try to de-escalate they try to negotiate for several hours before anaheim pd took control of the crime scene There are a lot of questions that we need to ask, and that's one of the things I wanted to raise at this moment, which was, why were there no mental health professionals called to the site?

And the irony is that council member Hernandez, who was present, was not only a relative, was not only the ward representative for that district, but he was also a mental health professional that offered his professional services to help defuse and de-escalate this incident. You know, the other question I have is, you know, why make a provocative decision to fire a flash grenade into the vehicle rather than simply wait?

Why was there a forced evacuation of the vehicle? Why was that met with lethal force? If you see some of the video footage that's circulating on social media and other media outlets, it really does appear to be a firing squad. And this is unlike other incidents that we've seen when you have somebody who's a fleeing suspect down a dark alley and where split second decisions need to be made. This incident had been going on for over four hours.

So my question to our department is one of how we treat family members who are present. This won't be the first time this incident, an incident like this comes before us when we have family members present. The family, just like other members of the public, are especially subject to trauma. and they'll require attention, but at the very least, they'll require respect and dignity. They're going through a difficult moment. They don't know how to prevent it from happening, and there is desperation in any family members right when they see their child,

a spouse, a relative, anybody that's going through a moment like that.

The other question I have is what's the policy for relinquishing control of a local crime scene. For me that's something that we need to look at. Because what happens when we relinquish control of a crime scene to another jurisdiction. Is we have another department that may come in that doesn't have the same values or principles that we have. And so that is very alarming because we go a long way, I think, in instilling different practices and policies by our officers, and it looked like they were being implemented at the time.

And to allow another agency to come in and subject our residents to their policies and their values may not be commensurate with our own. So the question I have is, you know, I'd like to make sure that the state attorney general pursuing an independent investigation, given that this was a multi-agency officer involved shooting, and I'd like our staff to pursue that.

And pursuant to recently adopted assembly bill 1506, this should be required because there was an officer involved shooting where the shooting resulted in the death of an unarmed civilian. Also, my question will be the application of Senate bill two, which was just recently signed. I believe that very same day, which will, if in fact, if there is a finding of excessive force and or misconduct, whether or not the certification will apply to those officers involved. So those are just some of the questions I have in addition to letting the public know that we

are going to be demanding a very strict timeline on the application of the law. And when it comes to video cam footage, I know that there is a 45 day window for that to be released to the public. And that's something that we are going to require.

You know, finally, the irony isn't lost on me that tonight on tonight, you know, on this evening's agenda, we have two items that address this, exactly what we're talking about. And one of them is item number 14, which is a proposed contract with a with CityNet to divert 911 calls from Santa Ana PD to a civilian team when it involves mental illness, welfare checks for people who are experiencing houselessness.

This was something that this council discussed during our budget discussions during the summer. And it's coming to us now. And unfortunately, it appears that it came too late. The other item on the agenda that we're going to be discussing is item number 22, which is the creation of the police oversight ad hoc committee. And.

And that is pursuant to the request of I think all the Council members to initiate discussions and review for a creation of a commission that addresses oversight. oversight. So I simply want to say again this is a very troubling discussion to be having because I thought that we could do preemptive work as opposed to you know work on something that now is post-incident right. So I want to thank Councilmember Hernandez's leadership. I want to extend my sympathies to him. I want to you know talk to this council to make sure that the values

and principles that we have are not relinquished to outside agencies. That to me was one of the most difficult things to see as an outside agency come in and subject one of our residents. Whether or not he or she has any criminal record, again, we don't abdicate our civil rights. We don't have to keep due process that's not the type of society we should be, and we have to change the culture of law enforcement here in our city.

And I don't want to subject our residents to cultures of law enforcement and outside cities ever again, so we do need to address that that question. Thank you for indulging us on addressing you. I'm gonna get back to the regular agenda items. I'm gonna begin with public comments.

And I should tell you, we have about 114 requests to speak. So I do wanna let you know that we also have people on the phone that are gonna be addressing us. I think they number into the 60s. So we do have a lot of people. It is gonna be a very long night. And I want to let you know that you do have three minutes to address this city council, and we will try to move this along as quickly as possible. So we're gonna have all of you try to get into a queue. And so I'll call about three people at a time. So those that are waiting to speak for us to go ahead and get those on as quickly as possible. Yes, Madam Clerk.

Mayor, I wanted to confirm that if you wanted to start

with the the elderly that are waiting online first what we do have you know I'd like to begin with Antonio Lopez and then go to those calls if that's okay so let me go ahead and just begin with our our first speaker and then we do have pursuant to pursuant to the American with Disabilities Act we have about 14 or 15 speakers that are disabled or elderly that couldn't make it in, but are requesting to be able to address us through Zoom. So let me get to this speaker, if that's okay, Madam Clerk,

and then I'll get back to you with those speakers that are waiting to be heard by phone. Antonio Lopez?

I want to give the council, I want to thank them for giving me an opportunity to speak in behalf of my son.

Right now, being next to these, and I don't wanna be rude or anything, I'm scared.

These two and the one sitting in the audience,

I've been shaking in my pants for the time I've been here.

I have to be careful that I don't move in a certain way because I'm afraid that they might shoot. Just like they did to my son on that day. They took an oath to protect and to serve. They didn't do that to my kid. They came, they shot, and they massacred him.

The oath that they took, that just went down the toilet.

And right now I can't even think. I never expected a police officer to do something that gross to another human being.

That was a death squad.

You only see that kind of stuff in the movies.

And on behalf of my son, I want him to die in vain. As far as if he had to die for a cause, I want it to be for him to help people that have mental illness. And if there can be a reform or some kind of restructure for teaching officers to be more respectful and more self-controlled, so be it.

But I just want to have justice and peace for my son.

because if there's no justice there's no peace and if there's no peace there's not going to be any justice

and i think and i think that's it i i can't say anymore because

i just want to thank you and i want to thank you for everything that you're gonna to do in the future as well as my nephew, Johnny.

He has given us a lot of support just like you have, Mayor.

And I just wanna thank him from the bottom of my heart.

And I'll let my wife speak next if she is next. Thank you, Mr. Lopez. Thank you. Thank you.

uh michelle torres

okay uh

louise louise wong

So this will be the last speaker before we go to the, before we go to the phone call.

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Mr. Mayor. Go right ahead. My apologies. I understand there was Michelle Lopez. She's not comfortable speaking too much, but I know her mom will speak, just wanted to speak on her behalf instead. johanna lopez i don't know if she's here

that mrs lopez for the record

Mayor Pro Tem Council.

At 1023 PM this evening, one week would have passed since my son Brandon Anthony Lopez's life was taken from him by the violent approach utilized on him by Anaheim PD SWAT team. Vigils have been held. Condolecences have been received by me along with all those loved ones Brandon's death has left behind. After the initial shock, our family is left with anger and grief. Can you imagine how many other families are dealing with the same emotions if they find themselves in a similar position?

Several disturbing issues come to mind.

yet our family only comes back to the same conclusions

why did santa anna police department allow anaheim pd to take take over jurisdiction

why weren't there any increased methods of de-escalation being utilized

Why weren't crisis negotiators or mental health professionals allowed to become more engaged with the situation?

And the most important of all, why aren't we promoting the availability of mental health services more frequently in a city and county level?

After so many countless and unnecessary deaths, we can expect tactical forms from law.

Enforcement agencies, these violent processes don't work. Brandon is not a martyr, yet Brandon's death will serve as the platform to ensure police reforms become a reality. Thank you for allowing me to speak on his behalf and on behalf of his loved ones.

Thank you, Mrs. Lopez. We extend our sympathies once again. Luis Manuel Huang, you're our last speaker before we go to the phone.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'm trying to collect my thoughts because so much has already been said already Jonathan brother

I'm here

I don't know why I'm here

I'm not even, I'm not from this area.

I'm here to show some love to my council member, to the Hernandez family, to the Lopez family.

I'm gonna take the opportunity to take this off.

this on that I got outside camera cushion tonight I'm here representing and speaking for Brandon Lopez because he's he can no longer speak for himself we have to do better we have We have to do better.

We can talk about policy. We can talk about a lot of stuff. Mayor, we hear you, we see you, thank you. Let's step away from this.

County jails can be institutions of learning, free education.

A lot of rent control folks right here. That's money out of families. that's money out of families and it's food we need to do better for the community we need to do more

we need to do more thank you

thank you i'm going to go ahead and turn over the meeting the clerk of the council she i believe has some residents that are on Zoom and that want to address the council and they are disabled and elderly and cannot be present at the council meeting so I'm going to go ahead and allow them to speak at this point so Madam Clerk go ahead and take those those calls. Thank you.

um i zoom id queen young if you would thank you you may proceed

can you hear me yes we can hear you you may proceed with your comment

hello queen Quay Vuong.

Honorable Mayor and committee council members, my name is Steve Vuong. I am a senior resident at Malingheim Mobile Home Park in Santa Ana.

I watched the parade this May last meeting and have the following public comments.

Can you speak up a little bit, Quivong, please?

For too long now, politics as usual has been about accepting political donations while by touring and defending that housing injustice.

Kwevong, are you done or did you get disconnected?

Too long now, politics.

We cannot hear you really clearly.

Looks like most of the State Council is gone.

But I'm going to share a statement for him because he can't say it over the phone.

This is Kui Boon. Actually, I'd rather you see his face in the mind because I will share some words later. He is a resident of Bali Hai. He's 58 years old. He's a Vietnamese refugee. And this is what he tried to say. For too long, politics as usual has been about accepting political donations, while ignoring and pretending that housing injustice and unfair business practices do not exist in Santa Ana. All the chickens have come home to roost under your watch. Rent stabilization will help the city avoid unintentional outcomes of their own making, for ignoring to address the issue sooner. What is it about two plus two?

It cannot be more than four. Do you not understand? As the situation is allowed to worsen while we wait for the impact studies, there comes a point of no return and hell to pay for those left holding the bag. Just do it. Do it now. There is no more time to waste. The voting electorate of the city of Santa Ana are no longer being apathetic or being kept unaware. These voters care deeply about the way they live, but the city they live in and grow up and its aspirations for a vibrant and prosperous future by caring for its own people first and prioritizing profitability last the entire city council voting record is now under scrutiny

we all have our eyes on you in order to keep you honest serious and true to your campaign promises to protect and serve the community of santa anna and not those outside interests who do not have skin in the game to save the city when these outside investors offer you thousand dollar bribes here and there in the form of political donations in order for you to allow them to justify housing gouging activities to overwhelm and undermine local resident families who are suffering renters when you accept these donations and hide behind excuses and processes in order to

delay procrastinate defeat and ignore the most vulnerable members of your own community you are effectively betraying santa anna and doing the city a disservice as an elected official It's really unfortunate some of the city council members who voted no last time aren't here to listen to see the faces of the people they didn't hear last time. These were the Vietnamese residents who were interrupted midway. They didn't have proper translation and I'm glad one is returning now. So to continue with Mr. Quee, your vote today will illustrate your commitment and determination

to do the right thing, the right way for all the reasons to uplift humanity, decency, and caring citizenship instead of tearing down fragile safety nets through irresponsible actions that are guaranteed to produce outcomes everyone in the city is trying to avoid poverty misery bankruptcy induced illnesses and involuntary homelessness so please cast your vote wisely or the city environmental impact study you will have left to evaluate is how you will be voted out of office and shamed for choosing to serve the financial interests of a few wealthy and greedy

outsiders and their lobbying arms at the expense of so many local residents who put you in office in the first place as an urgent emergency rescue measure i strongly encourage every member of the city council to vote yes on rent stabilization say no to any preventable housing gouging and leave the irrelevant argument on both sides of the rent control excuse to die natural death yours truly quay vun resident of valley high senior mobile home park santa anna thank you

Thank you. Zoom ID Indigo, if you would please select the microphone icon. Oh, my apologies.

Indigo, can you please reduce the volume on where you're listening to the

meeting thank you proceed with your comment

Hello everyone, my name is Hồ Kim Lan, I'm 83. I live here for 9 years. I only have a lot of money for this study. I only have a lot of money for this study. I only have a lot of money for this study. I am very hard to ask my child to help you with more money. I am asking my staff to help you with more money for this study.

I have lived in Bali for a few years. I thank you very much.

here for nine years i only received one hundred nine hundred and thirty dollars in social security each month for the monthly land lease payments are one thousand one hundred and five dollars it's very difficult i have to beg my children and grandchildren to help support me by sending me money to pay rent i'd like to ask the mayor and his three-plus members to help by capping the annual grant increases for less than three percent so that i can live keep living and valley five for a few more years thank you very much

Hello everyone, my name is Trị Lê, 83 and Lan Hoàng, 81, 21 tuổi cứ ngủ tại số 17 movie home 3D2 thời gian 9 năm qua chúng tôi sống với tiền SSA cố định 1.600 đồng mà chi phí tổng cộng trên 1.300 đồng do đó đời sống chúng tôi vô cùng khó khăn trước Here, the land tax increases in every year only 15.

But in the past two years, the land has a reason to compare with the trade market like Bosa and Westminster, so it increases in total 3 times up to 140. And it will continue to increase. Still, Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim

Kim

Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim Kim

First, through the U.S. program, the money to rent and land. Second, don't let us become a house. Third, we have the right value of the human rights in the United States. Thank you very much.

Now for the translation portion. Well, our names are Juy Leng, 83 years old, and Lanpong, 81 years old. We currently live at number 17, mobile home, Valley High. We have lived there for the past 10 years. We live on a monthly fixed income from SSI and SSA, a combined total of $1,600. dollars our cost of living presently tells more than thirteen five hundred dollars therefore

our life is extremely different previously the land rents increased by only fifteen dollars per year for the past 20 years but in the past four years our property managers at joh have used the excuse to compare rent for senior parks like valley high with family parks in commercial areas such as bolsa and westminster to increase our space rental to over 140 a month and it will continue to increase according to their plan to eventually convert our senior part to a family part for more revenue is this legal and possible

the mobile phone valley client used to be very desolate and unsafe the first landowner The government had a philanthropic policy to help the elderly and the poor live. Now the land has passed away, transferred to the merchants, and so they exploit us. So we asked the Santa Ana City Council to help us buy. One, please implement the rent stabilization ordinance in order to keep the rent increases in senior mobile home parks like Valley High within reasonable limits. 2. Not allowing us to eventually become bankrupt and homeless.

3. Please protect our human right to live with dignity and peace of mind, with affordable housing and sensible community values, respect, caring, and decency among human beings that every citizen of the United States and every local resident for San Diego deserve.

Dear Mayor, Mr. Midanto and City Council members, my name is Dow Tran. I am 71 years old. I live in senior Bali High Mobile Home with my husband, Tukmai. He is 74 years old. My husband and I came to Bali High over 14 years ago because we wanted to enjoy our retirement in peace and quiet. For many years, we loved living here. But since J and H came in 2016, living in Bali High has become awful.

chain-ex care raised our rent by high rates that we cannot afford. The rent of people in Bali Hai has increased from 7% to 30%. The families at Bali Hai Moving Home need your help. Without your support for rent control, many of us will not be able to keep living in Bali Hai. as you know many of us are immigrants and refugees we are low income we have been in america for many

decades working hard and raising our family for many of us bali high is where we finally get to enjoy our retirement in peace with our rent control measures that guarantee our rent will be raised 3% maximum per year. Many of us will have to leave the neighborhood. Many of us will have trouble paying our bills. Many of us will become homeless. Please do not take our home from us. Please make sure that you support the rent control measures so that we can continue to live in this. From the bottom of our hearts,

we thank you in advance for your support. thank you for listening my name is my i'm 74 years old dear city council representatives representatives of Santa Ana. I am writing for formally requesting your help in dealing with a mobile home rent issue that has sharply arisen with me and others in my neighbors.

In the first nine years living in Bali High mobile home of Santa Ana, out of 14 years, the red increase $15 a month each year average 2.12% included no rent increase in 2010 why the Average CPI index from 2006 to 2016 is only 1.973%.

In 2016, the rent sudden jumped up to $30 a month, which is double without any good reason. while all those people ran had jumped as much as 9.51 percent 9.70 percent 14.43 percent and more in 2019 once again the rent increase 6.96 percent depending on how long a homeowner has lived there

they got their rent up as much 12.22% 13.01% 15.46% 20.69% 22.55%

to that I already had brought up the issue three times to the city council for support but nothing has been done the gouging rent continues keeps on increasing 5.51 percent 5.22% in 2020 and 2021.

Once again, I would like personally asking Mr. Phil Basara,

Mr. David Penland-Losa, Mrs. Nelida Mendoza, to consider your votes in this issue to help the people who are currently suffering With these cost increases, I am hoping we can resolve this issue by setting the rules for owners to increase once a year by following the CPI or 3%, which is the list on before November 2021. Remember, we don't ask for free rent. We just ask for fair rent.

So you need to reach me to discuss this future. Please call me at 714-392-9705 or email me to put my 46 at gmail.com. I appreciate your attention to this issue. kindly yours and God bless America thank you

mobile homes, Bali High, thời gian 1 năm. Trong năm này, họ tăng tiền thuế đất 50 đồng và tiếp tục tăng. Tiếp khiến tôi lo lắng cho cuộc sống vì tưởng rằng tôi được ở trong khu người già, được hưởng quy chế người già, nhưng không phải vậy.

Thank you.

My name is Tu and I am 59 years old. I have lived at number 83 at Valley High Mobile Home Lodge for one year. During this last year, they have raised the land lease amount by $50 and are continuing to increase it. I'm worried about my livelihood because I have thought that by living in a mobile senior mobile home park, I would be able to receive senior benefits. But that is untrue. As such, I'm asking the City Council of Santa Ana to help me worry less in my old age by passing rent control so that I can live with human dignity in this great nation of America. Thank you.

to Kim Kim

Still, I am 17 years old and I am 17 years old and I am 17 years old. Still, I am 17 years old and I am 17 years old.

Still, I am actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively

Our names are Bit Lê, 76 years old, and Lê Mui-Ng, age 74. We've been living at Valley High Old Home Lodge at number 13 for the past 7 years. Our combined incomes from Social Security and Supplemental Security income total about 1,600. Our bills total over 1,400 in months. Because of this, our lives are very difficult. So we are requesting the City Council help us by 1, passing red control, 2, allowing us the ability to live with dignity in America. Thank you.

good evening ladies and gentlemen my name is huang luang i'm 74 years old i'm living in valley high mobile home space 66 for last 16 years uh from beginning i live in the bubble home i paid just about 525 dollars for renting the space and in last four years suddenly that raised up you know now i have to pay uh up to 1800 excuse me 1080

and eighty dollar roughly every month and someone higher someone just a little bit lower but over one thousand dollars um my fixed income just about 100 or one thousand one hundred and thirty dollars per month after you know for long long life leave you know so work hard in in america in america when i could just got in i got the sweet dream about america but now in my golden days

I have you knows every night I have to wake up and you know stay up all night because I'm thinking about how to pay to rent and because the renting gaussian too high show that make it difficult for us. And we beg you one more time, City Council, please help us, the human right, the human right to live in,

in the good quality.

And I need your vote to help us. in our golden age oh

thank you god bless you

i wish you understand us thanks

good evening mayor and all members of city council of san l Good evening to everyone who are listening to us. My name is Han Nguyen, 64 years old, a Bali Hai resident. There are 16 of us in our group and after me there are still eight more speakers from Bali Hai. Actually, many residents in our park want to join us here today, but some of them could not come because of being very old, weak, disabled. So this evening, our small group will also speak on their behalf.

A couple minutes ago, you have listened to several personal stories of hardship. Yes, they are all true stories. All our Bally High residents are seniors, and most of us lived on fixed income and limited financial resources. And the biggest problem for us is the rent increase every year. Based on our new rent and income ratio is really very, very difficult for us to live on.

You see, we are paying up to an excess of about 70 or 80% of our income on rent. this rent increase is pushing us deeper and deeper under the poverty level with this rent increase our quality of life being already at the lowest level is going to get worse by the day low-income families deserve to live the dignity but now

instead of living our life, the only thing we are living with is the constant fear of rent increase. Do we call it a life after all? How do you expect us to survive with ever increasing rent? This is always a nightmare for us to think about paying the rent every single day. no time for us to live our lives we have no quality of life anymore we the seniors from

bali high mobile home park would like to show you our situation as a typical one that is affecting everyone in the same situation this is happening to all of the low-income mobile home park within Santa Ana. That is why we are asking you to set up a common single policy on rent control. Not only for us, but for everyone having the same situation. Something needs to be done

to protect its most vulnerable low-income households. While the landlords were worried about making less money the residents in the city were worried about keeping a roof over their heads we know that at present homelessness is one of the crisis that weighs heavily on the shoulder of city authorities the county's homeless population increased 43 percent between 2017 and 2019

with Santa Ana's chair jumping from 26% from 20%. Putting the cap on rent with a common sense rent control to help to stop the runaway homelessness rate. If you do not support rent control, a huge number of low income people will become homeless in future, including us. your time is up. My mobile home will get kicked out of the streets. You have the power to prevent that to happen.

So all of us here would like to ask for your strong support for the rent control. We thank you everyone for your time and your patience listening to our stories, particularly the mayor. Please, your time is up. Thank you. Council we look forward to your approval for rent control ordinance thank you very much

my name is Denny Ma in my time at Bali high mobile home park I have seen rent increases sometimes twice a year if such increases continue unabated I believe you will see an increase in senior citizen becoming homelessness homeless is an unbearable situation I hope that in the future

investors will not be able to profit off the suffering of the elderly the poor and those on fixed incomes they have all paid their debts to society and then some they simply wish to live out their remaining days in peace thank you

Our name is Trung Pham, 75 and Hợi Nguyễn, 74. He is currently living in Mobile Home, Bali 2, 5. Santa Ana number five. In 14 years, we live with a monthly monthly dollar dollar. But the cost has been up to $100, so the life is very rich. Before this, the money to the land is only 15 dollars each year, but over 2 years, it has been up to 140 dollars. We are very excited for our life. I thank the city of Santa Ana.

We are Trung Pham, 73 years old, and Ho E Nguyen, 74 years old. We currently live in Valley High mobile home number five and have lived here for 14 years. We live with a fixed salary of $1,600, but our expenses total up to $1,300. Thus, our lives are very pitiful. Before, our rent would only increase by $15 a year. But in the past two years, it has increased three times for a total of $140. We are very unsettled about our livelihoods.

We respectively ask the Santa Ana City Council to intervene by passing rent control and give us an easier life in America. Thank you so much.

i city council of satana we are girlfriend and phone found 78 years old and 75 years old we live in sped 38 mali high mo home park 27 years old since 1994 in 2016 ran only increased 15 or 30 per year right now the landlord has increased by triple and this will continue the coming year

so we hope city carson of santana will vote yes for rent stabilization we want to stay in very high and don't want to be homeless. Thank you very much for your support.

68 tuổi, living in Mobile Home Bali 2, số 106. In the past, we live with a fixed amount of 1.600, but the cost of 1.300. So our life is very high. Before this, the tax tax only increased 15.000 every year. But two years later, three times increased to 140.000. We are very excited for our lives. I thank the Santa Ana, to participate through the Red Control program

that we can live more easily on this earth. I thank the Lord for being here. Thank you, Dinh Huỳnh and Thơm Nguyễn.

David Penaloza

Before the next speaker starts, please we're going to take a brief pause until we get it.

Hold on one second. We're going to English translation at first.

David Penaloza

We know Council member fan are you still there.

David Penaloza

Council member fan.

Thai Viet Phan

Yes, sorry, I was trying to unmute.

David Penaloza

Okay, we're good now. Go ahead. Thank you.

Hi, our names are Ben Wynn, 69 years old, and Tom Wynn, 68 years old. We live at mobile homes down behind, space number 106 for 11 years now. We received in total our total income per month is 1500 and we spend about 13 on rent each month. Previously in the past, our rent would only increase by $15 per year, but in the past two years that rent has increased three times per year.

to a total increase of over $140 per year.

We ask the city of Santa Ana to pass rent control such that we can live out the remainder of our lives in peace and tranquility. Thanks so much, everyone.

We are known as Nguyen, 69, Mary Nguyen, 68, and live in the household of 68, 32. In 2022, we live with the retirement rate of 1.600, and the total cost of 1.400. Therefore, our life is very difficult. We are now in retirement, 2 years ago, every year we have 44 dollars, and we have to pay for 1.300, 500,000.

So I am to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to

dear santa anna city council our names are dying whiten 69 years old and marrying whiten 68 years old we live in valley high mobile home number 68 for over for about two years we live on a retirement about $1,600. Our bills total $1,400. Our lives are extremely difficult. The land lease amount alone is $1,100. The last two years, this amount has increased by $44 each year. We are asking the city of Santa Ana to please help us by one, supporting the rent stabilization civilization program.

Two, don't let us become homeless. And three, please let us live a life of dignity here in the United States. We have been living, working, and paying our dues in the United States for over 20 years. Thank you.

My name is Le Kim Hong, 73. My name is Bali High, Mobile Home, Locked Reign and 64, Santana, Cali 927-04. I lived here for 15 years. My house is 554-887-887.

I am actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively

I have to pay for 1.662. The income income from the tax care of my daughter is 96,000, each month is 1.100, the income income from my daughter is 1.747, the income income from my daughter is 1.660,

I have 85 dollars. I would like to help the house to reduce the cost of living in this house. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Hong Kim Lei, 73 years old. I was born in 1948. I live in Bally Mobile Home, Lodge No. 3, Space 64, Santa Ana, California, 92704. Since 2007, for 15 years, my total monthly rent has increased from 554 to 887, including electricity, water, gas, and trash. Service bills each month, I must pay $997.

In addition, my car expenses and insurance total $665 totaling a monthly payment of $1,662. My monthly retirement income plus money I receive for taking care of my 96 year old father equals $1,747. In total, after paying for everything, I only have $85 left. Today, I am old and weak. Thus, I request that the housing costs will be reduced so that I am able to pay my bills and live in my house. Sincerely, from Gimle.

my name is joseph lookman a retired priest residing at space number 37 and body high mobile home last number three since uh october 2010 i'm now 93 year old

i have been living in the united states 65 years and 60 years as a priest either sitting in colleges and universities or helping people in seven sectors now. And at first I would like to thank the original owner and the local managers for acquired residence with a peaceful atmosphere.

I have been enjoying it with gratitude. However, these recent years, the space rent have been increased several times, causing anxiety and worry for senior citizens of low income. In fact, about five or six died already.

And the managers claim that the land rent here is much lower than in other libraries. But such a comparison is invalid.

Larges on Monza Avenue, Westminster Avenue, etc. are a business area. People are doing business there. So their rent is higher. That's a reasonable. Secondly, I learned from an old American resident in Phase 43 that the original owner's primary

My primary intention is to help your senior citizens with low income, indeed, around my mobile home. I met many of them. They are actually worrying about the imposed rent increase.

And I myself felt more anxiety and I have been waking up at night several times. So when I consulted my personal doctor and health care specialist, I was told that worry and anxiety are harmful to health and might lead to early death.

And it explained to me why five or six persons have died from Malachi mobile home last three recently.

Thank you.

So we still have a lot of requests to speak to go forward. I'm going to go ahead and call on three of you at a time, please. Those of you who are subsequent to the speaker, please stand behind them. We're going to try to get through this as quickly as possible. You have three minutes. You don't have to use all three minutes. Brevity will be welcome. So let me go ahead and start with Lucero Garcia, Ugochi Nicholson followed by Andrew Linares.

Good evening, City Council. My name is Listero Garcia and I'm a senior organizer with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. All faith traditions teach us to care for each other no matter what we look like or where we come from. I invite you to reflect on your calling to serve El Pueblo, the community of Santana and our neighbors who are imploring you to enact rent control, to decrease displacement, and protect the rights and dignity of working families,

the elderly, and long-term tenants. People's lives can be tremendously changed when you honor your commitment to serve the most marginalized and their wishes to make protections for renters a reality.

Many families and individuals are struggling to keep a roof over their head, including the elderly who spoke before me and the 59% Santana tenants who are severely rent burdened. As people of faith, we urge you to make a way for our neighbors in need, to share in the blessings of a safe and stable home. Tenants have the right to live in dignified housing. We need rent control and tenant protections ordinance immediately

as Santana tenants live in fear of uncontrolled rent increases and unjust evictions. The Torah tells us, there shall be no needy among you. Therefore, I command you to open your hand to the poor and needy in the land you occupy. This is our responsibility. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Rochi Nicholson, followed by Andrew Linadas, followed by Elizabeth Elizabeth Le Guin.

Good evening. Honorable Mayor, members of the Santa Ana City Council. My name is the Gochiana Baron Nicholson. I'm an attorney with the Public Law Center here in Santa Ana. As I mentioned about two and a half weeks ago, we implore the city of Santa Ana to adopt a rent stabilization ordinance. The ordinance is necessary to protect tenants who are at risk of eviction and who are indeed self-evicting, being illegally evicted as we stand here today, and in need of your help so that they can live in dignified housing. The need for rent stabilization and

and including anti-harassment protections is needed now more than ever. As we stand here today, there are individual tenants who are at risk of displacement due to eviction, and also at risk of losing their livelihoods in this city. During this pandemic, the city of Santa Ana stood behind its residents and protected its residents, enacting life-saving ordinances that helped us as attorneys defend them in court, keep them housed, and keep them safe.

So tonight, we have come before you many years before. We ask you, on behalf of the residents in the City of Santa Ana, to enact rent stabilization. Thank you.

Andrew Linares followed by Elizabeth Le Guin followed by Idalia Rios.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council. My name is Andrew Linares. I have lived in Santa Ana my entire life. I grew up right here down the street in the neighborhood right next to Mr. Hernandez. I've seen things in my day, not pretty things, and I'm just here. come here most of what you're going to hear from everyone I'm sure you've heard before so I'll be brief I'll be out but I just want to tell you that it's not as simple as this fight of land barons versus the poor that's not really the narrative rent prices it's much more complicated than

price gouging has a lot more to do with markets and you know I just have some concerns about the manner in which this went about you can say that you announced your ad hoc committee and you know that's transparent but it's really not fully transparent i'm not going to say you violated the brown act or anything like that uh not the letter at least but the spirit i definitely feel uh kind of goes against that it's not opaque but you know kind of maybe like that mirrored last story you can't quite see through um and just to kind of show you how

it's kind of skewed. Literally no one cares about redistricting. There was one public comment and you have 160 for this, yet that's on every website, every email I get, I get invitations to come be a part of redistricting. No one cares. The only people that are directly affected by redistricting is the six of you because that's your political fortunes. Rent control, one meeting, last meeting, this meeting, you're supposed to move forward. Now, Mr. Mayor, you did say that you were hoping that the state would do away with the extended moratorium, and I applaud and I appreciate your optimism.

but I just don't really think that pinning our hopes on this on the greater government to come bail us out of a problem is an effective means of governance. I think you guys can do better. This was supposed to be the administration of change, and you guys can do better, and I think we deserve better. So that's some of my issues. Another few issues I have is just you know you could say that rent control is good rent control is bad. There's research on both sides of this for every article you show me that rent control is the godsend. There's an article that says rent control is horrible.

So since it's already 4-3, you know I'm just going to highlight a couple of the things that say rent control is bad. had scoring the 2014 study by Outer Palmer and Patak when you D control rent the property values go up and the more rent control you have near those property values, the higher they go. The conclusion that these authors took from that, and these are academics, these aren't partisan people. Those conclusions were that rent control reduces the values of neighborhood as a whole and it

makes it less desirable. Do we really need to make Santa Ana less desirable? I'm an attorney. I grew up here and all of my friends that got professional degrees they bailed on this place. Pretty much everyone. The people that stay are the people like Mr. Hernandez and myself, Ms. Lopez, people who have strong ties to the community. My mom owns a condo here. That's why I came back after law school. I lived here my entire life. Okay, I'm not from South County. I don't drive a Lexus. I'm just a person who opposes rent control.

Another study, a meta study, sure thing, shows that rent control in San Francisco led directly to higher end housing, which led to gentrification, which led to a widening of income inequality. And you know the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and I urge you to vote against this.

Elizabeth Le Guin followed by Idalia Rios.

Good evening. My name is Elizabeth Le Guin. I chose to move to Santa Ana seven and a half years ago. I own a home here.

and I speak in support of rent control.

I think making a community desirable has to do with the people that are in it, not the money that is invested in it.

I think that I speak particularly to the people in this room who also own their own homes, to consider not only the research that shows that rent control is good for a community economically,

but the moral issue behind this, that the strength of a community and its validity as a human place to live is best measured in the support that it gives to its most vulnerable members. Thank you.

Idalia Rios, followed by Maricela Castro, followed by Johanna Rojas. Buenas noches, alcalde, concejales. my name is idalia rios and i'm here to tell you that 12 years ago when i was married and my husband had been deportated santana was the city that opened the doors and i think that the city that changed my life and as i was a lonely mother and i fought for my children and for the goodwill of other families i'm here in the name of those families who cannot be here because they are working to provide a a certain techo digno for their homes.

I know that more than 90% of our students are of Latinx or Latinx. I know that more than 56% of the residents of Santana are inquilinos and Latinx. When I am in front of you and look at your names, I can see that several names of here are of Latinx. So, we all come from the same descendants. Unfortunately, we all have the same privileges. And I'm talking to my representative, Ms. Anelida Mendoza, who we had the honor to meet two times in the community of Lacey,

where she, as a mother, as a representative of a school, and who has been alongside students, alongside other mothers, nos prometió que iba a apoyar todo lo que tuviera que ver con la vivienda para beneficiar a las familias de Santana. Esa es una oportunidad de que verdaderamente ese apellido de descendencia de la Tilex realmente apoye a los residentes de su ciudad, realmente apoye a las familias que tienen que trabajar dos, tres trabajos para poder tener un techo. En ese momento pido que aprueben la estabilización de renta

Also a congelation of rentals while the order is effective, because the minimum we can have is a living dignified for our children's future, for the future of our parents, and that they choose to choose the community before choosing the personal or economic benefits. First is the people, first is the community, before the profits or the gains. Thank you.

Good evening.

My Mr. Mayor City Council, my name is Daniel Rios, and I'm here on this issue because 12 years ago, when I was pregnant and my husband was deported, Santa Ana is the one that opened the doors to me and Santa Ana is the city that changed my life. As a single mom, I'm here to support other single moms, other families on this to have dignified housing. In a city where over 90% of the students are Latinx, over 56% of the Santa Ana residents are Latinx. And I see your last names here in front of you on the dais and there are Latinx last names.

And we are here, but sadly, not all of us have the same privileges. And I'm mentioning in particular my representative, Nevada Mendoza. We met twice in the Lacey neighborhood as a mom, as a representative, supporting college students. And our students, she was supporting, other moms are supporting you. and you said you were, you promised you would support us, you would support housing in Santa Ana. And the last names sometimes do not support other families as well.

Families that are having difficult times are supporting, they need two to three jobs to put a roof over their heads. We need you to approve rent stabilization and in the meantime to freeze rents because we need to do this for the future of the families, for the future of the residents. We ask you to choose the community before your personal interest, before your business interest, people before profits. Marisela Castro followed by Johanna Rojas followed by Mireya Gutierrez.

Followed by Silvia Avendano.

good evening members of the council, Mr. Alcalde and Council, my name is Marisela Castro, I am resident of Santa Ana for more than 20 years, I live in the neighborhood Leisi. I am here to ask you to address the crisis of housing. We need a stabilization of rent and protection of cause just. our families, friends and neighbors are being displaced unjustly. Some with debt to lose their jobs and others with excessive increases. I have suffered the increase in the rent a pesar of the pandemic. The minimum salary of 14 dollars that my husband has no reach.

He has to work extra extra and leave our family for many hours. to cover the rent, since it is more important to pay the rent so you don't be displaced like other families. All of us who live in this city deserve to live as you do. You represent our community. You were chosen by our community. Listen to our voice. Good evening.

Good evening members of the City Council, Mayor. My name is Maricela Castro. I've been a resident of Santa Ana for over 20 years and I live in the lazy neighborhood. I'm here to ask you for to have housing control where we need rent stabilization and just cause evictions.

our friends and our families are being evicted unjustly some are losing their housing because they've lost their jobs some because of the excessive rents that are charged and I myself my family is suffering because my my husband's 14 an hour job is not enough he has to work overtime to be alone from his away from his family to in order to provide for the rent because we need to pay the rent in order not to be evicted. We deserve dignified housing just as you have dignified housing. You were elected by the community and we need you to support this. Good evening.

Thank you.

is

by Sergio Corona. Madam Clerk, can you check and see this microphone seems to be going on and off if you can check with the booth up front. Go ahead, adelante. Muy buenas noches, mi nombre es

Yoana Rojas, soy residente de Santana por 13 años. El día de hoy estoy aquí como parte de mi comunidad en apoyo total a la ley de estabilización de renta y protección de causa justa contra el desalojo en Santana. today that I have the opportunity to be here I want to call each other that for a moment they should be thinking as politicians and for that moment they should be empathizing with us the community that gave us the opportunity to be public servants with which we deposit all the confidence for the good and progress of our community because I'm sure that there is no

here who wants to do the contrary to Santana.

It is also to mention what is what we have here today, because I know you have full knowledge about the problems that affect our community. So I will limit you to continue to go and to that you, in the place and the power that that we are willing to exercise, help us as a community and government system. We need to create the opportunities and conditions that we need to ensure our well-being as a community in all areas. Never forget that you are there today to create laws that work for the community.

that you are there to act in benefit of the community. And I want to let you in clear that it is not for anything a favor that we make, but all the contrary. It is a job that few people have the privilege of doing, because it is your duty to be a change agent since you committed to serving our community.

I want to also be a special to the council that represents my area, Nelida Mendoza, and to make the invitation again to that initiative. I invite you to be part of this change that has been and will be a struggle of justice social, where we are included in the majority of the community. gente trabajadora honesta responsable pero sobre todo merecedora de construir un mejor presente y futuro para nosotros mismos y nuevas generaciones concejal nélida

hoy usted tiene el poder hoy cualquiera que sea su decisión hará una gran diferencia And my biggest desire is that that difference is from the consciousness, the ethics, the moral, the values that we define as human beings, and where in any way nothing can be corrupted. perro. Por último, me atreveré a hablar por mi comunidad, que somos una comunidad latina, que jugamos un rol central en Santana y que cada vez estamos despertando más a nivel local

para luchar por lo justo, por salir de esa segregación que por años hemos sufrido. Me atrevo a decir que estamos buscando una alianza con ustedes donde somos conscientes de nuestra responsibility that you know

good evening my name is joanna rojas i'm a santana resident over for 13 years and i'm here I am here to ask for your support for the rent stabilization and just cause evictions. You have the I have the opportunity to come here and appeal to you and ask you not to think as politicians, but to think as public servants. You have the opportunity to serve your community and I'm here because you need to support Sanana. I'm here because you need to support the community.

You have the, as representatives, you have the power. You have the power now. You have the power to help us, to help the community, as the community, and to help us, as a government, and as people who make the laws. You have the opportunity to present wellness for the community in all areas of life.

you don't need to fight. You need to create the laws for the community. You need to, you are here for the benefit of the community. And I want to make clear that we are not asking you for a favor, but just the opposite. Your job is to do this. This is your duty as agents of change as servants of the community and i'd like to talk to my representative and elida mendoza and i'm asking you to join in this initiative to this is a change for social

justice and this is what the community needs this is for the hard-working people the hard-working working families and Council Member Anelida, now you are in power. Now you have the opportunity to make a change. And what I want the most is that the difference that you can make, make it with ethics, with your conscience, with morals, with human values, and to be incorruptible. And the Latinos are here. We are uniting as a community.

we are awakening to fight for what is right and what is just and I think we are seeking an alliance with you to exercise the rights and our responsibilities here for the benefit of Santa Ana. Thank you.

Mireya Gutierrez followed by Silvia Vendano followed by Sergio Corona.

Ready?

Go ahead.

All right. Good evening. Today we all come from all walks of life and not to forget we are standing in indigenous land. Some of us are blessed to own property in Santana and in this case apartments, houses that rent to us your tenants and you should be thanking God for it. Thank God that you are not in our situation where rent keeps going up and you don't have to worry how you're going to pay for it. Thank God that you're not that you're able to live a comfortable life from all the hard earned money that you receive from us. Thank God that you are not in

our shoes. We are here in this earth temporarily and we should all be helping each other out. The day you die, you won't be taking anything with you, not even your money. When you die and in your tombstone, there is a dash in between the date you were born and the date you die. It is how you live your dash on this earth that matters. And if you live your dash by not helping each other out in time of need and in this case in this case the rents that keep going up i pray to god that you and your family never be in our situation now from previous council

meetings that we have before council members elbecer al penyalosa la mendoza should be a shame of yourself for not supporting the rent stabilization or to at least have a rent freeze until it gets resolved. As your employer and my public servants, you should resign from your positions because you are not for the people. Too bad El Becerra is not here to listen. Now, on another note regarding rent, not regarding rent, this is on my own. On another note, I have a comment with regarding COVID vaccine. It should not be mandatory because this is my body, my choice, and yet you are no one to mandate something

that is even that even goes against my sincerely religious belief and it should be optional and our for our constitution our first amendment should not be violated thank you

sylvia vendano followed by sergio corona followed by victoria salgado

if the other speakers could get ready to go ahead and line up behind the present speaker

that'll make things go smoother buenas noches buenas noches alcalde concejales voy a ser muy breve solo voy a poner tres puntos uno es el control de renta ya no vamos a decir más historias We have been hearing three years. We have been crying for children, we have been crying for their stories. We have been crying for those who have been abandoned, but we have learned that we can fight, that we can learn what they taught us. We have not been living in bad houses,

bad, bad, and so we are asking for control of rent. Second, we are here for a lack of justice. I lived a lack of justice. But look, my story is that I have gained. And I have gained because I learned that we have rights. I learned that we don't bring the plague, but we are the owners who don't take care of the people's health, nor their homes, because they have total gains.

And the third thing is that we are asking for the rent. Why? Why? Miren, soy consejera de inquilinos. Es otra cosa que aprendí aquí. Aprendí que nosotros tenemos que luchar por nuestros derechos. Y esto hace un cambio muy grande en el cerebro de las personas. Nos podemos defender, tenemos derechos, podemos desaprender y aprender otra vez.

Y yo estoy muy feliz de haber venido tres años a decir lo mismo. Y por último voy a decirle a mi concejal Nélida Mendoza que, por favor, se toque el corazón, ¿verdad? Se toque el corazón, porque mandamos muchos correos electrónicos pidiendo el control de renta.

Good evening. Good evening, Council Member. Excuse me.

Wait one second.

Good evening, members of the City Council, Mayor. I'll be brief. I just have three items. One is rent control. We're not going to tell you the stories. We've been here, coming here for three years. You know the stories. The kids have come and cried. The elderly have come and told you their stories. The people who have been evicted. I myself was evicted and I cried. And I learned that we have to unlearn things. We have to not stay, not accept bad housing, bad housing conditions. So we're asking for rent control. That's number one. Number two, we are here for just cause eviction. I myself experienced unjust eviction, but I won.

I won because I learned that I have rights and I learned that we are not the ones that bring the bugs. The landlords need to deal with that. And number three, we ask for a rent freeze. As a housing counselor, I learned that we have to fight for our rights and we need to make a difference in people's brains and people's way of thinking, and we need to find out and learn our rights. It's been three years and that we've been coming here. My council member, I'd like to address my council member, Elida Mendoza. Please touch your heart. We've sent you lots of emails. We're asking for rent control, rent stabilization.

This is important for us from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Sergio Corona followed by Victoria Salgado followed by Andrea Andrea Chamu.

Good evening Council members. I like to say thank you to all the staff, the police and the security officers and the translators for doing their job and helping us make this much easier.

Also, I like to express my most sincere appreciation for the tireless efforts of the Council from the City of Santa Ana to make our city a safe place to live with dignity and for your all noble attempts in making Santa Ana safer place and better place to raise our families. Please be sure that the people of Santa Ana is watching you and your actions when it comes to the benefit of the residents of the city. First, I believe that our police department should be an elite task force of prepared individuals that are capable of de-escalating violent situations without the need of committing murder.

Thank you for not participating on the murder of our council members, family member. Second, I like to express to you tonight that I respectfully request for this Council to fully support and adopt rent control and rent freeze in Santa Ana. Would you like to force families into homelessness and advocate to become the new skid road of Orange County. I will also suggest to the council to never complain about being here until late at night due to the fact that many residents of Santa Ana must work to full-time shifts to prevent being

evicted from their apartments. As we are speaking there's people that are on their second shift and will not be going back home until to see their families until after midnight and they do it for for six days a week. It is alarming to witness the fact that even as some members of this council have heard so many difficult experiences from residents, their struggles to make a living and their difficulties to live with dignity, they still want to study the matter some more and refuse to stand on the side of the people that elected them to look out for their livelihood.

You are elected to protect the people of Santa Ana whose side on you are you are on. Are you on the side of the people that elected you or are you on the side of private interests. Remember who voted for you. The reality is that developers and investment will never end because the need of housing has always been present in the city and will always be needed as long as the population keeps growing. The only thing that cannot prevail in this in Santa Ana is the position of profits over people. The people of Santa Ana did not elect you to choose profits over the residents of the city.

Listen to the elderly listen to the children and their parents listen to the single mothers and the hard working men. They are pleading for your help and for you to do the job that they elected you to do. If you fail to listen to the people that put you in that chair with their boat, then you do not deserve to be on that chair. I know that we have an extremely smart and capable council, and I envision that Santa Ana can be a thriving city where safety, wealth, and dignity are a priority for the residents and their families.

I know that this council is extremely capable of solving the difficult matters of homelessness, low income housing and public safety. I know that the city can become a model in the county and in the state of California. The people of Santa Ana is watching the way you vote and which side you are now. Sergio, see if you can wind up. We will remember the way that you voted. Thank you. Victoria Salgado followed by Andrea Chamu followed by Liz Hurtado. Si pueden estar esperando para la próxima para que podamos movernos un poco más deprisa.

Buenas noches a todos. Antes que todo me gustaría decirles a los concejales que nos pusieran un poquito más de atención, que escucharan lo que estamos diciendo porque veo que están muy entretenidos en sus laptops. so for me it is very important to be listened to it. To start, I will say something. I am supporting these people, all of us, with the control of the rent since they started. When I started working, I always went to collect firmas. I fell many times, I passed many things, but I never stopped doing it. You are not in our shoes.

Mr. Becerra, please, please, please, please, me escuchen me ponga un poquito de atención vean me quiero que me vean no quiero que vean sus laptop ok a mí el año pasado fue el 2020 fue la pandemia a mí no me dejaron de aumentar la red apenas hoy en la mañana me enteré que me acaban de aumentar la red pues a ellos no les importa si yo tengo trabajo si yo no tengo trabajo nosotros tenemos que pagar la red ustedes no están en nuestros zapatos por favor, pónganse un poco la mano en el corazón y en la conciencia yo no estoy en desacuerdo con cosas que ustedes hagan

pero por favor que sea algo diferente a la señorita señorita Nélida me pone atención por favor porque usted solamente está viendo su computadora y la verdad es muy importante para mí ser escuchada, no nada más yo We all deserve it. Is it okay? Is it okay? I have a lot of confidence in you. Please take into account and do something for our community. If you don't want to see people, rateros, prostitutes, all those things, don't come to do business at Santa Ana.

The developers don't come to do business at Santa Ana. We import homeless from Newport Beach for Irvine. We have them here. That's not what you're going to see. All that you did about glorietas and all those things, personally, they have affected me a lot. So I ask you, please. I ask you to take all of your conscience. Mr. Jonathan Ryan, please. please if we have a class and you

have a very very very So, thank you very much for listening. I thank you very much. But all the pandemic, all that has not stopped me to raise the rent every year. So, please, make sure, please. And thank you very much for listening, especially to you, Mr. Mendoza. Thank you very much for listening.

Good evening to all. And first of all, I'd like you to turn away from your laptops and pay attention to what I'm saying because it's important for me and for all of us to be heard. I'm here because I support rent control since this started. After work, I used to go and collect signatures. I fell and other things happened to me, but I never stopped. So it's important because you're not in our shoes. You need to listen, need to look at me, Mr. Becerra, please look at me and listen to what I'm saying. It's important.

And 2020, during the pandemic, our rent continued to increase. And even this morning, I just got to notice that my rent is going to increase again. They don't care if we don't have a job. They don't care what happens to us. We need to pay the rent. and you need your net and you're not on our shoes. So please take take notice. Business leader, please listen to me. Turn away from your computer. It's important to for us to be heard, not only for me, but all of us. We deserve your attention. I trust that you can do something for our community. You say you don't want the thieves and the prostitutes.

Well, don't come to do business in Santa. It's as simple as that. We are importing homeless. We saw what happened importing homeless from Newport Beach, from Irvine, and all the things you're doing with roundabouts. Those are affecting me. So please, Mr. Jonathan Ryan. I think I feel like I'm giving a class. I'm in front of the classroom. I need to throw an eraser at you. So please pay attention to the class that's happening. Thank you. Thank you for listening. Mr. Mayor, thank you for listening. Andrea Chamu, followed by Luz Hurtado, followed by Cesar Medina.

Buenas noches.

Buenas noches. Mi nombre es Elizabeth Martinez. Buenas noches, alcalde. Buenas noches, miembros del concilio. my name is Elizabeth Martínez I'm a leader community in the Minitausen coordinator of the Minister of Magma in the Morculado Corazón de María volunteer of various organizations no lucrative here in Santa Ana I'm here to support the point number 9 of the agenda control of renta as a leader community I've been able to see that no having a control of renta affects residents more in this time of pandemic COVID-19

Los residentes de Santa Ana son demográficamente diferentes de los residentes de otras 33 ciudades del condado de Oro. Los residentes de Santa Ana son 80% latinos, más del 40% son inmigrantes nacidos en el extranjero. Muchos inmigrantes no tienen un estatus legal. Muchos de ellos ya padecen enfermedades como diabetes, obesidad, hipertensión. and now with COVID-19, many of our residents are suffering from depression, people who have been leaving children, people who have been still afraid of contagion,

also people who still keep carrying their oxygen, children and adults who have been with depression, am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am am I am

su apoyo a nuestros vecindarios y a otras también le doy gracias a otras personas de aquí de la ciudad que nos han estado apoyando en nuestros vecindarios y una y mi condolencia para jonathan por lo que pasó con su con su familia creo que estas cosas no deberían de pasar este dios nos da la vida y dios nos las quita gracias elizabeth uh estas aquí en vez de andrea chamo okay gracias for the record good evening my name is elizabeth martinez mayor city council and

i'm here as a volunteer from the immaculate heart and a volunteer for other organizations i'm here to support item number nine rent control we don't we realize that when we don't have rent control this affects our residents especially during a pandemic Santa Ana is different than the other 33 cities in Orange County 80 are Latinos 40 are immigrants born in other countries and do not have legal legal status many suffer from medical conditions such as diabetes hypertension IN THIS. NOW WITH COVID IT MAKES IT WORSE. PEOPLE ARE DYING, PEOPLE ARE LEAVING RELATIVES BEHIND, PEOPLE ARE ON OXYGEN

TANKS, THEY HAVE DEPRESSION AND ANSIGHTY AND NOW IN ADDITION THEY HAVE A FEAR OF BEING EVICTED. WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DIGNIFY HOUSING. IT'S WE NEED I HAVE FAITH THAT YOU CAN MAKE A CHANGE IN SANTA ANA. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU CAN MAKE THE BEST DECISION. THANK YOU MAYOR FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND TO other people in the city who have been helping us in our neighborhoods and finally my condolences to you mr jonathan for uh the passing of your relative and uh it's a shame that this uh happened

and god is the arbiter of what happens lusur tado followed by cesar medina followed by rosa pisano si pueden ponerse en fila para que hagamos esto un poco más pronto luz hurtado Cesar Medina, Rosa Pisano, Ángel Sánchez, por favor, si pueden formarse en fila.

Buenas noches. Soy Cesar Medina. Buenas noches, compañero alcalde Vicente Sarmiento, compañeros concejales. I belong to the organization Zulio in Action and live in a park with 128 families. I come to represent them.

And I have the opportunity to meet in any rinconsum. The Alcalde knows our park. And they ask me, because they are aware of the meeting of the Saturday, and of this also. and they said, my friend, how are we? How are we? I was the last week I was here, I said, we won four against three. And I thank the four consejales that voted for a favor. No censure the three that voted for. They are in their freedom, they are in their interests, they are fine. But I said, David Peñalosa, Nélida Mendoza and Phil Becerra, our consejero.

And that people who are poor,

they don't forget. And they don't forgive. They're not. They're not.

It's very lamentable that in this moment the poor and the workers are suffering and putting them in the puertos for more than a year. And that same people in the way they have reduced the hours of work, the way they have been in unemployment. And that same people are the same who is being desalojated and will continue to be desalojated. And it's lamentable that the rich don't share the crisis in a pandemic that still doesn't end. In a pandemic that still is is

getting heridos and muertos and families suffering and the hospital please, gentlemen, vote in the way in the way, no put the hand in the hand, put it in the heart and think about that class of workers, that is the one who is suffering, read their decision, act with conscience, at least one time in their lives, no no den las espaldas no no traiciones no no en el peso de judas por favor lo hemos elegido para que no defiendan a nosotros en estas circunstancias queremos el 3% en el 3% están también utilidades

de los dueños de casa o también nos permite a nosotros una maniobrabilidad para no pensar We need to work only to pay the rent, please. We have families, we have to do that for our families, our families, our education and other things that the money is not enough. So, please, that 3% is a 3% of oxygen for us. Because remember, we are still in pandemic and the pandemic is not hurting the lives of many of us.

We solicit very comedically that that 3% is the magic number that allows us to enter in the hysteria, not to be desalojated.

I hope to bring a good message to my neighbors.

Cesar, you can finish.

good evening mayor uh near salmiento i'm cessa medina city council members and i'm a member of uh i belong to sullivan in action a member group i I, we're 188 families. I'm a representative of the park. And sometimes we have opportunity to meet with people. And sometimes we just run into people and they ask me what's happening about this meeting, what's happening about the Saturday meeting, the meeting today. And the last time I asked, when they asked me, I told them, they asked me what happened. I said, we won three, a four to three.

And I don't begrudge the people that voted, the three that voted against, you need to vote your conscience. But I told them it was who voted against was Penalosa, Mendoza, and Phil Becerra. So, you know, the poor people listened, the poor people don't forget and they don't forgive. So you need to, it's sad that the people who are suffering for over a year, it's sad that these people who have less, have been working less hours, they've lost jobs, and the people who have been evicted and other people will continue to be evicted. It's sad that the rich people do not share in the crisis.

It's the pandemic is not over. We continue suffering from the pandemic, suffering deaths and hospitalizations and other things. The people who voted against, I'm asking you not to touch your wallet. I'm asking you to touch your heart. You need to consider at least once in your life to vote for what's right. um don't stab us in our back don't uh don't be don't give us the kiss of judas we are one this

three percent we uh want to pay what's uh just to pay the rent and we don't want to work just to pay the rent we want to be with our families to look after our families to uh to be with them and uh Sometimes our salary is not enough, so this 3% limit would be the oxygen tank that we would need. And again, the pandemic is not over, and this pandemic is not forgetting what's happening, so this 3% would be the magic number to avoid the eviction. I hope to bring good news to my neighbors.

Rosa Pisano, followed by Angel Sanchez, followed by Olivia Arzate. Si pueden ponerse en fila atrás de Rosa, los que siguen. Good evening to all my representatives from the city of Santa Ana. I'm representing 30 parks, 30 multifamily parks and we are also several residents. I have been representing in different parts of all the United States to what are mobile homes.

And now it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, that being here in the city of Santa Ana, I have seen certain people who don't have respect for us. others. Unos, como dijo la compañera, platicando, otros en sus laptops, otros en su teléfono, otros aquí comiendo y comiendo como que no tienen respeto. ¿Qué está pasando? Si ellos no nos dan respeto, también nosotros no lo vamos a respetar. Como que no hay una hora para comer y están tan delgaditas, no sé qué les pasa. others that no, no nos ponen atención

ya supe que tres no votaron para nosotros pero no me importa porque los vamos a seguir viendo la cara entonces ellos ya están en nuestra lista para seguir votando por ellos ok como no quisiéramos que uno de ustedes llegara a ser alcalde también porque usted se vende porque se venden con los ricachones because we do not have the money but we can vote for you for our vote, you are here what is it?

it is not just, we have voted for you I am a member of the community of Sullivan in Action and right now we are being evicts, we are throwing cards of desaloge. Why? Because we have a marcha. I have a value to make a marcha for a manager that has been molested for many years. So, I'm going to ask a lawyer to support us, because we are intimidating.

need and do okay okay so many leaders in the community no is justo pero también tenemos el poder para poder pegar nuestros derechos gracias

good evening to all to my sanana representatives i represent 30 multi-family senior parks including some senior parks all over the united states and it pains me to be here in santana and see that some of you are not respecting us some of you are talking some others are on your laptops or those are on your phones some of you are eating and that shows disrespect and if you don't respect us then we won't be respecting you what is it don't you have time to eat and you're so skinny like that So you're not paying attention to us.

And I just, I found that the three of you voted, did not vote for us. And so we're going to continue seeing what's happening and what you do. And we're going to be voting accordingly. We want, some of you may want to be a mayor in the future, but you're selling out. We don't want that. We may not have the vote, the money, but we have the vote. and you are there in your seats because of our votes. Don't sell out. We voted for you.

And we, some of us are from Sullivan and Acción Group. Some of us are being evicted because we decided to march against a manager that was bothering us for some time. And now people are intimidating us. So we're asking for a lawyer. We know we have the power to protect our rights. Thank you.

are employees and staff members of the city. So there is a distinction. With that, Angel Sánchez, Olivia Arzate, Adriana Quinn and Rocío Rachel. Raquel, adelante. Good evening. Good evening to each other. Hace three years, we were here when... Su name, please. Marcela Rosas. When we did the first presentation, the requirement of the approval of the rent control estuvimos aquí solicitándoles exigiéndoles a usted usted era conseje consejal entonces señor este sarmiento y entonces nos dimos a la tarea toda la comunidad de trabajar duro porque desde

entonces no hace tres años hace muchos años atrás estamos siendo abusados por los dueños de los departamentos vivimos en muy malas condiciones pero no sólo eso año con años se nos aumenta la renta. Es vergonzoso, para mí es muy vergonzoso venir ante ustedes una vez más y decirles y ver aquí la presencia de la señora Nélida, de mi concejal, porque representa la comunidad donde yo vivo, el señor Phil Becerra. Es vergonzoso venir y decirles que con toda la pandemia, yo trabajo desde las 5 de la mañana y me acuesto a las 12 de la noche para poder medio sobrevivir, porque andamos al día.

We have no food, we have no food healthy and healthy as you all have to eat, no place you present in your flyers when you were in the votation, where you are in the gardens of your house, with all your family, with great places, no houses, residencies. You have no suffered or suffered what we are suffering from in departments, with mojo, with cucarachas, with ratones and with a excess cost of pay of rent. Like many families, I received a card where I am increasing almost the 20% of what I am paying

for rent.

When my salary, my salary, I reduced the income, I have no even had a 3% of the increase. Well, no has nothing of increase, al contrario está reducido pero es vergonzoso venir a pedir esto aquí cuando ustedes son profesionales señora nélida yo soy estudiante de colegio yo voté con usted y platiqué con mis compañeras con mis vecinos tenemos que apoyarnos como mujeres tenemos que poner arriba el nombre de una mujer usted es de la comunidad pero hemos platicado con usted afuera en la comunidad con las señoras en los vecindarios pero es triste venir aquí y darnos cuenta que cuando se trata

of taking decisions to defend the community, we are going to go to the side. That is vergonzoso. Everyone and each one of you are professional people, who have here responsibility. When you were elected, we forget the parties, we forget the economic groups, they came to represent the community. And I have faithfully that you are doing it, and each one of you are doing it. Ver su cara de cansancio, ver su aburrimiento, su desesperación, señor Sarmiento, me da tristeza, pero más me da coraje saber que yo he sentido eso por años, más desde hace tres años.

Yo vengo a exigirles un congelamiento de renta porque es inminente el aumento de renta, es una acción, es una reacción de los dueños de departamento en contra de la comunidad, en contra de la gente que uno y cada, que cada uno de ustedes representa. and I'm asking you to approve the rent control. That's a help, but with all the hands, directly to the community. That's to help the community. If you say no, they will help the rich, who are already rich. But this is for us. Thank you very much.

Good evening to all of you. We were here three years ago when this started. And when we first came to approve a rent control, we are here again. And many things have happened. We have been working hard it's not three years we've been working for more than three years and we're living in housing in bad conditions and the rent keeps going up year after year it's a shame to come here and see this what what's happening um is um nirida my representative mr phil bacera

the pandemic is affecting us i work from 5 a.m and i don't come home until 12 midnight just to make ends meet. We have less hours of work. Our work hours have been reduced. We have health issues. We don't feel that we have a safe place like you do when you show in your marketing campaign materials with your nice houses and some mansions. And you are not suffering like we are suffering with with mold, with rats, with roaches. So I just received a letter with almost a 20% rent increase

and we are working less hours. I'm not getting a 3% salary increase. In fact, I'm getting my hours cut. So Ms. Nelida, I voted for you. As a woman, I told the people that we needed to support a woman. I'm also college educated. We needed to support our community, but it's sad when we come here to see that your decisions are not for the community. You need to do this and support the community. And we all have, we are, you're all professionals. You all should be responsible. You elected,

we elected you for, to benefit the community. It's sad to see your board faces up there. So we not ask we demand a rent freeze. The rent increase is imminent. The landlords are going to increase the rent. So you need to approve rent control now. You need to help your community. And if you don't do that, you're just helping the rich get richer.

Angel Sanchez.

Followed by Olivia Arzate and Adriana Quinn.

good evening my name is angel sánchez I am resident of Santa Ana for more than 20 years this evening I have come here to ask you to approve the rent control and just because during these previous years I had been a cumplitor in paying my rent mes a mes. Y ahora con esto de la pandemia

me alcanzó y he tenido que aplicar por los fondos de la ciudad para pedir que me ayudaran a pagar mis rentas. Ahora estoy enfrentando un desalojo porque las protecciones se terminaron. Es muy importante que paren los aumentos de renta y los desalojos injustos.

Les pido, por favor, que protejan a nuestra comunidad, porque aún estamos en pandemia. ¿Por qué? Porque seguimos sin trabajo, o horas recortadas en el trabajo. Estamos sobreviviendo una pandemia que todavía no se termina.

Y más, ahora sin ninguna protección contra todos estos abusos sobre los inquilinos. Sí. Por esta razón estoy yo aquí. Es la primera vez que yo me presento aquí.

Y solamente les digo, píganse al control de rentas y causa justa. because if you say so, I hope that within 15-20 days I will be able to do it. Yes.

Well, I wanted to say many things, but I just want to ask that they can say to control the rents. Okay, thank you very much.

Good evening Mayor and City Council members. I'm Angel Sanchez and I'm a Santa Ana resident for over 20 years and I'm here tonight to ask you to approve rent control and just cause eviction. In all these years I've been a faithful, responsible renter paying my rent month to month And because of the pandemic, this has caused me suffering and has caused me to apply to get city help, the money to get the rent money from the city.

and now we are facing an eviction and the protections are going to end and it's important to stop the rent increases and unjust evictions so to protect the community the pandemic is still here i've been working less hours my hours have been reduced and the pandemic is not over and NOW, WITHOUT THE PROTECTIONS AGAINST RENTER ABUSE, IT'S MY FIRST TIME HERE AND I'M ASKING YOU TO VOTE FOR RENT CONTROL AND JUST CAUSE EVICTIONS AND IF NOT, IN ABOUT 15 OR 20 DAYS,

I WILL BE EVICTED. SO I'M JUST, I HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY, BUT I'M JUST HERE TO ASK YOU TO VOTE YES ON RENT CONTROL.

David Penaloza

Next speaker, el siguiente comentario es Olivia Arzate, favor de pasar, Olivia Arzate, followed by Adriana Coyne, Adriana Coyne, Rocio Raquel, Rocio Rachel,

Good evening, my name is Rocio Rochelle, I am resident of Santa Ana for eight years living in the Code Postal 92703. This evening I am here to ask that I approve the Ley of Control, Rent and Ordenance Just. Como ustedes saben, ya no tenemos protección en este momento y seguimos siendo acosados, acosados por los administradores y propietarios sin que ellos tengan conciencia de sus conductas violentas.

Así nosotros los inquilinos ya no tenemos protección.

Yo he sido una persona que he cumplido con mi renta hasta antes de que la pandemia llegara, poniéndonos a mí y a mi familia en un estrés donde nos nuestra salud mental también se ha visto afectada. La pandemia no se ha terminado.

El proceso para llegar el dinero para que nos den la ayuda necesaria es muy lenta.

Pedimos que nos ayuden y nos protejan en este momento y nos urge que aprueben esta ley de control de renta y de ordenanza justa. Ayúdenos a mantenernos en nuestras casas de una forma digna. Buenas noches.

David Penaloza

Alejandra Luciano, Anabel Parra, María Cristina Moreno, Alejandra Luciano, Anabel Parra, Maria Cristina Moreno, if you can move to the floor.

Good evening. I'm a Santa Ana resident for eight years in zip code 9273. I'm here to ask you to vote for rent control and just cause ordinance. We don't have any protections and we're being harassed by managers and landlords. And they are unaware of the violent conditions that they put us in. We don't have any renter protections anymore. And I'm here to ask you for your help. We are still here suffering through the pandemic. Me and my family, because of this, are under stress.

We have mental health issues. And the pandemic is not over. And the money that helps with the rent is too slow. to get the money. So we're asking for your help and your protections and we're asking you to approve the rent control and just cause evictions so we can stay in a dignified housing. Thank you

David Penaloza

and good evening. Alejandra Luciano.

Hi, my name is Joshua Gonzalez and I'm here to support an order against rent control. As I have said before, it is wrong to raise the rent because the people behind me have had problems with their jobs and with their family. I heard that my mom's friend's husband tried to commit suicide because of so much stress with COVID and work. He hasn't been able to pay for the rent and him and his wife lost their jobs. They had two kids and tried to feed them as much as they can. And they had two at school and kids bullied them for being poor.

and for them there are there are a lot more families so families like these cases and you're not supporting us and what really and what we really need and this for consuls mendoza

and becerra that don't want to help us thank you

Y vengo aquí en representación. Bueno, más que nada pues ya todo lo dijeron. Estoy un poco nerviosa. Más que nada por usted, mi concejal Peñalosa Mendoza. Más que nada, tientense el corazón. No lo tengan frio porque todos estamos aquí. Ya les pedimos demasiado. Ya venimos a pedir todo el tiempo. Ya nos, ya nos, hasta nos conocen a todos. please, if you have a heart, not the head, not the feet. Just don't have the heart frio, because we all have families. And exactly, the rent control is going up.

And you can't do a normal order. You can't, just don't want. They are in favor of the dueños. Do you want more money than the dueños? Is what they want. Ok, they will. you are going to have them in favor of you, you are going to have them in favor of you, you are going to stay. If you want to support them, you are going to be able to support them. Don't you put your heart cold, put it in your heart, it is a heart, no cold. We are going to have you hearts. Thank you.

Good evening. Everything has been said. I'm nervous. So Mr. Peñalosa, Ms. Melida Mendoza, please touch your heart. Don't let it get cold. We've been here asking you. You know us now all this time. And so please touch your heart, not your head, not your feet. but don't let your heart get cold. Rent keeps increasing. You can vote for the ordinance but you don't want to approve the ordinance and if you are in favor of the landlords then go ahead but then later when you want our support you won't have our support. So touch your heart and good evening.

David Penaloza

anabel barra maria christina moreno

David Penaloza

tim rush

es maria christina si por favor pasa muy buenas noches a todos ustedes mi nombre es maria Cristina Moreno, soy residente de Santa Ana. Por favor, les pido por favor, aprueben el control.

David Penaloza

Señora María, si puede acercarse un poquito más al micrófono, por favor. Gracias.

Muy buenas noches a ustedes. Mi nombre es María Cristina Moreno, soy residente de Santa Ana. Les control the rent and causes just to protect our Santa Ana, where more than half are we

Thank you. My name is Maria Cristina Moreno. I'm a Santa Ana resident and I'm asking you to please approve the rent control and just cause evictions. Please protect our Santa Ana community where over half of the community are renters. Thank you.

David Penaloza

Annabelle Parra.

David Penaloza

All by Tim Rush.

David Penaloza

Go ahead, Tim.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor and members of the council, as no probably great surprise to you, I'm here to ask you to vote against the rent control measure. You as well. Well, there's one or two of you in this room that may recall 30 years ago, this chamber was filled to the brim. I was sitting up there along with the council member who I was an appointment of to the Redevelopment Commission. The area out in the foyer outside was filled. There must have been 600 people here.

Why were they here? They were here because the city had proposed making the entire city a redevelopment area, saying it was blighted. The reason for doing that was to try to capture redevelopment dollars as an economic tool to improve the city.

But the notion that the city would be specifically cited as being blighted was so upsetting to so many of the residents, many of them people who were in this audience, I'll bet, that they turned out and demanded that the city not approve that because they didn't want their city of Santa Ana to be known as blighted.

Well, if you vote for this measure tonight, you have absolutely reenacted that because you will have put a lead collar around Santa Ana as being a blighted city economically and otherwise. There are many economists who agree that outside of carpet bombing, there's no better way to destroy a city than rent control. and obviously there's a lot of folks here that are hurting and I'm sorry for that but you know what it's not the job of the city of Santa Ana to provide all of the low-income housing

for the rest of the county there's 34 cities in this county and the vast majority of them are not pulling their weight and you know it we exceed our RHNA numbers every year by a wide margin And yet we are continually asked to do more. Well, where the hell is the rest of the county? Where's Villa Park? Where's Irvine? Where's Huntington Beach? Where's Newport? And I could go on. A lot of these cities, they do nothing in terms of low-income housing and want to push it all on Santa Ana. Well, that's baloney. Santa Ana should not be known as a blighted city. And that

That is exactly what we're going to be known as when you pass this measure of rent control and just cause eviction. It's wrong for this city. You might as well hang out the closed for business sign because that's what's going to happen. You know, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution says the government cannot take away a property right without just compensation. Well, when you pass this tonight, which I hope you don't, but when you do it, I hope you're ready to start writing a lot of checks to every property owner because you've taken money out of our property value when you vote for rent control.

So do not vote for rent control. Turn it down. Hey, if you guys can please be respectful. It's not going to serve.

David Penaloza

It's not going to solve. Everybody in the chamber, please be respectful. You can wait for me.

It's not going to solve the housing crisis. Thank you.

David Penaloza

Please wrap up in the lights.

David Penaloza

Next speaker, Diana boss. Diana boss. Diana boss. Powered by who Belia.

David Penaloza

Alfonso Gonzales and Esperanza Corona, if you could please line up.

good evening everyone my name is judele charco angel and i have lived here in the city of santana for more than 25 years and i believe in knowing perfectly how our city has been deteriorating and they have been rezagging and they have been leaving and forgetting

all the basic services that our community needs. I want to start with a phrase that the Reverend mentioned, where he said that we are compassionate with others. and this I want to tell you to the owners of the property.

It is true that the Lord who has been before me said that they have done a lot, but I can say that it is not enough, because if it was enough, there would be no There was so many people in the street. If it was enough, there would be no families living in cars. And I think that it is important to you as authorities to put order. because I believe that they have no limit to their voracity. The owners have no limit. And that's why we come with you.

As authorities, you have the duty of putting control to their voracity. They are leaving the street, they are running from here, they are wanting to get away from our places we want with our families. And I think that's not correct. But in this moment in the pandemic, we should be people with that kindness and love that understand the situation we are living. And it seems that we should be putting on it.

I think it is important that they recognize that we need and that they have a commitment to create a balance between the government and the community. a balance that they should not break because what causes families to be separated, families to be divided, or even if we even ask that we give a apartment for each member of our family.

the only thing I ask is not to share the apartment with other families and not to live a lot of families. That is what we ask. It's good that many of you have large houses, as you have said, it's very good, they have earned their own work, but they also have to be reasonable and more human. I think that when you are sleeping in your large houses and sometimes even the dog with a camera, they think that we also have a right to a living a dignified house. In that, put on our shoes, that we are also human beings and we also contribute a lot in Santana, in the economy. We are not people who do not work.

We need work and that there is another problem. I ask our council members that we come to where we live, that we go to our streets, that we go to our apartments, not only when we want our vote. We are going to allow you to see how we live, that laws are in order of the owners, that laws are just respalded to the owners, that there are apartments, that there are condominiums, that there are differences. We as inquilinos don't care about these differences. There must be a control for both, for both condominiums and apartments,

because the laws are only favoured them and we are leaving the law on the embossed. We are only leaving the law on the embossed, and we have to pay the consequences.

And finally, I just want to say that in this pandemic has occurred several things. We have not only had a deficient education, we have the problem with the living that our children don't live or don't sleep in the same way.

David Penaloza

Thank you. You have a lot of work.

Thank you.

David Penaloza

Thank you. Catalina Investra, Veronica Garcia, Silvia Hernandez.

David Penaloza

Catalina Investra, Veronica Garcia, Silvia Hernandez, if you can form yourself please.

David Penaloza

We'll do, just queuing these people up. Thank you.

Good evening all. I'm Julelia Charo Angel. I've been a resident of Santa Ana for over 25 years. and we know perfectly this community. We know what's happening. We know that the city is going down. We know that you're forgetting to provide some basic services that the community needs. And as I'd like to start with what the Reverend said in the beginning of the meeting to be compassionate. And this is for all, and especially to the landlords to be compassionate. It's true that like the gentleman before me said, that you have done a lot, but it's not enough.

If it were enough, otherwise, there would not be so many people suffering, so many people on the streets, so many families living in cars. And we, the government does need to do something. It's our duty to do something. And we need to limit, BECAUSE IF YOU LET THE LANDLORS ON, THEY LIMIT, THEY WILL NOT LIMIT THEIR GREED. SO WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING. YOUR DUTY AS THE GOVERNMENT IS TO CONTROL THEIR GREED.

AND THE STREETS, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS. AND THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING. And it's important that the government has a balance, a balance between what the government does and the community needs. So this pandemic has caused families to be separated, families to be divided. And we're not asking for a room for each one of our family members. We're just asking for a place to live so that we don't have to share with other families,

just to have our own place and just like you have a nice place like the somebody said earlier your big houses and that's okay that you have your big houses you've earned it but sometimes you have your dog has their own room and we deserve dignified housing and we want red control rent control and we contribute as human beings we deserve it we can we contribute to the san anna economy and we are asking you the council members to walk in our streets to see our apartments

not only when you want our votes but to see how we live and as you see right now the laws are favoring the landlords they want to make a distinction between apartments and condos but to us renters there's no difference we don't care about those differences the laws favor the landlords and we are the ones paying the consequences. So finally, we need to have this rent rent control.

David Penaloza

Okay, what is your name?

Catalina Iniesta.

Good evening, members of the council. Mr. Alcald, my name is Catalina Iniesta. I am resident of Santa Ana. I live in the Zona Postal 92705. Lo que les quiero agradecer a los miembros del concilio que de verdad han escuchado a la comunidad de Santana sus necesidades. Quiero pedir como madre de familia que por favor aprueben el control de renta causa justa. Nuestra comunidad trabaja mucho y por esa razón nuestros hijos no tienen tiempo para compartir.

Muchos de ellos is because we have to pay the rent by so many struggles the pandemic has not let us work we need permanent protections to avoid increasing and abuse of the owners that no one will respond and keep us of our families once more they will be the control of rent and cause just thank you thank you thank you

David Penaloza

Gracias. Veronica Garcia. Oh, well, we were for the translation. Veronica Garcia, Silvia Hernandez, and Diana Paz. If you could please queue up.

Good evening, City Council members, Mayor. My name is Catalina Iniestra. I'm a Santa Ana resident of 927.05. And thank you to the City Council for listening to the needs of the City of Santa Ana. I'm here to ask that you approve rent control and just cause evictions. The community works a lot. Our kids are suffering because they don't get to share a lot of time with us because we have to pay rent. We are working because of the pandemic, there's not enough work. We need protections against rent increases, against the abuses of the landlords, and we are asking you to approve rent control and just cause evictions.

David Penaloza

verónica

buenas noches distinguido señor alcalde y miembros del consejo soy residente de la ciudad de santana vivo del código postal 92705 y estoy aquí para darles las gracias primeramente por escuchar la voz del pueblo por escuchar a nuestra comunidad y bueno dado that they have finished all kinds of protections, we are in the interperie and the mercy of the wages and increases in the rent. This, as well as, aunado to the abuse of the

owners, we ask today that please approve the control of rent and cause just. It is important It is important that our families are protected and the stress of our children are disminuyendo. It is not just that we are living with fear of an increase of rent, uncertainty, loss of work and instability that we all affect at this moment. We ask that we do the correct way for our community.

good evening distinguished mayor city council members i'm a resident of sanana 9705 And I want to thank you for listening to the people, for listening to the community. And the protections moratoriums have ended. We have no more protections. Now we're at the mercy of the landlords. We're at the mercy of imminent rent increases and evictions. We're asking you to pass rent control and just cause evictions. It's important to protect the families so that our kids are not stressed out by the prospect of having or being evicted.

It's not fair to live with the sphere of increased rents. We're asking you to do what's right and to say vote yes on rent control and just cause eviction.

David Penaloza

Silvia Hernandez. Después Diana Paz.

And Del Hovec.

Esperanza Corona.

Pase.

Buenas noches a todos. Gracias por estar presentes en la segunda junta. Miren, creo que voy a ser directa y al grano. Ya he contado muchas historias, como han dicho muchos de mis compañeros y líderes de nuestra comunidad. Yo platico un poco de mi experiencia como madre soltera, ¿verdad? and many in this moment are going through situations of burdening, that they don't have to pay their rent and the 90% are in domestic violence because they don't have to pay their rent and separation of families maybe you don't understand, right? because they live in good places, they have good money and they don't have to work at the night

many of them wanted to come to this junta, they were working cleaning offices and they couldn't assist, right? but they were aware of that families the workers voted for you. They supported you.

And take into account that the people the people put and the people quit. Right, Neida? Right, Mr. Peñalosa, Mr. Bill Serra? We support you. And in the community, when you ask them to ask them to be volunteers for that we are present in their campaigns. We are present, right? And no, no, no, no, no. To come to the heart. To think about millions of families. That need a control of rent. Hace many, six years. I was supporting a many people. For that they were reluctant. I was seven days a week. Collecting firm and supporting their campaigns.

And I was sick. And nobody was worried about who was sick and how I had to pay my rent. However, as I was, there were thousands of families who were with convicciones, who were about to live in the street. As a volunteer of my community, I took to see that two people of 80 and 83 years old, in plena pandemic, they didn't protect them. Why? Because their words are not valid. is a leader, a leader is not the one who has power, but the one who is able to help

their community, the one who is able to help their community and they are not doing it. Congratulations on you. I think you speak Spanish and you understand that as Spanish we have three jobs to take our children forward. I think you can understand you, to you, Ms. Neida? We are women and we have to support. Many families of families are there. Thank you, you have a good job, but you have a good job. But think about the families of families that are there, for their rent. They have a letter that they have to take care of. Who will they support? We are not going to ask.

We want the rent control. And I have a question for you three. señor pil becerra señor peñalosa señora neida el momento que ustedes decían tomales así en su puesto que prometieron ayudar a su comunidad o ayudar a su bolsillo

pregúntense dónde están parados ustedes nosotros lo hemos respetado pero creo que ustedes a nosotros como comunidad se han burlado de lo que decimos de las historias de todas estas personas que estamos en nuestra comunidad y que no velan por nuestros intereses, velan por los suyos. No les importa lo que pase en nuestras comunidades. Y les recuerdo, nosotros votamos por ustedes y nosotros votaremos si ustedes no toman una buena decisión, porque ya les suplicamos mucho tiempo. Gracias. Gracias. Thank you.

Silvia Hernandez, Diana Paz, and Alfonso Gonzales.

Good evening to all. Thank you for being here for this second time around. I'll get to the point. We've heard many stories about all the people. I like to speak as a single mom, and there are many single moms out there who are suffering because they don't have rent control. Over 90% of the people are experiencing domestic violence and they can't go anywhere because of rent. They're expensive. And you don't understand our situation because you have good jobs.

Many people who wanted to come here cannot because they're working. They're cleaning offices at night. They're working two jobs. and the families are working and they cannot be here. And the people are the one who put you there and the people, we the people can remove you. Let me ask you a question, Ms. Anelida, Mr. Peñalosa, Mr. Becerra, I'm asking you whose side are you on? And many years ago, I walked to the city of Sanelida,

I supported your elections, I supported your campaigns, but then when I got sick, no one called, no one was worried about how I was doing or if I was able to pay rent. And as a volunteer, I saw myself how two elderly people, 80 and 83 years old, were evicted because they could not pay rent even during the pandemic. And that's because your word is no good. So

You as a leader watches for the community, a leader supports the community, and you're not doing that. So some of us have to work three jobs to support our families. As women, you speak Spanish, so you understand me. As women, we need to support each other, but you're not doing that. You're not supporting the people who are looking after the people. We are not asking now. We are demanding. We want rent control now. and I'd like to ask a question to Mr. Becerra, Mr. Peñalosa, and Ms. Nelida. You promised during your campaigns that you would support the community, that you would support the people.

So where do you stand now? And you have laughed when we come to tell you our stories, that people come tell you the stories. And we need to have rent control now. you need to vote. And as I said before, we voted for you. And if you don't vote accordingly, you need to make a good decision. Diana Paz, followed by Alfonso González, followed by Gaby Mendoza.

Buenas noches. Perdón, pero estaba primero que ellos. Creo que me saltó, pero está bien. Soy Silvia Hernández, del vecindario Eastside. and as part of that 59% of inquilinos that rent here in Santana I'm here again again to demand to my representative David Peña Loza that unfortunately no me has to hear me I hope he returned soon Nélida, Mendoza, Phil, Baserra and all of you to ensure that with your vote that finally the rent in Santana finally stabilizes.

We can't continue to stay in this situation year by year, asking the same thing, because many families with the minimum salary, we do, for example, $2,240, working 8 hours, we do $2,240 a month, and the rent is in 2,150, in 2,200, then it is not enough to pay the rest. So if cities like Santa Monica, which have their residents, their residents have a much greater power,

they can have a much greater control of the rent. Why Santa Ana? I have not heard that it is a city that is not a prosperous city. or I have not heard that they are not going to do business there in those cities. I tell the people that they are going to do business here. That is not happening there. And even with the rent stabilization with a maximum of 3%, you still, the proprietors, would receive their devolition. That is for sure.

We have been discussing that a lot and we call it just cause. We don't ask more than just cause. So, we hope to hear your vote today. Because if Santa Monica could do it, why Santa Ana no? Good night.

good evening and um sylvia hernandez from the east side neighborhood uh over as it's been mentioned over 59 percent of uh i'm here supporting uh 59 of renters uh in in santa ana and i'm here again to ask my representative who's not here david peña los i hope you can hear it later nivida Mendoza, Phil Becerra to vote for rent stabilization in Santa Ana. We cannot go go on like this year after year for the same issue. We earn minimum wage and earn on eight hours a day 22,240

and rents are from 2150 to 2200. And we need to make do with with the rest for for the month. And if Santa Monica could do it and act right now, and they have a much greater economic power than Santa Ana, why can Santa Ana not do it? I haven't heard that Santa Monica is not a successful city or Santa Ana is not doing great, is not great for business. So if you pass rent stabilization and a 3% maximum, the landlords, you will still make your money.

We run the numbers, you will still make your money. It's just cost, that's why it's called that. It's nothing more than that, just cost. So we are here, we'd like to hear your vote. And if Santa Monica can do it, why Santa Ana could not? Alfonso Gonzalez followed by Gaby Mendoza, followed by Isabel Lopez.

Followed by Maria Garcia, followed by Dwayne Schiff, followed by Dale Helwig.

Dale, I see you. Is there any, Maria Garcia or Dwayne Schiff?

Followed by Candace Holcomb, followed by Nathaniel Greensides.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members that are still here, city staff.

Whether you buy or rent, or I should say whether you rent an apartment that was built before 1995 or after 1995, I think it's bad practice to raise rents more than once a year. I think that needs to be changed. But I don't think this ordinance is the right answer for everything. I'm not even sure that a fiscal impact has been done to determine what the cost to the city will be in implementing this program.

I believe at the last meeting that we had, no one was ready to hit the ground running to implement rent control on day one if it was an urgent ordinance that was passed. In fact, they said it'd be about 12 months through a consultant to get this thing up and running. And it could be millions of dollars that the city has to pay in order to implement the program. Now, rent control is not the answer for everybody. Santa Monica has a lot of people controlling that. I think we could use that money to provide assistance

to people that need the assistance.

If we have to spend that much money to control this process, it's going to take a hit on the budget. And that money can be used elsewhere.

The city was given a lot of relief money to make sure that renters were made whole through the pandemic. We still have millions of dollars to disperse. You know, it's baffling to me that landlords have been able to evict people during the pandemic. we could use the money that we are going to have to spend to control rent control, put them into code enforcement, and make sure that the landlords are behaving the way they should be.

But to implement rent control as a catch-all, control everything, there are bad actors out there i'm sure but you don't implement a program to deal with the bad actors you get code enforcement out there to deal with the bad actors and take care of it like that so the other thing is

the idea that eight amendments to the ordinance were introduced last meeting at 1.30 or 12.30 in the morning, eight amendments to the ordinance. How many people were actually listening to that? You know, I had to leave here at 10.30 last meeting because it was so cold here because most people left. I stayed at home and watched it until two in the morning when you guys finally approved the first reading. That was with the amendments to the ordinance.

And so I don't think it's good practice to keep on going on this route, and we're going to do it again tonight probably. You'll vote on it after everybody's gone home. People have got to go to work tomorrow. They can't stay up until 2 o'clock to figure out what you're going to do. So I know Mr. Becerra has that as a discussion item for later on tonight, and I hope we get to the practice. look you can wrap up yeah i hope we get to the practice of ending these meetings a little bit sooner thank you candace holcomb followed by nathaniel greensides followed by yoselinda mendoza followed by tracy law

good evening mary and city council my name is candace holcomb i am a housing provider for two communities here in santa ana uh one they're both small one's 130 spaces and the other one's 48. the homes are owned by the individuals and they rent the land these are mobile home parks the owners of these communities have owned them since one since 1970 and the other since 1980.

I've sat and I've listened.

Last time you spoke about this, the first time we were really hearing about this as a provider. I was sick that night and I stayed home. I stayed home and watched until one o'clock in the morning. I was on the line and unfortunately I did get disconnected. So I wasn't able to speak, but I am better and I'm here tonight to do so. So there's some things that I'm listening to. One, we have been in a state of emergency. Rents in a state of emergency in the state cannot increase more than 10%. We started in that state of emergency in 2020, and we're continuing.

So if you look at 10%, that's a little bit over 3%, 3%, 3%. percent the eviction moratorium the courts have been closed we have not been able to get anybody in to evict anybody for non-payment and we haven't even tried and i'll tell you why we have applied for the rental assistance program our our folks have been approved um that didn't get funded until september so we went without rents from july or actually March of 2020 all the way until September of 2021.

I do thank you for that, for pushing that through. We've been able to hold on, but our rents are sometimes increased because our insurance rates are also increased. These fires that we've had in California have tripled our insurance rates.

there have been a lot of protections um what i'm mainly seeing is 80 of cpi not cpi so if you look at a three percent cpi and you're only getting 80 how am i going to sustain that as a as a provider i don't see it and i'm really disappointed in the fact that none of this from this council has been brought forward to property owners that's been the hardest the hardest part we've been a partner with you guys for a long time since 1970 and 1980 and not even reaching out to us to see

if there's a memorandum of understanding that can happen or what the issues completely are thank you thank you Nathaniel Greensides followed by Yoselinda Mendoza followed by Tracy Law

Hello City Council, my name is Nathaniel Greensides. I want to start with a statement. Brandon Lopez would be alive today had our system been created with people like him in mind. Instead, the system criminalized him and continues to criminalize people like him from a young age, while his murderers still carry guns in our neighborhoods and communities. Our system criminalizes, not adhering to a system created by some white male landowners who created this system in 1776 and also owned slaves. Yet one aspect of this inherently biased system remains ideal to me at least, the ability

to create systems of governance which actually serve its people because of the will of its people. That is the actual American dream and these rent control ordinances are exactly that. rent increase caps and just cause protections will ease the burden of existing in a system that wasn't designed for people like us, people like Brandon. This past weekend tenants shared with us what will be possible for their families now with tenant protections like these.

One person shared they'll be able to afford their medications. Another said the decreased stress of unlimited increases will allow her to be able to focus on helping her kids study. Another person said they'll be able to save money towards a down payment on a home not for themselves but for their parents with whom they currently live. So without rent control, we had over 16,000 building and health code violations that was brought forth to the meeting earlier. Yet landlords claim claim they can't upgrade or maintain properties with the currently unlimited rent increases.

These ordinances will continue to allow good landlords to be good landlords yet it's a bad landlord for the most vocal here. Some opponents claim that these laws will somehow hurt tenants and if that was true, Why didn't they tell their tenants about these new laws that supposedly hurt tenants? Why haven't any other tenants voice opposition against these proposed ordinances? So it's not leave it up to interpretation or speculation. If tenants knew about these protections, those tenants would be here in support.

Some opposition, I made their identities known tonight, and I really hope they don't raise rents above the 3% that's being proposed or serve arbitrary eviction notices before these ordinances would become effective. The sad reality in California because of a state law known as Costa Hawkins is that rent increase caps cannot extend to single family homes, condos, or buildings constructed after 1995. Just cause and rent cap increases protections won't apply to properties actually owned by mom and pop landlords because of Costa Hawkins and the recently passed AB 1482. Not LLCs or landlords. Those units will be subject.

Mom and pop landlords need not worry since they'll remain unaffected. The LLCs and corporations who think that 3% yearly increases on top of the equity gains this year's loan was 15% are still somehow not enough for these LLCs and corporations. The studies against rent control by supposed nonpartisan academics receive large donations from being capitalist corporations after all. Also many of those studies against rent control utilize outdated definitions of rent control which are inapplicable to the ordinance is being considered here tonight.

Modern rent control exists in 18 cities here in California, we can enact it here too, especially because our residents need it and three percent increases annually hardly constitutes a taking look it up it's case law people like tim rush leave santa anna because of this i only wish that we had enacted these ordinances sooner i pray that the opposition will never experience what they inflict on tenants like us that some cops won't kill their family on the street in front of their family's own eyes especially during a mental health crisis i didn't know you personally

Brandon. You deserve to be able to raise your family here in Santa Ana to be able to continue to live and thrive. That's in power my friend. Yoselinda Mendoza followed by Tracy Law followed by Alondra Salazar. Good evening to you all my name is Yoselinda and I'm a volunteer Tenants Rights Counselor for Tenants United Santana and I'm hoping you all vote in favor of agenda item of number nine, enacting rent stabilization and eviction protections in the city of Santana. COVID-19 emergency housing protections have expired, leaving many families at risk of experiencing predatory rent hikes and

unjust evictions in the middle of one of our most deadliest pandemic. This alone highlights the urgency for immediate, permanent and real protections for residents in the city of Santana. I also urge you all to enact a rent increased freeze to prevent landlords from unjustly increasing the rent during the 30-day period before the ordinance comes into an effect. Preventing displacement and keeping people house should be a priority to preserve the very culture of the city of Santa Ana and to foster stable, healthy, and thriving communities. Enacting rent control is possible. As previously mentioned,

18 jurisdictions in California have rent control and it has demonstrated that it does in fact work. A study on the impact of rent control in San Francisco found that it increased the probability that residents will remain in their home by nearly 20%. This proposed ordinance in Santa Ana has the ability to do just that. And I also want to extend all the comfort and love to all the loved ones of Brandon Lopez. Police are simply unequipped to handle a mental health crisis. When we invest millions of our city budget on police, we disinvest at the very thing we aim to do, creating public safety. Investing equitable housing helps create

public safety. Thank you all for your time. Tracy Law, followed by Alondra Salazar, followed by Valerie Esqueda, followed by Mesley Lopez.

Good evening, City Council. My name is Tracy Law. I'm a resident of Ward 1, and I'm the child of Vietnamese refugees. I have been a renter my entire life. I'm here representing my organization VietRise to speak on agenda item nine, and to urge you all to vote yes on in support of rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections. I also wanna say thank you to the city clerk and members of the council for allowing the senior residents to speak this morning, or sorry, speak earlier today. It is really difficult for senior, disabled, elderly Vietnamese residents to come speak to places like this.

Three years ago, these residents actually showed up here to see council, they rented their own bus. They stayed until 1am and had to wait until the time to speak. And I learned that half of them actually had to go to urgent care and had to go to the hospital because they missed their medications. And last time when they spoke, you know, they couldn't really even be heard. So thank you so much for allowing that to happen. And thank you for hearing that there are Vietnamese residents in the city that are facing this certain solidarity with the renters and everyone else

was facing this issue too. So as you can see, for the last several weeks, we have been organizing with these seniors from our community who have all been facing exploitative rent gouting. It has been a blessing to organize with them and learn their stories for them to hear ours. We have joined together as members from multiple generations to fight to protect our elders, our seniors, and every generation of renters that come after that is affected and would benefit from this rent control ordinance. And so just so you can hear them one last time. I'm going to read a petition that was signed by 71

residents in the Valley High Senior Mobile Home Park. We the undersigned all current residents of Valley High Mobile Home Park for low income seniors in Santa Ana, hereby express our deepest gratitude and most sincere appreciation for the city's bold emergency rescue measure in the form of its first rent stabilization and tenant eviction protection ordinance, especially for vulnerable constituents like us One, securing access to affordable housing. Two, struggling to make ends meet month in and month out. Three, crying out everywhere for help. Four, barely managing to survive on the brink of overlapping.

Looming calamities have posed critical, even life-threatening challenges for senior residents of Santa Ana living on fixed income and limited financial resources for years. Many of our neighbors have succumbed to early deaths, or have become severely ill from the unbearable toll of worrying about all sorts of housing insecurity and associated dangers. We are simply living precariously on the brink of physical, mental, and emotional breaking points that any single triggering event could render us totally incapacitated, isolated, and effectively

homeless. This action shows that the city has finally heard the crescendo of cries for help and has come to rescue in the most determined way possible. This is for Mayor Sarmiento, Council members Fan, Hernandez, and Lopez, who voted yes. Thank you very much for having the political will and humane resolve to stand in the gap to rescue the poor, the sickly, and the most vulnerable of Santanans first, along with 55% of our resident population who are renters, financially overwhelmed with unreasonable rent increases. To those who voted yes last time, you were doing the right thing, the right way, for all the right

reasons for those about no you have the chance to turn back that no and vote yesterday thank you

along that is followed by valerie esqueda followed by meslie lopez followed by david carvajal

hello my name is alondra i am here to speak in support of rental control i come here today with a lot of gratitude towards the continuous efforts that the volunteers of attendance United Santana and community members have invested and continue to invest in the work towards rent control and just cause evictions. As many people have already mentioned, there have been multiple efforts throughout many years to fight for rent control. And as you already know, after the ballot initiative was not fully supported by city council members in 2018, many community members walk various neighborhoods throughout the city to ultimately

collect over 9,000 signatures. We dedicated many weekday evenings after work, sometimes collecting signatures until 9 or 10 p.m., even though we had to work the next day, and many weekend mornings, afternoons, both Saturdays and Sundays, even though we could be resting. Although we fell short from the expected number of signatures, volunteers did not stop. The following year, volunteers assessed what improvements could have been made to a rent control campaign, as well as were intentional on expanding their capacity to become tenants counselors.

This is not fully describe all of the work that tenants unit is on thana and community members have invested into this fight. But I think it's important to highlight the countless amount of time and effort invested in order to underline just how much the people have been wanting rent control in their community for a while now. Well, I am grateful. I also understand that it should have it should not have taken so much work to convince city council about the need to implement ordinance that would help keep their community members housed.

At the end of the day, housing should be all right. And so in addition, I want to urge city council to enact the rent freeze to protect tenants. It does not make sense to raise rents on people who are merely trying to survive a pandemic. Enact a rent freeze to protect families in the meantime, while we all continue to fight for rent control. Lastly, as mentioned, Amy English voice of voice of OC article housing is not just any consumer good. It is a necessity of life and rent should be regulated for the public good. It should be treated like any other public good like food, water and air.

We need rent control to help us protect the greatest cultural and economic asset Santana has its people. My condolences to the family of Brandon Lopez another life taken by police just proven proving once again that police do not keep our community safe and they never will. Rest in peace Brandon Lopez. Thank you. Valerie Esqueda followed by Mesli Lopez followed by David Carvajan followed by Maria Ceja. Hello everybody tonight. When I hear the concerns of those lined up in opposition of this item, I hear that they don't quite understand the conditions that our people in Santana face.

I hear that they primarily worry about their investments suffering. The people of Santana who are here in support of rent control and those who couldn't be and here in support in person understand that an apartment is a home and so much more than someone's ability to profit so many of our community members become at risk of eviction when they receive the rent increase that is too high to keep up with we are asking for a rent cap that can keep people housed and slow down the rapid rates of displacement with just cause protections all 18 rent control

ordinances in california include an individual petition process for landlords to request permission to impose larger rent increases if it is necessary to make a reasonable return. Property owners claiming that this is rushed, why should this be slowed down when property owners continuously ignore our humanity? They literally profit off of our suffering, to quote the elder from Ballyhai. We have elders, youth, parents in our community here in front of our council, members urging for the kind of change proposed by item 9. As long as housing is prioritized for its profitable margins. We will never have stable and healthy communities.

Just in the last couple of weeks since rent control was put on the agenda, I've heard of various people across our city experience rent increases as landlords waste no time to impose the maximum allowable increase. Every day, our communities face some form of violence, whether it be outwardly visible or slow. Unjust evictions and flimsy renter protections facilitate violence, normalized use of lethal force by police facilitates violence. Brandon Lopez should be alive today. My condolences to his family. As Councilmember Hernandez said, a mental health crisis should not equal execution.

The Anaheim PD recklessly and shamefully ignored his humanity. Unnecessary suffering will continue until we create the systems to reflect and support our right to thrive regardless of our income level. Please vote in favor of item nine. I urge the city of Santana to also enact a temporary rent freeze to protect those renters right now while rent control goes into effect. Thank you tonight. Next, we Lopez, followed by David Carvajal, followed by Maria Seja, followed by Jesus Santana. Good evening, Mayor Sarmiento and Council members.

My name is Meshly Lopez and I'm here tonight to speak in favor of item nine on the agenda. At the same time, I would like to express my condolences to Councilmember Jonathan Hernandez, who is actually my representative. I'm really sorry for the way that your cousin was murdered. No one should ever die like that. He was brutally murdered. Brandon Lopez should be alive today.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, the job of elected officials is very high stakes because it carries with it life and death implications for the people you are elected to serve. The choices of politicians who came before you at the state, city, and federal level left us extra vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic. And the same can be said about the impacts of allowing police officers to carry forth murdering our community members with impunity. The choices you make tonight will either help to safeguard vulnerable communities for a long time to come or leave them defenseless in the face of large-scale suffering.

For Santana's majority renter, low-income, mixed status, immigrant, and multi-generational households, a 3% max allowable rent increase is responsive to the demographics of the city. And to quote again the article that Amy Inglis published earlier this week in the Voice of OC, housing is not just any consumer good, it is a necessity of life and rent should be regulated for the public good. It should be treated like any other public good like food, water, and air. We need rent control to help us protect the greatest cultural and economic asset Santana has,

which is its people. I also want to speak briefly about the term dispossession, which is the action of depriving someone of land, property, or other possessions. And I would like to add that life. And that when you make choices today, you either will be voting in favor of preventing further dispossession, the dispossession of immigrant, refugee communities, communities of color who are just they have um some of them have had to migrate because they've been they've had their land taken away and we understand here that folks never migrate unless

they're pushed to it folks would rather stay home and that the dispossession has become so normalized that we see our land our property and our very lives taken from us on a day-to-day basis and and that just becomes business as usual. But you all, like I said before, you have the power to enact policies that could either prevent suffering or allow it to continue. And that those choices also carry very high stakes.

Yeah, they're high stakes and sorry, I'm feeling very emotional being up here. We shouldn't have to defend our humanity this way. Thank you.

David Carvajal followed by Maria Ceja, followed by Jesus Santana, followed by Luis Serviento.

Good evening, City Council. My name is David Carvajal. I am a resident of Ward 4, and I'm in here in support of Agenda Item 9, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. The night has been really long. Most of us have worked long days. And we're now here in front of you once again, asking you to put the needs of our community first. We know the facts. We've shared them over and over again with you. Santana is extremely ramp-burdened. Community members are facing rent hikes. People are being evicted. It's happening right now outside of the chambers.

cities across California already have rent stabilization cities like San Francisco Santa Monica Los Angeles rent civilization works Santana needs to be added to this list the people of Santana deserve to remain where remain in the city they have deep roots in our students deserve to remain in a school in school and not have to face evictions that disrupt their learning. Our elders, many of who we heard tonight, deserve to live in their mobile homes and shouldn't have to face between paying the rent or with their fixed income or paying for

their medication. I was born and raised in the city. I'm a product of the Santa Ana Inupai School District. My mother was a housekeeper and my siblings and I rode in the back of our minivan on the weekends all through our childhood. We drove to Newport Beach, we drove to Irvine, to clean other people's houses. This is how we survived. We struggled to pay rent we were living. We've been paying rent at the apartment I live in still to this day since I was seven months old. This is the truth of so many tenants here in Santana. Residents deserve to live dignified

lives. We ask that you support agenda item nine tonight and that we implement a rent freeze while ordinance takes effect. My city is changing. It's constantly getting harder and harder to live here and we all belong here. I also want to take this moment to send my deepest condolences to the family of Brandon Lopez who was brutally murdered by the Anaheim Police Department here in Santana. So many of us here tonight believe in a world in which we don't have to rely on police for other people for things other people are more qualified or for. We dream of a world

in which we fund mental health programs and social services programs more than we fund our police departments. I, and so many of us here tonight, also believe in a world in which we recognize that housing is fundamental to our mental health, a world in which Brandon also deserve to live in. Thank you. Maria Ceja, followed by Jesus Santana, followed by Luis Sarmiento, followed by Carla Juarez.

Good evening City Council Mayor and City Council. My name is Maria Ceja. I am a lifelong Santanera and a volunteer tenant counselor with Tenants United Santana. You know, I was thinking tonight about how I can present myself today. I can say all the numbers, I can say all the data to support and back my proposal to you to pass rent control and just cost protections.

But recently our community faced and once again another destabilization occurrence in which one of our community members is brutally murdered and that just reflects how our community, I mean our city council and our local government has not reflected. Protecting the needs of our residents here and I'm truly so sorry about your loss Jonathan Hernandez.

and that when I heard about this, I thought about what I had to face growing up here, what my brother had to face growing up here, and the de-disabilization that kids all over our neighborhoods are facing till this day. Santana can be one of the cities in California to have rent control and just cause protections to protect our communities and actually serve them and not prevent them from being destabilized and displaced from our communities. Santana needs that security so we can keep, we can remain and prosper here. We also need to be protected as in the case that you do approve this ordinance,

in the case that you do approve rent control and just cause, we need a temporary rent increase to prevent any rent increase during the 30-day period before these laws do come into effect. I am at a loss of words. I really can't I feel like I cannot say enough about why we need this for our city and our community members. So thank you. Su Santana, followed by Luis Armiento, followed by Carla Juarez, followed by Benjamin Mendoza, Benjamin Vasquez.

You could all get ready to speak as soon as the former speaker is done. That way we can get through this a little quicker, please.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council members. My name is Jesus Santana. I'm a born and raised Santanero. I currently live in Ward 4. I've been living here all my life. I'm currently a volunteer with Tenants United Santana. and I support the Sullivan Action team in the Sullivan community. First and foremost, I would like to express my condolences to Jonathan Hernandez. I'm sorry for your loss, for your cousin. Rest in power, Brandon. It's hard and it's difficult. And my love and respects go out to you and your family and your Lopez family as well.

Mental health and housing are two topics that have stuck with me tonight. Believe it or not, they are currently the crisis that have prevented many of our community members from going to sleep at night. These moments of uncertainty, despair, pain have really bruised up and scarred our loved ones here in Santana. It's time for our community to heal, like a mentor of mine who has shared and I really appreciate and love. We must transform these cycles of violence and harm into cycles of love and peace.

Y'all want to know how you can start helping our community to heal? By supporting and voting in favor of Agenda Item 9 regarding rent control, just cost protections, and a rent freeze until the local protections go into effect. Rain control is not punishment for landlords. It's not. It's a protection for most vulnerable community members. All landlords should follow basic practices like reasonable rain creases and only evicting for good reason. For good reason. These are foundational principles

and should apply to all landlords, large or small. To live a life with respect, dignity and honor as all our residents are asking for. Today I have heard from the residents who attended the July 10th Tulivan community march that they started receiving 60 day notices. Do you all know what that means? It hasn't even been a week in October and the eviction tsunami has initiated. That's what it means. Y'all wanna know why the community is upset and why y'all heard all those negative remarks?

It's because we have failed and we're not protecting our loved ones. Those who voted against rent control. The community heard your last time. So please, let's listen to them. They are speaking. They are the ones who are coming from their homes and living this tragedy day by day. We got to do more. We got to do the best we can to serve our community members. the abuse the generational trauma the violence that these corporations and landlords have enacted in our black and brown communities must must come to an end this capitalistic ideology

that prioritizes profit over people is not welcome here in santana take your business back to the city and states y'all come from you know what we say here in santana when our community is under attack what do we do that's right last but not least now that i finally know who my council member is which is you know which by the way thank you for confirming that daisy um you know i would like to encourage my representative phil vasera who's not here present you know to support and vote in favor of agenda item nine regarding rate control just cause protections and a ramp freeze until the local protections is going to effect. Lights red.

Okay, my bad. Last comment. Do y'all know who these white people are? Neither do I. They don't live here in Santana. They don't live here in Santana. They gotta listen to the brown people. Thank you. Luis Sarmiento, Carla Juarez, followed by Benjamin Vasquez, followed by Vicky Talley.

Good evening, everyone. Thank you for Thank you for listening. My name is Luis Armiento and I am a lifelong resident here in Santana. Also the program director for our community land trust Thrive Santana.

I also want to start off by offering my condolences to Councilmember Hernandez.

for the loss for the murder and unjust loss of your cousin.

I'll try to be brief. I do wanna say that we have lost already too many people in our community to different types of violence.

and over and over losing loved ones due to the unhealthy conditions in which we are forced to live the protections that we're talking about uh renter protections in item nine are basic and And so I'm here tonight to speak, to ask you to support the rental protections named in item nine, as well as a freeze on rent increases while the ordinance goes into effect.

And I'd just like to share that I feel privileged to stand with community members who have come together overcoming countless challenges, creating solutions to the issues that impact all of us. Thank you. Carla Juarez followed by Benjamin Vasquez followed by Vicky Talley followed by Farron Kidd.

Good evening. My name is Carla Juarez, long time resident of Santana. I also want to start my condolences to the familia Hernandez and Lopez. This is not the first incident and I am like truly saddened and I try to hold back tears that it won't be the last. In 2003, Elmore Bustos was also shot in the back, 17 year old at Willard neighborhood.

The police stopped them and he ran. They knew who he was, the same as your cousin. They knew who he was. His father was there. They could have sent his father to take him out of the car. The police could have let Elmore go and just go to his house and find him there, but they decided to shoot him and murder them.

This has to stop, and it will stop. Community will keep coming back. And I am paying my attention to Mr. Phil Becerra because you are my council member and my ward. rent control has to pass the landlords are here don't live here we do

eight percent is what the state mandates eight percent no more than eight percent we're asking for three and the landlords are tripping out because there's a five percent difference they think their banks is going to break over five percent difference now imagine the families that they can't pay their rent when it's 10% or more.

You've heard us many times, you know us, you know me, you know all the community members that come in and we're not leaving. The same as all the families on Bristol because of eminent domain, y'all got rid of them. You weren't here. Well, they're not here either, but their descendants are coming back. We don't forget what you guys do.

And then these landlords,

they think it's a joke that the evictions don't happen. They think we're making this up, but we're the ones out there on the streets, complaining that police officers are helping this self evictions. And then all these people don't go to court because they don't have money because they don't have papers and they're intimidated in there for real these are happening and i don't care how many times they left or how many times they come because all this community keeps on coming back the reason why i don't have kids because i can't afford them

because i don't want them to go through this like honestly i am barely like holding on to life because it sucks, but I am here because I have my brother and my sister to think of. And they also need to move out eventually, but they can't afford it because the rents are too damn high. Thank you for my time. Thank you. Benjamín Vázquez, followed by Vicky Talley, followed by Farron Kidd, followed by Dominic Barrett.

Good evening, Mayor, good evening, City Council. My condolences to the family of Brandon Lopez and Councilmember Jonathan Hernandez. My deep condolences. In the city we do need police oversight for these reasons. We need police oversight now because we need accountability of some kind. We have a district attorney who won't go after killer cops. We have a police department that votes in Jerry Serrano every year, every year, every year. they continue to vote this man in jerry serrano went after a police chief got him fired but first had to fire city manager to get that guy got fired recalled the city council member a vote of no

confidence and he threatened to burn down the city we need accountability for the police department this is ongoing we need an oversight or we will have more debts at the at the hands of police I'm also here in solidarity with the Valley High seniors and TUSA and calling for rent control. As a teacher at Valley High School, I have my kids survey their community of what are the issues in their communities. They survey each other. Rent control is always at the top for the last five years.

I had a boy tell me, we've been kicked out of our garage. every year in high school. Because they they had no justice.

They live in the garage and they're getting kicked out every year.

I'm asking for rent control. We see the people who voted for it and it's the new council. And I appreciate each of you, the new the new folks voted in with the new mayor. It's a new way of doing Santa Ana. The old council sells out. Santa no se vende. We don't. Santa no se vende.

Vicki Talley followed by Farron Kidd, followed by Dominic Barrett, followed by Clay Hogg.

I'm the Mayor, members of the City Council, Vicki Talley. I'm the Executive Director of the Manufactured Housing Educational Trust, and I think you know that I represent the owners of the mobile home park communities in the City of Santa Ana as well as Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. It was interesting this evening that you began with about 17 folks from Valley High Mobile Home Park organized by a very good community organizer. pictures up here for you and everything and they testified at how

egregious the rents were in the park i want to give you some statistics i think the record needs to be set straight and i do believe that the people here in the audience tonight are going to be rather shocked to find out what those folks are paying for rent valley high has 115 55 spaces 119 of those spaces pay rent of $887 a month. I have no idea and I challenge any one of you to find a place where any one of those seniors could live cheaper. Of course they have to pay.

Of course they have to pay their utilities just like every other renter and every other homeowner has to but there's more statistics to look at bad mobile home community owner subsidizes and 14 people in that park when they're in need they're receiving help that's the program i've talked with you about that our organization sponsors the city with all the outreach and everything on your community emergency funding is funding and approved two people in that part one other has applied and

will probably be helped what is the crisis here these people are being misled as are most of the people who have been at your podium tonight testifying they have moved from needing to have rent control to now wanting a rent freeze and you even hearing they want rent reductions i mean what next you will never be able to satisfy them they are being they truly are not being honest with their constituency and they're not being honest with you please uh be respectful i

would like to i would like to frankly repeat what we heard at the last meeting because it was so important the questions that Council Member Mendoza asked will rent control stop rent increases the answer was no will rent control stop evictions the answer was no this is not the answer folks the answer is to learn what's going on why people are feeling feeling the way they are and you've listen to how well programs that are that our community owners have and your housing providers

have like our rental assistance program please please reconsider this action and let's not move forward this evening with a second reading thank you very very much farron kid followed by dominic Brett followed by Clay Hogg followed by Pedro Magallone.

Good evening. My name is Farron Kidd. I'm a representative of the Black community in Orange County, standing in solidarity with the Brown community, standing in solidarity with the Lopez family, standing in solidarity with Councilman Jonathan Hernandez and their loss for their family member and their community member Brandon Lopez. It's no secret that police oversight is a significant issue to black and brown community members all across this nation. What it may have been a long period of time where police oversight, the conversation of

it has been disregarded and minimized as not significant. despite innumerable complaints by members of the community, especially those of us who are Black and Brown, that police have been brutalizing us, harassing us, framing us, and murdering us for years. In light of all the videos that we now see substantiating severe police misconduct.

We can no longer pretend that police oversight is not an emphatic necessity.

And because it's completely illogical to ask the police to oversee themselves. We would never ask criminals to investigate criminals.

We support. Council members. To form an oversight committee of law enforcement in this city.

Not only do we support it. But the people demand it.

To that end, in light of the recent murder of Santa Ana community member Brandon Lopez by the Anaheim Police Department in this city, and it's appropriate to call it a murder,

the police didn't have to kill Brandon Lopez. They chose to kill Brandon Lopez because they wanted to kill Brandon Lopez.

We demand that Santa Ana. Pursue full justice for Brandon Lopez by holding the Anaheim Police Department fully accountable, and you can begin that process by releasing the names of the center and a police officers who acted as agents in aiding Anaheim Police Department in the assassination of Brandon Lopez.

Further, you can initiate that process by releasing all the footage from the Santa Ana Police Department's body cam footage on body cam videos that night, as well as any additional footage that will allow the public transparency into what actually happened that night, because we know the narrative that that that Anaheim Police Department wants to push ain't really it. Every year, police budgets get bigger and bigger, but crime rates don't get smaller and smaller. We know that the solution to crime is not police and more money for police, because if it was, we would have had this problem solved a long time ago.

crime is created through poverty and that's why these people want rent control because if you start taking more money out of the hands of the citizens the communities are going to get poorer and poorer then we're going to struggle with all the kinds of issues you can begin winding up then we're going to then we begin finding ourselves facing our kids facing all those issues that lead them into lives of crime. More money into the hands of mental health programs, more oversight committee from trusted representatives of law enforcement.

Thank you. Dominic Barrett, followed by Clay Hogg, followed by Pedro Magallon. Clay Hogg,

followed by Pedro Magallon, followed by Victor Cow, followed by Vanessa Gonzalez.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. My name is Clay Haig. I operate two mobile home parks in Santa Ana.

Forty years ago when I first went to work for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, I learned very quickly that three supervisors out of five was better than having two supervisors out of five to vote your way. Tonight I recognize that Santa Ana City Council has a 4-3 vote for this rent control ordinance. But I got to tell you, what I've seen tonight is nothing more than a push with raw political power to get their way.

And you hear it because with insults and threats to the city council members, the people who represent them. What we hear tonight is you got to have rent control so that we can have dignity, so that we can have social justice, so that we can prevent suffering. I can tell you from years of experience that rent control will do nothing, nothing like that. I've been in Yucaipa when they invented when they enacted a rent control ordinance, and there were cheers and those everybody's high-fiving.

Five months later, there was tears when we saw one park after another getting a hundred dollars, 125, 135 dollar rent increases under rent control. And it's going to happen here, honest to God it's going to happen here too, and so all the promises all those promises for social justice for dignity they're going to go right out the window with those hundred and $15 rent increases because that's what's guaranteed in rent control ordinances.

So what this public policy is public policy is based on a bunch of lives. This public policy is based on a bunch of failures, failures to provide that you've got high rents because of high demand. Why do you have high demand because you got low supply got more people than you have units somewhere somewhere. There was a failure in providing those housing housing units. You've heard stories about evictions tonight. Where were they? Nobody has even asked one question. Show me one eviction that's happened during the pandemic when the courts are closed.

You don't see it. I tell you what. You're hearing it over and over again. So I tell you what. Let's not vote for this thing because it is not going to work. It's based on lies and without that foundation, this public policy is bad. Thank you. Pedro Magallon followed by Victor Cal followed by Vanessa Gonzalez followed by Julie Pauly.

Please, if I can ask everybody to just their voices down.

Thank you. Good evening, Marion City Council. I was here a little bit over a month ago, and I'm standing here as a miracle because I almost died. I was in the hospital for nine days, and ICU for four days. I'm here already right now about ready to pass out, but I cannot go home and not speak on item number 16. And I beg you guys today to not pass anything of this in the park and recreations, because this woman right here,

Lisa Bess, she is being deceiving and she is lying to you guys. I asked you for a meeting. Your secretary was very helpful. Thank you for accepting the meeting, but it's worthless when it's in October 20th. And you guys are gonna vote tonight to hear us. She hasn't given us the respect. She's still treating us like trash. I'm gonna use the same words of another Caucasian white man. She's deceiving you guys with the truth.

She has us community leaders that have had nonprofit organizations organization using the fields in Santa Ana for Santa and the kids to increase to 90%, which I do not. I'm not an opposed to that. I agree 100% to them. But how come Mother Day will only comply with 50% San and a resident because they are the rich?

So she's hiding a lot of the truth. And I would like to ask you guys for an exercise. I know you guys can't engage and give us, but you can raise your hand. How many of you guys have actually seen the old policies and procedures versus the new policies and procedures?

Can I get your hand? to if you raise your hand, that means you've seen them. If you don't raise your hand, that means you have not seen them. She's not letting us speak. Look at this big, important ornament or something that's going to happen, and she's trying to hide the new policies and procedures that she's trying to implement. She doesn't know how much she's going to hurt our community, the kids in our community, but yet she makes more than what any organization, sports organization in Santa Ana makes. And she goes home and she pays taxes in another city.

And we all know it's not a secret. She's leaving too. Pedro, speak to the policy probably a little bit better. She's leaving too. And she's going to leave us with some deceiving areas and materials. So please do not vote on that. Help us talk to you guys. I said when I came here, I welcome change, but not the kind of changes she's trying to do, because she's only trying to help very little people and they're not even from Santa Ana. So thank you and I hope I can come healthy to the next meeting. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Victor Cow followed by Vanessa Gonzalez followed by Julie Paul followed by Chad case in Heizer. Good evening, Honorable Mayor, members of the City Council. My name is Victor Cow. I'm the Senior Vice President at the California Apartment Association.

We've assembled a coalition of rental housing providers, even homeowner groups, neighborhood council representatives, and there are other groups that feel disenfranchised by the process that the city or actually lack of process the city has laid out for the rent control ordinance. There have been on record affordable housing operators within the community that expressed concerns as well as crime victims groups. And the issue is that the city has overlooked its own processes in comparison again the general plan as well as other housing issues

within the community had more extensive process. We do classify that these meetings were secret and the fact that public access is barred and for those that many of you that have run on the idea of more sunshine within city government, they simply shrouded the entire process you know but behind closed doors.

The fact is that as a result of roughly six months of these meetings is that the The rent control and just cause ordinance are still half faked. It lacks a fiscal analysis, it lacks any substantive language to help owners follow owner's regulations.

There's been a lack of community support on this issue. There were 47,579 voters that voted to oppose rent control. And namely that in representing constituents, those that have run citywide, that is the number of constituents that should be represented. as well as the nearly 3,400 in Ward 3 that have again voted no on rent control.

That being said, we've tried to work in partnership with the city to address the challenges with housing affordability. I've been in meetings with city staff at least for the past two weeks on the rental assistance program and prior to that several months. The city's own records show that there are over 35 million dollars at the time of the report that was budgeted. The city's own records had budgeted 35 million dollars for rental assistance. Four percent, under four percent of households in the city have received any sort of help and roughly 7,700 applications were incomplete or rejected by the city.

The questions that we've raised on this issue are two. There are two scenarios.

One is that your own city staff attested to the fact that they believe that they've helped all those that actually need help. So the question is, is a problem bigger than what some of the the advocates have described here today.

There are only 4% of renters who have actually needed help, and this seems to be a solution in search of a problem. That being said is that these policies have not succeeded in any of these cities. They have the highest rates of homelessness, highest rates of income inequality. And the question that we've posed to you here today is simply to

reach out and not alienate your business community who's seeking to work in partnership with you.

Victor, if you can wind up.

Thank you. Vanessa Gonzalez, followed by Julie Paul, followed by Chad Kaysenheiser.

Hello to everybody here. I first off, I'm Vanessa Gonzalez, so I first off want to give my condolences to Council Member Hernandez. My family will be praying for your family. It's so sad to have tragedies. Tragedies like that happen in the hands of people in power, and that we hope would ultimately have the best interest of the people in the community.

Again, I am Vanessa Gonzalez. I'm a wife and a mother of three kids. Yet to meet three of them last time that spoke, and I'm also hoping to adopt another through the foster care system. I am a parent leader for the communities of Santa Ana. I volunteer alongside these many parents. It has been wonderfully amazing seeing all of us grow beginning from being parent volunteers in the Santa Ana schools, then through leadership trainings, and now many of us are graduates from phase one of COFI, which means community organizing and family issues. We very much appreciate that

item number nine for rent control and just cause evictions have now been added to the agenda these items have been huge family and community issues for a long time and we're so grateful these issues have been getting considered more seriously it is expected that there will be people against this as it has been mentioned before we are not going after the good landlords and property owners but this ordinance is extremely needed to stop the bad ones at one of the last council meetings we all heard what landlords and managers thought of many of their tenants. A lot of them did not have very nice things to say.

Their motives are very evident in their pleas against rent control. They don't want rent control because they really want to continue raising it as much as they can. They are property owners that easily forget that they have people's lives in their hands that can't get a wage increase anytime that the landlord feels they want to make extra money by raising the rents. We also heard them say that tenants should get better educations and better jobs to afford their rent. It can be just as easy to say to those landlords if they can't manage and research affordable

resources for the upkeep of their properties and need to drastically raise rents on their tenants to stay afloat, then maybe they should get better educations and better income opportunities too. That would be a really discriminatory thing to say to them, but somehow they think they can just throw that out to our Santa Ana renters. It is important to take into consideration like ages, the disabled, retired, fixed income, single parents, and multiple job working families that they're just trying to provide a roof for themselves and their loved ones. Some council members felt to see the emergency of the situation

with the state protections for renters ending. Nalila Mendoza asked if there were still programs and funds to help renters and since there was then she said that there wasn't an emergency but she keeps asking for data and it's failed to be understood that many renters cannot apply they have applied but can't qualify many renters do not have the required items to apply and as you've heard many have been denied and they're just trying to keep a roof over their head we can't provide that type of data because that type of data is not collected but we are living data

many renters also can't apply because it's a complex situation of several families living together to pay for one rent because the rent entrances make it impossible to afford their own place the data for homelessness even through the school district is incorrect because it is a little known fact that one is actually considered homeless if they do not have their own residence

Vanessa if you can start winding up the lights red thank you um pretty much even if you share

an apartment or home you're still considered homeless and a lot of people don't even mark that on their on their surveys because they don't consider themselves homeless but just thank you we can make a change and we can be part of a solution thank you thank you julie paul followed

by chad case and hyzer followed by yvette sochi what she uh good evening council and i want to

use some of my time to also express my condolences to councilman hernandez i was unknowingly sitting next to your aunt in the audience and her strength is really inspirational unfortunately we are on opposite sides of this issue um i'd like to share the editorial that the orange county register wrote in response to your september 21st vote the headline is santa anna law will decimate rental

market and it went on to quote madam clerk if you can start the clock i think it's still on red

thank you i'm sure i'll be under my three minutes the old economic saying goes you get more of what you subsidize and less of whatever you tax or punish through regulation by punishing companies that provide apartments and rental houses this the city will see less will see its rental stock dry up, something that will only exacerbate the shortages. They, referring to property owners, will be less apt to upgrade older buildings and make necessary repairs. Misbehaving tenants will more easily evade eviction, which harms the city's neighborhoods. And they quote an international economist, quote, in many cases, rent control appears to be

the single most effective technique presently known to destroy a city, except for bombing. so again there is common ground here if we slow down to see it landlords do not want the single mother that councilman hernandez eloquently described to be housing insecure we want the younger mother and her children housed we want the seniors in the mobile home parks to remain housed the city of santa anna will not create housing security by passing rent control ordinance that simply caps the next increase. Instead of studying the issue and working with landlords and tenant groups together,

you have missed the opportunity to craft a system that would provide significant support to Santa Ana's tenants and needs. And instead you seem hell bent on an archaic system that spreads out the subsidy razor thin to everybody, regardless of need. So young people who are upwardly mobile received the exact same subsidy as the young mom councilman Hernandez described. Working professionals will not leave their subsidized unit for market housing, making it even more difficult for disabled seniors to find affordable housing. You haven't studied the effects on housing, the cost of this ordinance, no research, no input,

and now you have lost the moral high ground of our process was legal because we know it wasn't. Two short years ago, the city of Santa Ana conducted a thorough review of your 29 mobile home parks. Have any of the new council members read that 288 page report? Was it provided to the ad hoc committee? I guess there's no time available to determine fact from fiction in this process. True leaders don't cause separation. They bring people together. And I'm sad that you've lost the opportunity here in Santa Ana.

Thank you. Thank you. Chad Kassenheiser, followed by Yvette Suchyokin, followed by

Good evening. My name is Chad Kassenheiser and I manage a mobile home park in Ward 3. Thank you very much for having us tonight. I'd also like to reiterate the condolences, Mr. Hernandez, to you and your family. Thoughts and prayers with you. To the gentleman who was here earlier and asked about who all the white people were just like I invited the Council to come to the park that I manage. I'd be more than happy to introduce myself in person and say hello, because we don't get that chance here. And right now it's such an us versus them mentality and I don't think it needs to be collaboration would be a great thing and.

And many, many, many cities keep the comments down and many cities have worked together with collaborating on ideas such as rent control with memorandums of understanding and they have had great success so. So I'm not going to sit up here and tell you what to think. I'm not going to tell the residents in here what to think. What I'd like to do is I'd like to ask for you to do your research. I'd like to ask for you to find the facts. I'd like for you to question us. Ask us the questions. Ask us about our rents. Ask us about our evictions. Ask the residents that have said they've been evicted. What is going on with them?

What has happened? I can tell you my experience is limited. I run one mobile home property with over 200 spaces. However, I believe I said this two weeks ago. We have less than 2% delinquencies. We had fewer than 2% of our residents apply for assistance from the city. Those two did receive. assistance, and that's wonderful. We have had zero non-payment evictions in 15 years of me managing the community, and that's repetitive from last time I was here, but I urge you to ask the questions. Many of the owners and landlords are good people. They have tried to protect rents with long-term

leases that have limits on amounts that can be increased over that term. Many of them just limit rent increases on their own accord. But we hear stories the last couple of weeks, $500 rent increases, multiple rent increases in a 12 month period. The landlords in this room that are speaking are bound by laws that don't allow that. As another landlord spoke this earlier this evening, he mentioned the declaration of the state of emergency. There are limits on what can be done.

So all I'm asking is that you ask those that are claiming that they've had these $500 increases to find out where they're coming from and how those increases were applied because chances are they aren't actually legal. So otherwise, if they are legal, they don't apply to large property owners. They apply to single family residences. And that is a shame. And I feel sorry for that. But I ask for you to consider to do your research and to come to a decision that makes sense. And most importantly, I wish that we could have some sort of collaboration in this where

there might be an understanding where we can work together as opposed to against each other. Thank you.

Yvette, followed by Elias Casanez, followed by Robert McDonald, followed by Danielle McCarthy. Sorry, it's such a joke. It's okay.

Good evening. My name is so to you. And like many of these people, I grew up in the community of Santana. I moved to South Orange County a couple years ago, but my work leads me back to the community with my people. So I still live in Santana. Before I begin, I would like to make a a comment on the rent control and that is don't you ever ever ever forget that you're on unceded indigenous land that's what i might be so i would like to start by sharing a prayer

given to me by one of my elders given to him by one of the elders in 1930s my of elias barza Virgin of Guadalupe, I leave my son in your hand. Protect them from the police and from those who are always looking for someone to beat on. My son, be careful. Do not look at the police. Do not ever look them in the eye. If they call you out or if they question you, do not respond to them forcefully. always obey them. Dear God, please take care of my son. So now I'm going to continue in Spanish

because I feel the moral authority to speak for those people who cannot be here today and also have a language barrier.

How many parents will be praying for their loved ones? How many children will be praying for their loved ones? How many more will have to live with the trauma of having a family murdered in the hands of authorities? The problem that this condado has no is a new problem, nor much less distant. It is a system problem that has existed for hundreds of years. No is enough to have a council of representatives that look like us and that speak the same language that we have. We have to do more.

In our community, in our neighborhoods, the judicial system is a system of punishment, a punitive system that makes examples of us, of our lives and our errors. The police and their surveillance of black bodies are what makes these interactions result in life or death. The criminalization of abuse of substances and mental health problems directly puts the lives of color people in danger. Nine of every ten people in their life experience a mental health crisis, at least one time.

police violence and brutality are a problem that puts our right to life, our human rights, and it is an imminent crisis of public health and has to deal with it. Since the year 2000, almost 34,000 people have suffered deaths by the order of the forces. These are numbers of war, and the war is in case. California, the south of California, is the epicenter of these assassinations. That means Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego. The war is here. If there is something to learn from the case of Brandon López, it is that nobody, absolutely nobody is safe,

even when they have a family represent the people. We exigimos justice for Brandon and his family. We want the names of the officials involved. We want the department of Anaheim to be responsible for the assassinations.

respect brown existence or expect resistance thank you

i'm speaking for the the moms that uh need protection how many our moms pray for protection they pay protection for their children generation after generation but this is a problem of generations how many more generations have to die how many families how many wives how many parents we are just trying to to stay alive we're being accosted by the by the accosted by the trauma of of murder this problem is not new this problem in orange county is not new it's a systemic problem that's been around for hundreds of years. It's not enough to have representatives

that in the government that look like us, they need to think like us. And this is a problem that is a punitive system. It's they're trying to make examples out of us. And whenever there is police involvement with our brown or Black people, it's an issue of life and death. uh crime is against uh people who are who are looking like us and our people are endangered

when when this confrontations happen um uh since 2000 since the year 2034 thousand people have died at the hands of law enforcement and the southern california is the epicenter of this. These are war numbers and the war is at home. We, the lesson to be learned from Brandon Lopez's death is that there's no, that nobody is safe, even if you have people that you know in government. We demand justice for Brandon Lopez. We demand to know the names of the officers involved. We demand to

that the videos from the officers and the videos that were taken around there are made public.

Thank you, Elias Casales, followed by Robert McDonald,

followed by Danielle McCarthy, followed by Media Mesa.

Mayor and Councilman, my name is Robert McDonald. I am an account manager with Kingsley Management Corporation. I oversee the operations and management of three mobile home communities, totaling nearly 500 spaces and families living in these communities.

I have managed these communities for 12 plus years. The group that I represent has owned and managed these communities for over five decades.

Over this period of time, we have poured millions of dollars into the maintenance, upkeep, and the rehabilitation of these communities.

This is a hard situation because on both sides of this issue, we need each other.

As business owners and investors, we rely on residents to live in our communities, to live in our apartment buildings in order for our business plan to succeed

and those living in our communities they rely on us willing to put our capital at risk and to invest in these areas

i believe all of you have the best of intentions in helping santa anna residents However, this rent control ordinance is not well thought out and it will end up hurting those that you are intending to help.

You will be introducing an economic virus into your city.

This virus will cause further division between residents and landlords.

You will begin to see properties not begin to have the proper capital to maintain clean and safe communities. Rent control is a failed social experiment and it is a statistical certainty that it will backfire. This is a lose-lose policy.

Investor capital will find other areas where their investment isn't muzzled by an erroneous policy. It will not happen overnight,

but the unintended consequences are the economic result. It will wreak havoc, and that will be your burden to carry.

I urge you to vote no on this ordinance, and let's find a new solution for everyone involved, business interests, the residents.

let's find a new solution for the beautiful city of Santa Ana. In my 12 years, I have not participated in one eviction. We feel that we are being fair landlords, and I urge you to vote now. Thank you. Thank you. Danielle McCarthy, followed by Media Nessa, followed by Erin Lynn Scott, followed by Luis Tapia. Good evening, Mayor Sarmiento and members of City Council. Thank you for your service and for your time on this issue. My name is Danielle McCarthy, and I have been involved with the rental housing industry for over 15 years.

I first started my career as a leasing consultant at Park Plaza Apartments located at 805 West Stevens in Santa Ana. I have seen many evolutions in the industry in the last few years, many positive and some negative. but nothing as detrimental to both housing providers and renters as rent control. What I have observed is that many tenant advocate groups such as TUSA, renters and politicians have been misguided in their understanding of the issue, and in fact misguided to believe that there is in fact a citywide issue at hand which needs to be

addressed. There are many sad stories portrayed in the media which describe residents receiving $400 rent increases and being pushed to homelessness. Have these stories been fact-checked? Were both sides of the story considered? We cannot take everything that we hear in the media for face value. The individuals who believe in rent control have become short-sighted to hear one thing. Their rent will not be raised and they will be able to afford to live in their city. Sure, it might sound like an appealing concept, but rent control is not the solution.

Did you know of the top six U.S. cities with the highest rate of homelessness, at least five are confirmed to have rent control? What these supporters and you, if you vote for this ordinance, are failing to understand are the fundamental faults with this proposal. That it is inherently designed to fail everyone involved. Renters, housing providers, city citizens, politicians, and the economy. The ordinance doesn't provide affordable housing. It promotes a rundown community riddled with crime and lack of regulation, safety or maintenance. It promotes overcrowding and overuse of the property.

If residents are able to add occupants to their apartment home without landlord approval, where will these individuals park? Where will they do their laundry? If your neighbor breaks into your car or home and robs you, how will we know who they are? How will we cooperate with police if we don't know who lives at our property? I'm not suggesting all of these individuals to be criminals, but these are facts of incidents which occur every single day in every single community. And the more the government ties our hands to protect our residents, the worse it is for everyone.

We already get complaints about neighbors and noise and well-managed properties. Do you think this will improve the peaceful enjoyment for the residents of Santa Ana? If new residents don't have to be properly screened and qualified, is that fair to existing residents who are subject to a qualification process? Not allowing a professional property management company to screen prospective residents and to evict problem residents endangers people living in our communities. How about for homeowners of single-family homes in the surrounding neighborhoods?

based on your research of why rent control is an effective policy does it increase home values in the city it does not how are we expected to give the residents of santa ana a better life if we can only recoup 80 of cpi in rent growth the fundamentals of that math problem automatically declared that we will be at a loss how will we afford to pay our employees our contractors our vendors do you think our costs for advertising for insurance and security patrols Danielle if you could start winding up have remained stagnant over the years and below CPI

I'll skip ahead and in closing I will say that I believe you have been misguided by many of the testimonies and stories in the media that suggests all landlords are greedy rich and evil I believe you have been misled to think this is a fight in which you need to choose people or profits That is not what this is about, and that is not who we are as landlords. Thank you. At my company, our mission is to make coming home the best part of our residence day, and we are driven by excellence and pride ourselves on providing a safe and quality, fair place for people to live.

Thank you. I suggest you consider this rent control ordinance, verify the claims which you have heard in the last two meetings, collaborate with industry experts and economists to find a solution which better serves all of us involved. Thank you.

Miriam Mesa followed by Aaron Lynn Scott followed by Lewis Tapia.

Good evening, Mayor and and the members of the Santa Ana City Council. My name is Miriam Mesa. I am a resident as well as a community director here at Washington Place Apartments in Santa Ana, which is 60 units. I strongly oppose the rec control and just cause eviction. not being able to control the number of people living in our apartments is a bad idea it will only hurt our our property and our tenants overcrowding will create more wear and tear on the apartments and the community this would increase the maintenance expenses utility usage and parking issues that will significantly that will significantly lower the standard

of living of all of our residents that they deserve.

It will hinder the ability for us as responsible tenants to professionally manage a community.

This will affect how will this affect members of the community? Well, it is if an unauthorized individual is allowed to move in without the qualifying um uh comp will only oh sorry without qualifying uh they will only cause more complications this will increase neighbor to neighbor disputes and distribute our residents uh right to quiet and peaceful enjoyment of our communities uh the apartment is someone's home if anyone is allowed to move in where will they park

What happens if they're locked out of their apartments? How will we be able to verify that they are an actual resident? And how would we be able to know that they actually live there? How is this fair for all of our residents who have gone through a qualifying to live in our community? Respectfully, I ask you to reconsider the merits and challenges with this ordinance and recognize that much more thought needs to be input on what can happen to all of us and our residents. Thank you.

Thank you. Aaron Lynn Scott, followed by Louis Tapia, followed by Amy Filan.

Good morning, Mayor and City Council members. My name is Erin Lynn Scott. I am the Regional Property Coordinator with Advanced Management Company. We have 1600 apartment homes here in the City of Santa Ana. I oppose rent control and just cause eviction for many reasons. The main one I want to speak about today is we cannot evict someone without just cause. To evict someone, we need cold, hard facts. During the last ordinance reading and again today, we have heard statements about people losing their home and evictions taking place when there was a longstanding moratorium on evictions. Landlords have not been able to go to courts.

Courts have been closed. We have not been able to file evictions. So how are these tenants getting evicted? Since there has not been actual tenant names or data provided, there's no way of verifying whether the statements that you're hearing are accurate. Are you going to arbitrarily vote on something without verifying that the information that has been presented to you is accurate? Right now in the state of California, in order to file an eviction, you need to have been completely non-responsive and refused to apply for rental assistance. Based on that information

in our Santa Ana portfolio, two out of 1600 would qualify for us to send to eviction. Why are we trying to change a system that is not broke? Thank you.

David Penaloza

Our lens. Luis Tapia.

Good morning. My name is Luis Tapia, and I am the community director at the Apartment, which is 112 units in this beautiful city of Santa Ana. I oppose the rent control and just cause eviction ordinance. I stand before you today to let you know that this will definitely create more crime. The biggest issue I see here at my community is drug related crime. We recently had a resident son who was not on the lease enter their garage and utilize the space. There were signs of meth creation, prostitution, drug use and vandalism.

Our courtesy patrol found the man that was sleeping in the garage that night. The police came to arrest him. He was charged with controlled substances, controlled substance paraphernalia, vandalism of the garage, trespassing, squatting in the garage. By approving a just-cause eviction clause and allowing tendencies, you would be inviting more crime into the city. if anyone can just move into the apartment without landlord approval we lose our ability to ensure our residents get the value quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their apartment

please stop this insanity and do not pass the ordinance thank you

David Penaloza

amy fillin

David Penaloza

all by hector gartnika

good evening mayor or good morning mayor and members of the santa anna city council my name is amy filling and i'm a regional director with advanced management company and i oversee and manage over 938 apartment homes here in santa anna i want to go on record and say i vehemently oppose the rent control and just cause eviction ordinance um this evening and earlier yesterday Last night, I want to speak to the factual information. I have facts that seem to be lacking in the prior meeting. In the first reading of this ordinance, I heard a lot of stories instead of data.

We heard that there were large rent increases over and over again.

What I want to know is who specifically is doing this? Was this information verified?

We are really under governing laws in the state of California that allow us to give only a certain defined and limited percentage of an increase. If someone gave a $400 increase, that would be a violation of SB 1482, unless the rent was nearly $4,700 a month.

I don't see that we have, or it's highly unlikely we would have rent to the magnitude of $4,700 a month in the city of Santa Ana.

Did the ad hoc committee or the council ask about this data? Did they ask who? Did they ask when the increases were sent? All of this is relevant and pertinent information needed. Has this information been verified? If this was not verified, then it's all hearsay. I speak with facts that I can quote and show sources of the information and the reality of things. I am not seeing that being presented, and as a result, it would seem that we are making decisions based on unsupported emotions,

rather than facts that never leads to a viable outcome. I implore you to not make a decision that is not reasonable and that is based on non-verified information. I would like to suggest that TUSA directs their efforts to helping the residents in need of financial assistance. I would be happy to volunteer my time to help TUSA as I have been very successful working in the city of Santa Ana.

specifically with Judson Brown, the housing division manager, Stephen Langlois, the CARES program supervisor for the Salvation Army, and Michelle Murphy with the United Way. In order for residents, they've been very successful. We've been very successful in paying past due rents off. success is achieved by setting up events, hosting events at our properties to help make it easier for our residents to sign up for rental assistance, calling our residents, texting our residents,

going to their apartment homes, visiting with them, setting appointments with them, doing whatever it takes to get them the rental assistance they need to make them whole.

David Penaloza

Thank you. If you could please wrap up.

I will make myself available to those that are in need of help. Thank you for your time, and please reconsider this decision. Thank you very much.

David Penaloza

Hector, followed by Lauren Marty, followed by Ellie Flores.

David Penaloza

Hector, followed by Lauren Marty, followed by Ellie Flores. Are you Lauren? Go ahead.

Good morning, Mayor and members of Santa Ana City Council. My name is Lauren Marty. I'm currently a community director at Artist Village Apartments in Santa Ana. I manage 197 units. I oppose the rent control and just cause eviction ordinance. The proposed ordinance would allow tenants to add new occupants without owner approval. These new occupants would not be subject to the same screening process that all existing residents had to go through, which could be deemed discriminatory according to fair housing. In addition, this can easily become a means to a primary resident to act as a front for others

to come into our community who can wreak havoc in the community. Clearly this means rising crime, you'd have no means to identify the perpetrators and to assist law enforcement. As many examples that I've seen in the past. However, presently at my property where we have a resident who's brought unauthorized people into the apartment and now we can continue to have disputes where police come out and it's ongoing and we can't do anything. Our hands are tied. If one were to believe that the underlying motivation is to help the renters, this is not the way to go about it. The effects of this

ordinance needs to be weighed and considered thoroughly. If this ordinance passes, are you willing to take on the liability of allowing anyone to live in the unit.

David Penaloza

Thank you. Thank you.

David Penaloza

Suzy Winokur, followed by David Cordero. Suzy Winokur, followed by David Cordero and Misael Fajardo Perez. Suzy, go ahead.

Hi there. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Penaloza, for your comments at the last meeting. Basically, you said business as usual in Santa Ana. And I know it's difficult to say that amongst your fellow council members, but I heard you loud and clear. So I want to say thank you for saying that. Councilman Becerra, thank you for your level head. Voting on such a sweeping ordinance like this that will, per the register's article, decimate the rental market It shouldn't be made at two in the morning. And thank you, Councilwoman Mendoza, for your level head.

I say shame on the others. You had an ad hoc meeting, and the mayor turns to the city attorney and says, did we do this properly? Is this correct? Well, yeah. Yeah, I agree with what the young man said earlier as the attorney who used to live in Santa Ana. It may have been to the letter of the law, but it wasn't the spirit of the law.

Basically, you never invited me as a landlord to the party. I was never invited to the table to speak. My husband and I have owned property over 40 45 years in Santa Ana, and we have invested in it. Being a landlord has been tough. I'm sorry, there are a lot of sad stories here. My mother raised two daughters. She worked two jobs. And you know what? My father died. But you know, somehow you work through it. We didn't go to the city. We didn't go for handouts. You just get there and here I am. I've been a good steward of housing, but you know what? Nobody invited me as a landlord to the table. I, you know, I don't disagree

with what a lot of the tenants are asking for. It's important to provide good, dignified, safe surroundings, nice housing. Just the other day, I'm driving somewhere. I get a call from my manager, the city inspectors there. I hadn't received a notice. I said, oh, my gosh, I'm so happy you're there. I've been paying six, seven hundred dollars every year to have it inspected. It's never been inspected. I was grateful that he was there. I said, whatever you find, let me know. I'm happy to help. So when all these people are talking about bad landlords, that's not me. And I don't know if you guys have heard from people like me.

As far as Covid, I've had one tenant that needed help. And you know what? It was slick as butter getting money from the United Way and from the Cares program. It was great. Also, as a as a landlord, my manager ended up in the hospital for several several about a month. You know what I did when he got out, I continued to pay him and I gave him a Jeep. So you know what all landlords are not bad people. If you listen to all these people that are level headed and they're saying, this is a sweeping issue, get it right, who, who takes a document and approves it without it being complete and detailed and really thought out.

So anyhow, don't mess with the market with artificial things. If you're gonna do something, do it right. Bring everybody to the table. We don't want a bad policy. Thank you very much.

David Penaloza

Thank you. David Cordero followed by Misael Pajardo Perez. Are you Misael or David? Go ahead.

Mayor DePorte, I'm Penaloza. Thank you, Council Members. Thank you for being here this late hour, and I wish the other Council Members could be present right now as we get started with these remarks but grateful that we're able to at least share our point of view on this particular topic. My name is David Cordero, the Executive Director with the Apartment Association of Orange County. We represent over 2,000 rental property owners and operators throughout Orange and Riverside counties. Our members collectively own and operate in excess of 100,000 rental units between the two counties.

We've existed for the past 60 years as a service to rental housing providers, providing resources and advocating for reasonable policies that will address challenges in our communities that we serve. We have also worked closely with Families Forward, with Orange County United Way and their Welcome MLC program to address homeless issues here in the county of Orange, including here in Santa Ana. And unfortunately, with what is being proposed here in item nine tonight, those are certain programs that could be compromised in our ability to continue to serve a need that is equally important.

And that is the homelessness issue that we're dealing with here in Orange County. You've heard a lot tonight from both sides of this issue. And I think what it's underscored is the fact that there's a lot of differing points of view on rent affordability, the manner in which evictions are being done here in Santa Ana, the causes for it, things that may be legal, things that may be illegal.

So we have stood by our position that this process that has brought these ordinances before you tonight for a second reading, the process was not carried out the way that it probably should have been done in the need for good governance and transparency. The decision that you'll be casting today, this morning, could have addressed many of these issues that you've heard up from both sides tonight.

How do we just take the time to look at it and examine closely the reasons and do fact checking to verify the situations that so many of the speakers that I have shared with you and be able to then talk with the rental housing community as well to verify and hear their points of view why evictions take place, how the proposals before you tonight are going to be impacting our industry. and we've heard a little bit about it just in the last half hour or so. Our hands are going to be tied with this one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with affordability of rents and evictions here in Santa Ana.

And I implore you to give this reconsideration. We recognize there is a need for housing affordability. We realize that there's certainly been instances where evictions maybe have been carried out in a manner which is inconsistent with what the rental housing industry as a whole stands for. what the apartment association of orange kent stands for and advocates with its members we stand for excellence in rental housing and with our membership we provide and and seek to encourage them to follow best practices um i just feel that what is being proposed here

is not the solution uh it's a solution but it's not the right fit for santa anna i think the rental housing providers deserve better i believe the renters deserve better with a process that is fully thought out and not rushed in the need to satisfy a situation which may not be as bad as has been portrayed this evening. Thank you, David. Thank you very much

David Penaloza

for your time. I'm Misael Fajardo Perez, followed by Elizabeth Leguin. Misael Fajardo Perez, followed by Elizabeth Leguin. Mary Jo Barrettic. Mary Jo.

David Penaloza

Apologies if I mispronounced that. Are you Mary Jo or Elizabeth? Go ahead.

All right, you got it right. Yes, good evening, Mayor and City Council members. My name is Mary Jo Beretich, and I'm the Zone Vice President for the Golden State Manufacturers Homeowners League. This is the advocacy for all the mobile home homeowners in the state of California, and it was established in 1962. And we've established the mobile home residency law in 1978, which governs all the laws in regarding mobile home parks.

GSMOL, as you can see, has been an advocacy and we've been working hard in the state throughout the whole state, working with the rent stabilization ordinances in cities and counties. And I'd like to thank you all actually for doing your compassion that you had in putting together the draft that you accomplished. And thank you also for your compassion towards the seniors, the veterans and other low-income people who are struggling every day to help pay the rent. They do not deserve to be homeless

and lose everything they have worked for for their whole life. There are 106 cities and counties who have passed rent stabilization ordinances in the state. The largest one, of course, is the city of Los Angeles, which is really made up of 280 sub cities. It's humongous. This last two years ago, we helped the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County to pass their rent stabilization ordinance at 3% for the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. That's a tremendous number of people.

And it worked, the supervisors were right on it. Bruce Stanton, our corporate attorney and myself, met with all the heads of the departments of the county and Bruce was on speakerphone, I was there in person. We talked to all the people, answered all the questions. We set up regional meetings throughout the whole area of the unincorporated areas so that it educated the people about what this would be. And it worked out well and it has been working fine.

the uh only other c in as you know in orange county that has a rent stabilization ordinance is the city of san juan campastrano and this has been working very successfully all these years haven't heard of any problems anything that we've had that were in issue we brought our corporate attorney down and settled the issue right then and there so it's a uh and the things that we've had excuse me i can say they had los angeles city the latinus county are both on three percent

so your uh ordinance sounds even better 80 percent with them uh three percent and what whatever is the lowest very good and this would be help the people stay in their homes keep what they have not have to abandon them to a park owner which has happened in some locations where there is no green stabilization or such as the city of Hines Beach.

David Penaloza

Thank you, Mary Jo, if you could please wrap up.

And thank you so much. And I do hope you say yes on this.

David Penaloza

Next speaker is Maria Estela Valencia, followed by TK, followed by Trish. Maria Estela Valencia, followed by TK, followed by Trish.

Are you Trish Maria TK go ahead good morning Council could be here um I would like to address the issue of the oversight committee for policing as well as the rent control. Those things go hand in hand. When you're looking at just basic human needs, if you don't meet a person's basic human needs, they're going to have a failure to thrive.

And the unfortunate thing is that without a way rent control, you're going to have people in poverty. When you have people in poverty, there is going to be a crime. If I have a hungry baby and I don't have food to give, I'm going to find a way to feed my child.

For people to say this is going to be detrimental to both sides. It's a farce. It's a farce, and they continue to get away with this for decades. We've heard stories of people tonight to tell their true stories of how their lives have been affected. Me, myself personally, I understand that. Yes, I've been affected too. Just because a person does have data to reflect that, you go and find things to make you sleep better at night to continue your greed. We can't continue to be greedy.

Police oversight. Police cannot police themselves. There needs to be more accountability and more transparency. see. Jonathan, condolences to you, your family. We love you. Councilmen, councilwomen, please

be encouraged to do the right thing. Listen to your people. Ones that are saying they don't want the rent control they don't even live at the level of the people that actually run this city if each and every one of us decided to take a day off from work no one would be fed

you wouldn't have your fast food you wouldn't have your restaurants you wouldn't have your gas stations. You wouldn't have your hospitals clean because we are the ones that are doing all that. At the end of the day, we need to make things where it's more equitable

so that people stand a fair chance. And as far as policing goes, they're not trained for mental illness. We need to divert some of those funds to put in two areas that better serve the community where people can live a happy, healthy life. If we're saying that American dreams, American dreams for us, black and brown, a lot of it's been a nightmare.

David Penaloza

Thank you for your time. Thank you, TK. Trish, followed by Francesca Chaboya,

Followed by Paul Julian. Trish. Yes. Good morning. So I am here in support of item 22 on the agenda. I demand that we appoint city council members that see and understand what our community needs to the oversight committee of police. In addition, I request that the power to implement and enforce decisions be extended to these city council members on the appointed committee.

The investigations to the incidents handled by the committee needs not only solely be seen by police reports, but also by unbiased observers. This is an important because too many black and brown brothers and sisters fall victim to the excessive force and abuse of power by law enforcement in our community. Then thereafter, those responsible for the harm and death of our community are investigated by their peers. Does a criminal investigate another criminal's charge? No. We have seen this time and time again, and nothing has changed.

So I express a strong need for this to be an expedited process, and we cannot wait and stand by while more harmed and murdered in these streets. we demand change now and i want to say to council member hernandez my deepest condolences to you your family and the lopez family we love you

David Penaloza

thank you francesca shaboya powered by paul julian

good evening my name is francesca shaboya and initially i came here to speak on item 22 but But after listening to everyone's stories to hear here today and the language that is being used by a lot of the property owners and property managers, they're talking about that this is not about profit over people. Yet the words that they use is about managing people, about data and about markets crashing. Yet they're not even considering the stories that people are sharing. They're saying, we don't believe you. We need the evidence. How about I tell them the same thing?

the fact that they're telling us I've never mistreated anybody. How can I believe you? If you're saying that about our people here, how can we believe you also? So back to item 22. I support that we should address or that we should establish an oversight committee. I believe the city of Santa Ana is actually behind on this issue as admitted by the mayor himself earlier today, especially in the wake of black and brown people asking to stop the over policing of black and brown communities i heard a lot of rhetoric revolving around the success of santa anna pd and taking pride in their service where at the end of the day they failed to

serve and protect one week ago so why are we praising their actions this is a reminder that the policing system was created with the intent to over police black brown and people of color so it is not broken it is functioning in the way that it was designed so it is uh we cannot

I want to emphasize the importance of the establishment of this committee and the importance of a police oversight mechanism that has the ability to truly function in a way that benefits our communities, meaning that this oversight mechanism has to have real power. We don't want a committee for show we want to come to the committee for show we want to come to the committee for show.

committee for change. I hope you hear the perspective of the people who ask for real oversight over the police and more. I also just want to add that I do stand in solidarity with the community members who support rent control. And I urge the council members to think about their stories as they are sharing their own experiences, and to not just push them aside as many other people here have tried to do that don't even live in these communities.

For the person who said that we need you, no we don't. Brown people did not ask to be taken over. Brown people did not ask for their land to be stolen. Black people did not ask to be enslaved. So to come here and say that we need you, it just makes my blood boil. So I just ask that when we think about this, when we talk about this, this is not about profits. It's about people trying to survive. And all of these people here are talking about data and management and markets crashing and whining about Newport. No, this is Santa Ana. And the people that run this city are asking you to help them. So that's what I ask.

David Penaloza

Paul Julian, followed by Richard Julian, followed by Juan Carvajal. Are you Paul or Richard? Paul or Richard?

This is Paul. Go ahead, Paul. Hi, this is Paul Julian. I'm speaking to you tonight as actually a student, a student of the Graduate School of USC Public Policy. At USC and at all the other public policy schools in the nation, rec control is a core piece of the curriculum. It's been studied at Harvard, Yale, MIT, Berkeley, every other university and every economist has looked at it. And in every instance, it has failed. You've heard that tonight many times. It's a failed policy and I'm not here to debate whether there is strife and there's problems.

We've seen there is. We all see it. We're just debating tonight whether or not rent control is the way to fix it. And that's it's the wrong tool. It's like taking a sledgehammer into a surgery. It's not the right tool to fix these problems that are out there. Case in point, Santa Monica was brought up many times tonight. And it kind of baffles me that that's brought up as something that's lauded because Santa Monica is one of the most expensive places in the entire nation to live. The rent in Santa Monica is three times what it is here in Santa Ana. So how is Santa Monica what we're looking at as a model?

If you look at Dr. Richard Green, who's the head and the chair of the USC Lust Center, he's the foremost authority on rent control. He talks about natural progression. In Santa Monica, people don't leave their apartments. They never get released back into the community where people of need can actually come in and use them. They stay in them. So there's not a progression from, say, Class C property to Class B property as you get economic stability. So you're not going to have a property. Therefore you never make it up to class A property. If that national progression doesn't occur, developers can't come in and produce new product.

When a developer doesn't produce new product, you even have more of a supply constrained market. This exacerbates the problem. This makes rent control a terrible solution. It's not a solution to the problem. So I guess I'm just asking you tonight, look at the facts, look at the data, look at every economist and look at every university that's done a study on this. Rent control has never worked and it won't work. Let's find the right tool to fix these problems. Thank you. Thank you. Richard

David Penaloza

Julian followed by Juan Carvajal followed by Chip Ashweed. You Richard Julian? Yes, I'm Richard

Thank you. I'm not going to waste your time reading the email that I sent all of you. Hopefully you saw it and you're able to look at that data. It's accurate data. I know we heard someone just a little earlier talking about data isn't important to people, but data is important. You're making a big decision here and it needs to be based on real data. I'm with Advanced management company you heard a few of our other people here and you heard about our 1600 units i want to make that we manage i want to make sure you know which ones they are again uh california

palms uh which we took over in 1987 was a daily stay weekly stay actually it was an hourly stay hotel it had nothing but crime it was a problem and we invested in that property turned it around it's a wonderful property today with very happy residents in it uh villanelle sold 562 units when we took it over i understood that 30 of the police calls were for that property alone within the city it's been turned around tremendously mayor samiento was kind enough and came there i think you'll agree with me mayor it's a wonderful place to live and the people are happy there we

We have Artist Village. We took that over in 2009. Lots of problems. I agree there are still problems with Birds Park behind there. You'll see beer cans and syringes and needles. But we have a lot of security there to control that and to keep it as a very fine property. Another one of our properties was you heard someone earlier talk about Washington Place, the 60 units that we turned around. we invested a lot of money in there just recently the solari apartments in november we took over we're now it's now called river house we invested a lot of money and they're

wonderful properties now if you put rent control in i guarantee you you know no one's going to invest in this city and take you have plenty of properties within the city of santa ana that are rundown and problems who's going to invest to turn those around like we did these 1600 units. I'd also like to point out that I haven't heard anybody step up and complain about any of our properties tonight. I haven't heard any rent control calls from the 1600 units that we have. That's data. You can come down and we'll give you all the data you want on how much the rent

increases are, how much expenses have increased far more than CPI. Insurance has tripled. You will not be able to run these properties and you're going to see blight if you put the the Rent-to-Control Ordinance in. Take your time, let us work with you and give you real data and help with it. Thank you very much.

David Penaloza

Thank you. Juan Carvajal followed by Chip Ashweed, followed by Michael Brown. Juan Carvajal followed by Chip Ashweed, followed by Michael Brown.

David Penaloza

Chip?

Yep.

David Penaloza

Go ahead.

Thank you very much. First off, I'd like to express my condolences, Councilman Hernandez, to you, to your family, of course, to the Lopez family. It's a tragedy none of us wanted to have, and I commend you for being able to be here and be strong for your community in a time like this. So thank you. And also thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. My name is Chip Allsweet. I represent the Department Association of Orange County. And And you know, a lot of things have been said tonight and in previous discussions, asking about who some of these people are.

Well, I went to school here in Santa Ana, got the opportunity to work for members of Congress, went back to Washington, DC, and got to return here to work on an issue here in Santa Ana. And one of the things that I learned working for Congress was one of the strangest things I'd ever had said to me after studying political science and all that for life. the uh the parliamentarian brought us all in as we started and asked us what the purpose of the legislature was and a lot of us sheepishly responded with to pass good laws and she looked at us all and said no you guys would have failed my class had i taught a class at your university

because the purpose of the legislative body which a city council is is to prevent bad laws from getting passed now you've heard several people tonight discuss how economists uh the the price school uh stanford university all these universities have studied this and have found failures and those are failures that are really ones to consider should also consider the fact that every place that's been implemented it's either had to be uh subsidized managed on a massive level or repealed altogether. Somebody mentioned five of the top six communities have it. The sixth one

is rent control in New York, which looks like nothing we've seen here. And there's also Washington, D.C., where rent control exists, provided you're paying less than $25,000 a month. I believe most people in Santa Ana would fit in that category. Rent control is a failure not just because of what it does, but what it does to the community as people intended here. Here we have a process where when this was brought through, the landlords, the property owners, those experts in housing policy weren't brought into the discussion. In the discussion that we had two weeks ago, a number of us, myself included, brought up

how there were failures and challenges between this proposal and existing state law, as well as previous laws that have been passed in this arena. There were some last minute amendments to the initiative that were kind of rushed through roughly this time two weeks ago. And still no discussion between the parties involved. Had we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss these things, those could have been avoided. These problems could have been resolved. We could have identified issues and problems where it conflicts with all the other studies and shown a way to find solutions. Like was mentioned, the right tool for Santa Ana.

property owners don't want to evict anyone property owners don't want to raise rents they want to provide that housing that makes a good community putting implementations and processes like this that you're talking about tonight it's not going to do that it's going to create the exact opposite effect we want a solution we want the opportunity to sit down we hope you guys will take this opportunity to really think through can we sit down and come up with a better solution together because that's what good government does they stop bad laws from

getting passed and find good laws to pass. Thank you very much. Michael Brown followed by Greg O'Hagan

David Penaloza

followed by Eva Rillay. Are you Michael? Yes, Michael Brown. Thank you. In the state of California,

as you already know, we have rent control. We also have just cause evictions already in place. And I don't disagree that we need to have controls to some degree on rents and for evictions. It's important. We need to protect people. But we have that in place. This particular measure will put a stranglehold on the income side of the equation. And I'll tell you, when you talk about putting a model like Santa Monica in place, it was talked about earlier, but I did some research just while we were sitting here and actually looked at the average rents in Santa Monica day.

The studios are $2,745. One bedrooms are $3,536. Two bedrooms are $4,909. And three bedrooms are $6,117. When you limit the supply because people won't go in and people don't move from their apartments, this is what happens to those rents, which will be absolutely opposite of what you're looking for. I'll tell you right now, we are on the expense side of the equation, which really hasn't been talked about, is we are at the very precipice if not fully engulfed in inflation. I did a lot of research and I want to share some of that for you. The Federal Reserve uses a preferred gauge in

inflation. They said right now in August it is the quickest rise in 30 years time. Inflation that they use the measure is the personal consumption expenditure index rose 4.3%. This is huge. If you look at the Y charts, which is someone that tracks the changes in gasoline prices in California from September 2021 over 2020, they rose $1.14 a gallon, which is 36%. You look at the Department of Labor statistics for Orange County, Los Angeles. They confirm 4% growth has been compared August 21 to August 20.

Yet our rents that I'm from advanced management. Our rents in our 1,600 unit portfolio have risen 0.32% in that time. We're happy to share those results show our financial statements. This is raw facts. Our own expenses, though, have gone well above CPI. Since 2017, our insurance expenses have gone up 86%. That's an average of 21.5% per year. This is a fact. Our payroll has gone up 17.7%, and it's rising because you can't find anybody anymore without paying much more than you had to do in the past. That's fine, but you have to be able to raise rents to meet that.

utilities have gone up 14.7%. When we have the statistics are showing that 25 to 35% of the people now will forever be working from home. So what does that mean? Greater wear and tear. We have more needs for our courtesy or security patrols because more activity happens when people are in close proximity. They get mad at each other. There's noise. There's always something going on. We have wear and tear on our fixtures. We have vandalism. catalytic converters are at an all-time high being stolen so when you look at the math you strangle hold the income but you can't do anything about expenses we're stuck no one's standing out

in front of ralph's saying hey my food prices are going up we need to do something about ralph's or in front of state farm offices or in front of front of their health care offices kaiser permanente well all i can tell you is that our pool services for all of the amenities that we provide are going up 100 next year so what do we start to do do we close down our services do we take away the playgrounds because we can't keep them up we have a reading room if you could wrap up please bottom line is we're not going to be able to maintain our properties in the way we have so people are going

to lose amenities so at the end of the day we need to think about this we need to collaborate so i would ask you please reconsider this thank you thank you michael greg greg o'hagan followed by

David Penaloza

Evo Relay, followed by Jairo Cortes.

First off, Council Member Hernandez, our deepest condolences and to your family. And we appreciate you being here in a tough time. My name is Greg O'Hagan. I'm with Rutherford. We own and operate 3,500 spaces, manufactured housing. I've got something just really simple for the council and the mayor. I would just like you to answer a question during your final comments. Your ordinance, the proposed ordinance calls for increases in rent of 80% of CPI.

As the gentleman just mentioned previous expenses we all know go up way beyond CPI, but let's just say that they go up CPI. Therefore, our revenue for the park is 80% of CPI. It's sub-inflationary. Here's my question. Would you recommend to your city staff that the city of Santa Ana run their budget with the revenue of only 80% of your expenses? And I like that answer because you're asking us as park owners to run our parks at 80% revenue and 100% CPI expenses.

So please answer that question during your final comments. And that's all I'd like to hear from you. Thank you.

David Penaloza

Thank you, Greg. Eva Raleigh followed by Jairo Cortes followed by Bulmaro Vicente. Eva?

Yes.

David Penaloza

Go ahead.

My name is thank you, honorable mayor and council members. And again, my condolences, Council member Hernandez. It's can't even think about it, but I just like to say, first of all, it's important for you, council members and our residents to understand that we operate and sustain many of the same services in the city in our parks as the city of Santa Santa Santa Ana provides and the costs provide those services and facilities continue to increase every year, just like the other two right in front of me have discussed.

We maintain a community center, swimming pools, spas, lake, landscaping, reseeding, tree trimming, streets and walkways, drainage systems, lighting systems. Plus, we maintain electric, gas and sewer systems to each of our homeowners. We maintain the infrastructure underneath the streets. We maintain those streets. So every time there's something that's going on there and we have to fix that, we're fixing the streets again too. Those are costs that are, you know, over and above what we're looking at on a regular basis. All these continue to rise and often at rates considerably above the consumer price index.

We, like you, must continue to protect the future of the property improvements and the quality of life for our residents with the same high quality maintenance measures and policies that have been made by lake park santa in lake park santa anna and lake park santa anna north those are our two properties we have in ward one and ward three and um we think they're pretty desirable communities to live in and we're trying to keep them that way and we're just asking for your help you know because this measure please oppose this measure it will really hurt all of us but i'd also like to just address something really

quickly we do have compassion and we do hear the stories and it doesn't just set but many times i've listened over the last two meetings and they've said we don't know that we don't have any idea you guys don't know me they don't know me i'm a single mother of two i'm 62 years old now i went paycheck to paycheck i couldn't feed my kids i worked and then i went to school at night to be where I am today and everyone can do that but the thing is I can put it up on someone else to take care of my kids it's on me and I'm not saying that anyone else is either but it's just

something to look at um and I and on a closing note it's I just want to thank the police officers I've heard a lot of grief tonight for you guys too thank you for everything you do for getting up in the morning putting that uniform on and saying goodbye to your families when you leave

David Penaloza

to come out and protect us thank you hiro cortes followed by bulmaro vicente followed by hector

uh good evening mr mayor and members of the council i'm hiro cortez executive director at chispa i'd like to begin tonight by extending my deepest condolences to brandon lopez's family his parents his children and all of his extended family including councilman Hernandez, who is sitting among you tonight after what I can only imagine must feel like an eternal and hellish week. In a just world, we wouldn't need to extend condolences to the Lopez family. In a just world, Brandon would be with them tonight, having dinner, trading stories, or

listening to hip-hop the way he loved to do. But experience and reality tells us that we live in an unjust world, and the most we can do is seek accountability and whatever semblance of justice that may bring about tonight the tragic irony is not lost lost on us that this council is about to take the first and most substantial step it has ever taken towards creating a police oversight board and for the purposes of time i'd like to speak to that we commend you in taking this step and urge this entire council to commit to enacting a model of police oversight that has independence, that has investigatory authority,

that can ensure accountability and play a role in officer discipline, that can audit existing policies and recommend new ones, and that has the necessary funding to carry out effective oversight and accountability over the police department. Lastly, as a Santana resident and homeowner i want to voice my support for the rent control and just cost evictions ordinance you will be voting on tonight until four months ago when i took the risk and used up all my savings i put away since i got my first job sanding paint off of cars in huntington beach to buy a condominium

i shared a small place with five other people before that my family had a mobile home we had to sell because we just couldn't keep up with the pace of rent increases for the lot something Team Councilmember Fan shared two weeks ago sounded familiar to me. My mortgage and HOA together add up to the price of rent I saw for most one-bedroom apartments. In December, I have a decrease to my HOA costs that I can look forward to. Later on, I'll be able to subtract the cost of my mortgage insurance, and in a few years, I should be able to refinance and bring my monthly costs further down.

This is a form of peace of mind and security renters simply do not have and that I didn't have until now. Under this ordinance, landlords will still be able to turn a profit. They'll still be able to make modest rent increases even as they refinance their own loans, even as their monthly payments go down. All people are asking for is for a level playing field, and that's what this ordinance does. And together, both of these actions are gonna do more for public safety and for improving the mental health of Santana residents than mostly anything that this council has the power to do. And so with that, I thank you for the actions

that you're about to take.

And I wish you all the best. Thank you.

David Penaloza

Pulmaro Vicente followed by Hector Bustos followed by Penelope Lopez.

Hi, my name is a boomer on the mother of the center, although people come boomer. I'm a lifelong resident of Santa Ana word for I'm also the policy director for chiefs. First and foremost, I want to give my condolences to Councilmember Hernandez, and the family of Brandon Lopez for the tragic loss. Brandon is life mattered. He was a father of four, a son, a brother, and he should still be here today. Brandon was the second Latino man to be killed by police in Orange County within the last week of September. Ronnie Andrew Garcia was shot and killed in broad daylight by Huntington Beach Police

Department just last Saturday. Last year in 2020, police killed 1,127 people. There were only 18 days last year in which police didn't kill anyone. 18 days. George Floyd from Minneapolis, list. Hector Hernandez from Fullerton, David Sullivan from one apart. These killings are all hit close to home. And we need to ensure that we prevent such tragedies to occur in the city. Being the second city to possibly implement police oversight comes with an advantage. Santana should learn from different models in Orange County, which is only one in Anaheim, which has been critiqued by community members and

legal professionals as being too weak to address the deep systemic issues in the police department. We need oversight with teeth, not just one that's gonna continue to rubber stamp police violence and police brutality in our city. One that has independent investigatory authority to review complaints and incidents. The board must also be empowered to conduct independent investigations into complaints and incidents that are of importance to the community, including police shootings and all deadly force. It should have the power to audit,

issue recommendations and set policy to make sure that officers are being compliant to these policies and protocols in place. We need oversight with these powers and abilities that will ensure transparency and accountability for the people of Santana. Lastly, I want to give my support for rent control for today as the council has a second reading. I hope you continue to stand with tenants and renters. The issue of housing and policing are deeply intertwined and connected. We've seen how white property interest and development are tied to policing practices

like broken window policing, public housing surveillance, white vigilant white vigilantism, and how carceral systems manage and car street these urban spaces. We need to make sure we implement rent control to allow our residents to thrive in our community without being evicted. And we need to make sure that these areas and these communities aren't being over police. Lastly, I want to give you all recommendation to create a more safer space for members of the council. We don't want to be confronted with like 10 police officers outside. We don't want to be

constantly going through this metal detector that was only implemented in like 2013-2014. team. This council, this space should be an opportunity for residents to feel comfortable and addressing these issues like housing and like policing. And that's very difficult for people that have experienced with police violence. When we're when we come and our first interaction is like with 10 officers outside that have been recording us as well. I have taken pictures of these officers that have been recording people outside that have been chanting that are here just being people and just you know being here with the city.

David Penaloza

thank you hector bustos followed by penelope lopez followed by maria andrade

hi folks my name is hector bustos and i'm here with chispa first and foremost i too want to offer my condolences to councilmember hernandez and the lopez family

i didn't know brandon lopez i didn't need to him. I don't need to know what he did leading up to Tuesday night. I don't need to know any of these things because I know that the ways that things were handled and the ways that things were unfolded were unjust. I didn't need to know any of these things about Brandon because I know that he didn't deserve to die at the hands of police.

So I'm here to talk to you about the importance of establishing a police oversight board here in Santana. We have a police department that controls a large majority of this city budget, yet we have no process or system in place to hold these officers accountable. It makes zero sense to me. We are literally funneling millions of dollars into this police department, and we don't have an accountability system. What does that say about our city?

We need to ensure that this police oversight board ensures accountability and has a say in officer discipline. It's no secret that the offices in our department, some of them are repeated offenders, have abused their power.

There's a culture of impunity in the Santa Ana Police Department and the Anaheim Police Department. Both departments have histories of abusive and corrupt police officers who use excessive force and kill our community members.

Anaheim PD is primarily responsible for the death of Brandon Lopez, because they pulled the trigger, not once but multiple times. But at the same time, the Santa Ana Police Department is just as responsible. They think that they can wash their hands clean of this. Well, no, it's not that simple. The Santa Ana Police Department was complicit in the killing of Brandon. And we will never forget that. And that's why we need a system in place to hold officers accountable. Because we know that this won't be the last time, unfortunately.

until we have a system in place that is able to hold these officers accountable. So I'm glad that you're taking action to establish this ad hoc committee, but let's get it rolling. And this argument about business as usual, no, this isn't business as usual. Business as usual is ignoring our community members. That's business as usual. What I see here today and what I've seen is bold.

policy that will advance the well-being of our community. So no, that's not business as usual. What we see as business as usual are the council members that are voting no on rent control, that don't want to establish a strong police oversight board. That's business as usual. Thank you.

David Penaloza

Penelope Lopez, followed by Maria Andrade, followed by Marcela Rosas. Penelope. López Maria Andrade Marcela Rosas,

David Penaloza

Coach Bo Kojma and Coach Tanya Fan,

David Penaloza

Kayvon Castellanos, Kayvon Castellanos,

David Penaloza

Eagaly, Eagaly are you here?

David Penaloza

Jaylene Flores or Jaylen? Jaylen Flores?

David Penaloza

Michael Cardoso?

David Penaloza

Madam Clerk, that is it for in-person comments. Are there any members of the public that wish to

address us via Zoom? Yes, thank you, Mayor Potempoñolosa. And I did want to mention the fact that some of the names that you did call out tonight on the speakers list looks like they He joined us by Zoom.

And with that, we also received written communication, one non-Sanay, I'm sorry, one non-agenda item from a Santa Ana resident commented on the killing of Brandon Lopez by Anaheim PD. Item nine, there was 74 Santa Ana residents or organizations in support for residency not disclosed. in opposition with 69 sienna anna resident organization or property owners nine more non-sienna anna residents 15 residency were not disclosed item 16 the facility reservation policy

there were 51 sienna anna residents in support two non-sienna anna residents who are in support. Item 21, resolution adding the extra help classification on the homeless service division manager position. One Santa Ana resident in support and one residency not disclosed.

And that is all for the written communication. And with that, Zoom ID Rosa Ramirez, if you would please select.

Oh.

Rosa Ramirez, you have to update your Zoom in order for you to be heard. So you could disconnect and try to get back in, but I cannot unmute you.

Caller with the last three numbers, 1-0-0. If you would please select star six to unmute your call or select the microphone icon.

Thank you. You have three minutes. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Jennifer Rojas, and I am the Senior Policy Advocate and Organizer with the ACLU of Southern California based in Orange County. When a member of the community is suddenly and tragically killed by law enforcement, the entire community is impacted. I'm speaking today in support of and behind the family of Brandon Lopez. Brandon Lopez should be with his family today. As the city knows, the California legislature

passed Assembly Bill 748 in 2018 because families impacted by police violence and the public at large have a right to know what happened when the police kill someone.

Under AB 748, California law enforcement agencies must release body camera footage and audio recordings within 45 days of a police shooting. The killing of Brandon Lopez by Anaheim Police Department is of great public interest as dozens of community members have attended vigils hosted by the Lopez family. We urge the City of Santa Ana to make the body camera footage of all Santa Ana Police Department officers involved in the shooting available to the public. It's notable that the killing of Brandon Lopez was not the first out of jurisdiction shooting by the Anaheim Police Department.

Since 2003, Anaheim Police Department has killed three people outside of Anaheim city limits. I want to speak on the importance of meaningful and effective civilian oversight and why the killing of Brandon Lopez is another clear example as to why oversight is the minimum policy action that the City Council must take. Anaheim currently has a civilian police review board that includes an external auditor, the auditor being the Office of Independent Review. In 2015, the OIR recommended that the Anaheim Police Department develop a policy to require

notification and approval from out-of-jurisdiction police departments before Anaheim police officers conduct operations outside of the city of Anaheim. The Anaheim Police Department chief at that time refused this recommendation. Anaheim PD determined that pre-notification and approval to conduct operations in outside cities is impractical. There have been several critical recommendations made by the Office of Independent Review that have been dismissed and denied by the Anaheim Chief of Police.

When the department refuses a recommendation, the discussion ends there. 15 seconds left. and the consequences of an action are widely felt. The killing of Brandon Lopez is a clear example as to why any civilian oversight model in Santa Ana must have powers that go well beyond Anaheim's model. It is also another clear example as to why the city must divert mental health calls and wellness checks to trauma-informed community organizations. Thank you. Your time is up.

Thank you.

Zoom ID Jose Gloria, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device.

Zoom ID Jose, thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Yes, thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I just want to start by giving my condolences for the family of Brandon and to the Council Member Hernandez and to all those that experienced that scene and will forever deal with that trauma of death by publicly funding firing squad. As was said by the Mayor, the Council majority voted for policy that should have prevented Brandon's murder, but sadly was too late. So much more to say, but I'll just say I'm heartbroken, outrage and demand justice. Let me say paternalism and bootstrap rhetoric doesn't help your cause

to those against rent control. It just further exposes your antiquated plantation mentality. We get it. Y'all are good white folks. Now next, let me address the apocalyptic scare tactics. Again, hyperbole doesn't help. The world will not end with rent control. Corporations and Jeff Bezos won't save us. These are the same people that just spent hundreds of millions of dollars to spread misinformation about repealing cause to Hawkins twice in California while claiming to care by your tenants. Most of you don't give a damn. Indeed, economic carpet bombing is what's happening in our communities because of recent COVID pandemic

and because of decades-long abuse of a system created by landlords for landlords that disbalances the level of rights that gives too many rights to them. So if anyone should get paid for losses, it should be the community. Call this ordinance restitution because of the racist laws like redlining and other policies that decimate our communities. all while greatly benefiting mostly white people at the expense of others, despite them sending brown faces to do their bidding tonight. And to the woman who said that mobile home tenants pay $800 for the spaces, good job leaving out that many also pay for the mobile home they bought.

Developers and landowners have shown that they care about their bottom line, which also comes at the expense of the rest. Protecting the free market in the renter market is like protecting job creators and trickle-down economics. It doesn't work. Even when rec control, we are and will remain a gem in the heart of OC, a beacon of hope for working families because of our working families, many of which are recent immigrants. My people work in these rich folks' factories, care for their children and elderly, and work in their fields. It really boils down to priorities and

political ambitions, and lobbyists speak louder and in dollar signs. For the Democrats who do not stand with OC Democratic Party priorities when voting against this, I know you'll be begging for an endorsement later. One or two will run for mayor or for re-election in November. To be clear, Dear Peñalosa, business as usual means being a puppet for the landlords and developers. It means the police get all the money they want and no police reform. So spare me your sacrimony. You Becerra and Mendoza are banking for the support from the landlords, developers, and that the community will forget.

But I hope it's been left quite clear that we will not. But let's talk insults and threats, because that may not come from individuals in business suits here at the chamber. They'll come from secretive PACs. the landlord associations, realtors, developers, and POA are scheming as we speak to undo the good work of this council with recalls and future puppet politicians. 15 seconds left. So, you know, I mentioned a lot of things last week, but today is a historic day. And if we pass rent control, and I want to thank Councilwoman Ty Viet Pham for putting in countless hours and for learning about this.

And thanks to Councilmember Lopez, Hernandez, and Mayor Sarmiento who ran on rent control. But as I meant to say last week, not only the ones that voted for this will have a bullseye on their backs, but also the renters on of Santa Ana will have one because of your time away with it, then other cities might replicate it. So thank you very much. God willing, we'll be able to do this here and in other cities. Thank you. Thank you.

Zoom ID Kaylee LeVette, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hi, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Great. Hello, everyone. And I just wanted to use my time tonight to, one, talk about the connection between police brutality and housing injustice, which Councilmember Hernandez eloquently spoke to during the last city council meeting.

And I am devastated to hear about this brutal murder. And I'm also hopeful to hear about the changes and the way that council members have spoke about what needs to be done. And I want to echo what was said about the generations of violence that have come before the city council and that what I have seen from this new city council is not business as usual. during the deadliest pandemic in human history.

I see, I have seen city council members take a bold stand on, on the side of renters and working to undo the systems of violence. And I am very thankful for this as a volunteer for tenants United Santana. I have seen actually resident while doing tenant counseling for residents at Via Del Sol, which one of the managers said they had no issues and it was a great place to live. I just wanted to share a story from tenant counseling there where a resident during this

pandemic was receiving all of their notifications in English about being evicted due to non-payment of rent and she actually didn't know that she was being evicted because it was all happening in English. So that is an example of how AB 1482, the state law fails to suit Santa Ana renters who are largely need those barriers around language justice to be considered.

And so that's just one small example from Villa del Sol and other renters as well who I worked with there who were unable to pay for health, things related to their health because of the cost of rent. And so I just want to speak to we have an opportunity to make great change for the material conditions of residents of Santana. And I am honored to be a part of this community and and hopefully be a part of this change as we roll this out. 15 seconds left.

Last thing I'll mention in response to the opposition, we need a rent freeze in the meantime, while the rollout of the law is considered to protect the most vulnerable. Thank you.

Thank you. Zoom ID, Brian Peraza, if you would please select the microphone icon. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we could hear you.

All right. Buenos dias. My name is Brian Peraza. First of all, I'd like to share my condolences with Councilmember Hernandez and the rest of the family of Brandon Lopez. I'm very sorry to hear about what happened. And I sit in solidarity with folks who are demanding more police oversight. It is absolutely necessary. So I also would like to speak in favor of the rent control ordinance. I ask that you please take into consideration the needs of residents actively living in Santana. We are not asking for much or free handouts.

We simply ask that our humanity is respected and there be avenues in place for us to live more fulfilling and dignified lives. Stable and affordable housing is essential for our students to be able to focus in school. Stable and affordable housing is essential for workers to rest after a long day at work. Stable and affordable housing is essential for our community to prosper and have peace of mind. Stable and affordable housing is essential for our elderly community members to live peacefully. Stable and affordable housing is essential for the reduction of criminality.

Stable and affordable housing is essential. Housing is a human right. It is not a commodity, and we should start treating it as such. So please support the rent stabilization ordinance, and please enact rent freeze so our folks could get some help in the meantime. Gracias. Thank you.

Thank you. Zoom ID Jenna Perez, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device to unmute your call. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hello, Council members. My name is Jenna Perez. I'm here to express my support of the rent control ordinance. I would like to begin my comment by offering my sincerest and deepest condolences to the family of our community member Brandon Lopez, who was taken from us unjustly. May he rest in power. My family have been Santana residents in Ward 1 for over 50 years. My mom still lives in the neighborhood she was raised in as a child. This is a story of many Santana residents who were born and raised here or have lived here for years, built their roots and community here, and started families here.

These are residents who invest in this city and give so much back to this community. They deserve stable housing. They deserve more than to be pushed out of the community they have known as home for decades and generations. Santaneros deserve more than to be one missed paycheck or one rent increase away from homelessness and displacement. Council members who voted no on this ordinance have argued that the city does not have the funding to oversee the implementation of this ordinance. I would like to point out that the Santana Police Department has a budget of $143 million.

How is it that the city has millions in funding to criminalize and surveil community members, but not the funds to secure their housing stability? building safer communities begins with meeting people's basic needs and their human rights to safety and housing this issue hits close to home tonight and no one should have to live through the trauma of losing a loved one at the hands of police if we invest in legislation for affordable housing mental health support and community programs we would not need a militarized and expensive police force another argument council members noted against this ordinance was that

they do not see the urgency or the need i would like to point out that here in santana the share renters that are severely cost burdened was 58 in 2019 this has been urgent this is not anything new covet has only exacerbated this issue rental assistance programs are great but they are a band-aid solution that do not address the structural housing crisis we are trying to survive under there are over 6 000 unhoused people in santana and many more facing housing insecurity what could be more urgent than that another issue raised was concerns about not knowing the long-term effects

of this ordinance i would like to point out that we also don't know the long-term effects of an unprecedented pandemic we have faced unprecedented loss of income thousands of deaths of loved ones labor shortages low wages unsafe working conditions we shouldn't have to wait for more folks to be displaced evicted and traumatized to act the time to act is now the voices of the opposition during public comments clearly demonstrate that a vote against this rent control ordinance is a vote in favor of the interests of landlords and developers who are

not from the city have no real stake in the city beyond their bottom line and profit i'm honestly shocked at the comments of landlords here attempting to gaslight and diminish the lived experiences of the advocates here who have bravely shared their stories we are not misled or misguided we are not making these experiences up to say that clearly represents their detachment from the reality of working class people in this country and the tenants they claim to serve i urge you to vote in favor of the rent control ordinance and to be on the right side of history Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Zoom ID, Daisy, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device to unmute your call. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hi, thank you. Can you hear me?

Yes, we could hear you.

Great, thank you. Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, and the tenants community of Santa Ana. My name is Daisy and I'm with the Kennedy Commission and here in support of rent control with the residents of Santana. The city of Santana is a renter majority city and many have been and continue to struggle with remaining housed. I can sit here and tell you numbers but you've heard them all before and data never supersedes the people's lived experiences. You've heard so many stories here today. You know families are self-evicting and you know landlords are illegally evicting families,

threatening families and assaulting them too. Listen to the stories of the community and many that go unheard because families are working multiple shifts to stay housed and are unable to be there. Santana is the beautiful city that it is because of the people that live there and work there, grew up there, create art, create systems of care, and create joy even while struggling. It's not surprising that community members are mentioning rent hikes from landlords today and in the last few weeks since the ordinance introduction. This really is about protecting

tenants from predatory rent hikes. We urge you to support rent control. And my deepest condolences to Jonathan Hernandez and the Lopez family for the murder of Brendan Lopez. I'm truly sorry, and to those affected by the carceral state every single day. The over-policing and hyper-vigilance of our Black and Indigenous communities is not new. It is by design. An oversight committee is necessary, as well as this investment. Invest in mental health services, invest in housing, invest in youth, invest in the community. More money to the police has never decreased crime. Thank you. Thank you.

caller with the last three numbers 634 if you would please select the microphone icon on your device or select star six from your phone

caller with the last three numbers 634 if you would please select star six from your phone or the microphone icon on your device okay are you listening

Yes. Yes. Okay. Good morning. Good morning, council members. Good morning, everybody. My name is Pedro Correa and my wife is Evelyn Correa. We are residents of Valley High Mobile Home for Seniors in Santa Ana. Two years ago, we were asking the City Council of Santa Ana for help. Back then, we had another president of the United States and another council of Santa Ana. Two years later, we have a different president of the United States and a different council of Santa Ana.

Today our council member for the Ward 6 is Nelida Mendoza, and our request for help is still the same. We are hopeful this time our request is heard. We do not ask for free rent. When I was working in the industry of manufacturing for 20 years, I never had an increase in my salary for 2% or 3%. My employer usually said that it was impossible for them to give me that increase. I never got it.

My rent was increased more than that. I feel my social security back in May and my wife needed back surgery.

Me and my wife are not going to have an increase in social security anytime soon. Now we pay taxes and insurance for the mobile home. for trash, for sewer, for electricity, gas, and water. They can increase that as well. We are not millionaires asking for help with lawyers, with assistance, with representatives, with administrative assistance. We are the old and poor people asking for help not to be abused.

We are asking for an increase of 3% in rent and a stabilization of rent in Santa Ana. In Spanish, we say hope dies last. We hope this time our voices are heard. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Zoom ID Manny Escamilla, if you would please select the microphone icon.

Okay, are you able to hear me?

Yes, we can hear you. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Yeah, just to start off with the sincere condolences to the Lopez family, Council Member Hernandez, you know, I guess what makes this situation, I guess, such a sad part of, I guess, everything that happens around here is that, you know, this is not the first time that we've had police shootings in the city and it's not, you know, unfortunately it's, I'm hoping it's the last, but you know, I can't even say that. There's so many of us that have grown up here, um, that have lived through the trauma of police shootings and having a militarized force in our communities and growing up with, um, you know, SWAT teams

coming into our homes. And that is part of the lived reality that we all face. And it's a different Santa Ana because we now have representatives that know that experience and are actually able to participate in public policy. So thank you for that representation there.

And moving on to one of the other policy items, I think it's still part of that same systemic inequity that's really built into our country and our society. It's like the easy battles of civil rights, where we know that it's bad to discriminate against race, color, creed, and religion. The systems of control and discrimination have been a little bit more subtle now. They're embedded in systems of ownership, ways that money moves from low paid workers that have their rents increased, that then subsidize the economies of wealthy beach cities. That's what we're looking to dismantle here,

at least partially to say that the folks that are renters here deserve the same stability that middle-class homeowners deserve when it comes to property or team protections. In fact, if you look at the owners of these properties, the most common year of property tax assessment is 1975. These folks have benefited from government intervention in Prop 13, and it basically had their base tax rate set from 1975. And there's been a major economic windfall there. And I'm sure that's helped kind of lower some rent sometimes. But that is the reality of the economic systems that we have that favor certain groups over another.

and this is you know just something we can do for basic fairness um i did want to point out that both war or boards two four and six so all the ones that are for election next year did in fact support prop 21 in the 2020 election so for those that are at least considering their political futures uh do take that as a numerical uh data point that awards two four and six were in fact supportive of Prop 21. And I really do doubt, like when people are kind of quoting economists, that anyone's actually read Lissar Lindbeck's 1972 work of the political economy of the new left. If anyone has, you know, I'd love to discuss that with you,

but I don't think that anyone's actually read that work. So-15 seconds left. Oh man, so much more to say, but I just want to give the rest of my time for the memory of Brandon. So please allow those 15 seconds for Brandon.

Thank you. Zoom ID Penelope Lopez, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hi, thank you. Good morning, Mayor and City Council. My name is Penelope Lopez and I'm an organizer with CHISPA. First, I want to offer my condolences to Brandon Lopez's loved ones. He was a community member of Santana, a son, a father, and he should be alive today. It is clear that police is not equipped to respond to mental health crisis and that communities of color are not safe at the hands of police. Brandon Lopez deserves justice, but we already know what happens when police

investigate police accountability is evaded time and time again but accountability can't wait anymore we need a strong police oversight board we do not need another review board that will rubber stamp police violence community we know that communities thrive when resources are available to residents and when they are free from fear of eviction and brutality So I ask you all to take immediate action on police oversight and support rent control to ensure the safety and well-being of the most impacted in our community. Thank you.

Thank you.

Zoom ID Grant Leonard, if you would please select the microphone icon. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hi, good morning. Can you hear me? Yes, we could hear you. Excellent. Hello, my name is Grant Lehner. I'm an attorney with Community Legal Aid SoCal. I'm here on, you know, as part of that. I work as a staff attorney in the housing department.

I'm here in support of item number nine, the ordinance to control rent and also to establish just cause protections for tenants. I'd also like to just address some, you know, misinformation that I heard throughout the course of this city council meeting. I think some of the folks were saying that evictions haven't been happening during the pandemic, which is absolutely patently not true.

You know, we over here at Community Legal Aid have been in court every single day defending people from getting evicted by landlords throughout the course of the pandemic. And, you know, we can't serve everyone. And even sometimes the people that we do serve still get evicted. So it's, it's absolutely happening. And for people to say that it's not, they're either very, very misinformed or they're lying. So I don't understand how people can come in front of us as property managers for housing organizations and say that.

Second, you know, I think that there's this narrative that's being built, and I want to address this motif that seems to come up a lot of, you know, we're landlords that look out for tenants, and we're just, you know, a small landlord, we look out for folks, right?

You know, I wanted to say, like, none of the folks that spoke out today, with maybe one exception, were even the landlords themselves. It was managers for property management companies. And I think that it's really telling that tenants are all here as individuals with their own lived experiences. And everyone here that's in opposition to this tenant protection is really here for their moneyed interests, right? Not for their livelihood. And I just think that's very interesting to me. Just something weird that I noticed.

you know I don't I don't know that a landlord that when I see rent increases happen in court just as my personal experience or when I have tenants call in I don't see these 20 percent or five percent plus increases coming from landlords who are individuals like your mom your aunt your uncle people that live in the community it's almost always these property management companies themselves who aren't human beings and don't live in the community, don't need to eat, don't need to breathe, don't need a place to stay. So, you know, they're out to make their bottom line, they're out to make their money, and that's their only

purpose for existing. So it's just really interesting. Yeah, it's just really interesting. You know, I can't speak on any of the other items that are being addressed today, number 14 or number 22 but i do think that i i am allowed to just extend my condolences to brandon lopez and his family i think that's appropriate um even my role as an attorney for sierra here uh thank you that's all my time have a great night thank you

zoom id adolfo sierra if you would please select the microphone icon to unmute your call

Good morning. My name is Adolfo Sierra. I live in Madison Park Neighborhood Association. I believe it's War 6 now. And I am in support of rent control. I believe it's item number 9. And two weeks ago, I couldn't speak in favor. For some reason, I got uh disconnected but anyways um i also here in support of the construction of the new restaurants at madison park but i also would like to request to have a community center there

but i believe we need it it's necessary and also i support the school collaboration on subcommittee, I believe is very, very essential to have the Santa Ana Unified School District on the table when it comes to environmental justice due to the new general plan update, which is coming up really quick and is not being completed as it has to be completed.

eliminating pollution and reducing the contaminants around the environmental justice areas. Also, I would like to support the police oversight committee because of the obvious reasons that has been mentioned all along. And my condolence to Councilmember Hernandez. I would like also to to applaud and thank you, Major Sarmiento for your leadership by asking the staff to

look into this situation closely and strictly and find a solution. And that's really necessary at this moment.

I also want to mention that the advantages of rental control, it's housing accounts more affordable, fewer people have to live in the streets which would have a homeless problem in the city, more money to spend on other things by the residents. This may lead to a better health insurance because the the the residents may have more money to pay for health insurance which is a one of the basic needs it's important also to ensure social stability on the city and more money

for retirement we've been they've been mentioning over and over older residents about how they struggling to pay the rent 15 seconds higher efficiency on the overall use of housing space and they can the tenants can secure more feel more secure and and rent control is especially important for people with low income and being a social worker and i've seen every single day

your time is up thank you for your comment

zoom id nahed gabriel if you would please select the microphone icon on your device to unmute your

call nahed gabriel if you would please select the microphone icon on your device

to unmute your call.

Alexis, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Hi, good morning, counsel. This is Alexis Teodoro. I am the co-founder and current organizing director for the Tenayuca Labor Project. The Tenayuca Labor Project is a new project that seeks to and is currently supporting workers across the county, especially Santa Ana. And one thing that I would like to highlight that hasn't really been mentioned is, aside from the issues of high rent that tenants face in Santa Ana, A lot of these tenants who are workers also face a bigger, a really big issue as well that's called wage theft in their workplace.

So not only do they live paycheck to paycheck, but they sometimes pay more than 50% of their rent from stolen wages, meaning that they're getting underpaid and because they don't really know their rights, they don't enforce them. So it creates—it contributes to the cycle of poverty that makes it—that continues to make it difficult to pay your rent. I highlight this to fully convince the rest of you who don't want to support and for full approval of the rent control policy, because any—this policy will directly benefit all minimum wage workers in the city of Santa Ana,

who all those minimum wage workers are also hero workers, since they're working at the forefront of the pandemic even now. And also these folks are either ourselves or direct family members who live paycheck to paycheck. And like another speaker mentioned, the wages are not increasing.

We fully support the rent control and we would like the council to also not just do the rent freeze, because as we hear landlords that are speaking, they're going to be raising their rents as a form of retaliation. But we also encourage the council to include what's called a presumable assumption of retaliation protection, because if we move forward and pass this tonight, there will be retaliation by landlords. and the city needs to also step up and create what's called a presumable assumption of retaliation so that the tenant can properly defend themselves in a timely manner.

We do expect that to happen, so please consider adding more anti-retaliation protections when we move forward to pass this law. Also, I would like to extend my condolences to Council Member Hernandez. this. We feel your pain and we hope that an oversight committee is placed in the city once and for all to make sure that police are held accountable. 15 seconds left. Thank you and have a great night and we hope that rent control becomes a law starting today. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah. Zoom ID, Elias Casales. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hello. Good morning. Hello.

Hello. Yeah. You may proceed with your comment. Thank you.

Great. Thank you very much. My name is Elias Casales. I'm the president for Santa Ana Pony. We were there earlier in the chamber's office, but it got too late for us to stick around and give our comments. So you have me here, I'm Zoom. Like I said, I'm the president for Santa Ana Pony Baseball. There with me was Alex, who's our vice president, and Renee is our other president, and Hector, our treasurer.

We were there to urge the City Council to support and vote in favor of the proposed changes to the athletic facility reservation policy, which I believe is number 16. The Executive Board of Santa Ana Pony Baseball is in favor of the proposed changes. We have encountered many struggles to accommodate our youth athletes due to field restrictions. In past years, we've had to turn away young boys and girls because we could not secure enough baseball fields.

Our goal as a board is to provide an activity for our youth that teaches them not only the game of baseball, but many other traits that help them in life. These proposed changes allow us to change the way things have been done in the past. We believe with cooperation, we can all properly share our fields with all sports and youth and adult sports.

We strongly believe that with this new process,

There's going to be a lot more transparency and a true emphasis on Santa Ana youth athletes.

This new policy will also alleviate all the issues we've had with reservations for the last several years. So the Santa Ana Pony Executive Board strongly encourages all the council members to vote in favor for this new policy also to council member hernandez on behalf of santa anna pony baseball and monarch football we extend our condolences to you and all your family in the

loss of your family member. Thank you in advance for your support. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Zoom ID Tanya Navarro, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device.

Zoom ID Tanya Navarro if you would please select the microphone icon on your device to unmute your call.

Zoom ID, Tanya Navarro, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device.

Thank you, you may proceed with your comment.

Tanya, are you there?

Tanya Navarro, we cannot hear any audio.

Can you see if maybe your device is silenced? You may need to raise the volume on your device.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you now. Thank you.

you may proceed with your comment thank you uh hi there city council good morning my name is tanya navarro and i just want to start out this comment by saying i love santa anna and i love the people that make santa anna what it is um throughout 2020 and 2021 thousands of your constituents gathered to march and demand and to plead that you take action and that you equipped your people with real protection from law enforcement. Law

enforcement's mood decides if we live or die and if we get brutalized and if our families are respected or not and every time without consequence. A few of you scoffed while your community brought up their concerns and their fears and their ideas to your chambers in the past and now here we are the names of the victims only continue to grow and this time it happened in our city on your watch

We need now more than ever to instill police oversight, but not in a performative manner. We needed to have teeth. We need justice for Brandon. He was one of our neighbors. and on that day that pursuit drove through my neighborhood and I felt the fear but not of him I felt the fear for him for his life and in the aggression that I saw going through our neighborhood

I plead all of you to think about all of the youth and all of your constituents and what they've been asking for for a very long time now. Right now the community is hurting and there's different types of violence taking place by the state.

I also want to say that I am fully in support of adopting agenda item number nine and I I would like to reach out to my city council member, Phillip Bucera, to please vote yes on passing rent control. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, Mayor and council members, that was the last caller.

Great, thank you, everybody. Good morning to everybody. We are now at the consent calendar section of the calendar. So let me go ahead and ask any members of the council if they have any items that they wish to pull. I believe we've already taken care of item number 10.

Council member Fan has her hand virtually.

Got it. Give me one second. Let me just go ahead and say that 10 has already been taken care of because that was the appointment of Kimberly Cabrera as a youth commissioner. and so I'll go ahead and call on council member fan to go ahead and pull any items or abstain from any items first then we'll go around here at the at the dais thank you I'd like to call item nine and no recusals for consent calendar go ahead on your no recusals or did you say you're going to

Thai Viet Phan

you have recusals no recusals on the consent calendar thank you great thank you um let me