Read the October 19 meeting.

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Recording stop. Recording in progress. Okay, Mayor, we're…

Mayor, the meeting is ready. It's being recorded.

Thank you. Thank you for that, Madam Clerk. I was just checking on the Dodger score, so if anybody knows whether they won or not. So I'm not sure if it's over, if they won or if they didn't, but in any event. Let me go ahead and call the regular meeting back to order.

So is this a joint special and regular meeting tonight because we have...

Just a closed session was a special.

Got it. Okay, so the regular meeting is just a regular meeting. So let me go ahead and call the regular meeting to order and let me begin by saying that this meeting is taking place with in-person attendance and teleconference via Zoom. The public may access the meeting via the San Antonio YouTube channel and the city's website. And as always, please bear with us as the technology may disrupt the flow of the meeting as we're going through this. So I'll ask Madam Clerk to please call roll.

Councilmember Becerra?

Here.

Councilmember Hernandez? Here. Councilmember Lopez? Here. Council Member Mendoza? Present. Council Member Fan? Here. Mayor Pro Tempeñaloza?

Present.

Mayor Sarmiento?

Here. So let me go ahead and just remind everybody that we do have a public hearing that we scheduled for tonight that has to take place at 7 p.m. So as we're going through presentations, as we're going through public comments and other business items, I will interrupt the meeting so we can accelerate that. That's on redistricting and that has to be done specifically on this date and at that time. So, Madam Clerk, please remind me as we're approaching the 7 p.m. hour so we can go ahead and interrupt the meeting for that item.

And before we proceed to the Pledge of Allegiance, go ahead and make your comments, Madam Clerk, so we can go ahead and get started.

Thank you, Mayor. To request to speak on agenda or non-agenda items within the City's jurisdiction, with the exception of the public hearing item 22 regarding redistricting, please dial star 9 from your phone or select the button labeled raise hand from zoom at this time. For public hearing item number 22, please hold your comments until the mayor opens the public hearing schedule to be heard at 7 p.m. Please announce your name and ward or neighborhood you reside in within the city of Santa Ana for the record. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Let's go ahead and if you'll all please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance by rising and placing your right hand over your heart.

Facing the flag, and please repeat after me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

and to the republic for which it stands,

one nation, other God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, and if you'll all please remain standing, we're going to have an invocation given to us tonight, and you're very welcome for joining us, and thank you for doing the invocation with us. Thank you. We have Maria Connie who's going to be addressing us tonight. So the floor is yours.

Mayor, Councilmember, City of Anaheim, members, good evening. Let us pray. Gracious Lord, you said you have created humans from a single parent and you made them nations and tribes that they may recognize each other and not despite each other. You have honored the children of Adam when you granted them knowledge and a free will. You carry them in land and in sea, and you have made provision of good things for them. You have preferred them above many of others you have created. So we are grateful to you, Lord. So we are praying tonight.

Bless our leaders and restore your wisdom and mercy on them. Guide them to serve their communities and fulfill the needs of those who are present today in the best way. Protect our children and youth from any temptation and sickness. Bless those who stand for justice and guide them to continue striving for the truth.

Bless our elderly and surround them with those who care for them and show them love. Lord, you are the healer, and we pray that your power will defeat this pandemic that we've been suffering for so long, so the world can be healthy and live in peace. We know that you are near to us, Lord, and you answered our prayer. So in your name, the most merciful, most gracious, we pray and we say, Amen. Thank you.

Thank you. You can all be seated. Thank you so much for that invocation.

Let me go ahead and move along to the ceremonial presentation section of our meeting. Let me begin with Mayor Pro Tem who's going to be presenting a proclamation on adopt a shelter dogma.

You need four legs to get to the microphone faster, man.

That's right.

Hi, Bobby.

David Penaloza

So, welcome everybody and thank you guys for being here. I just wanted to... Oh my God, I'm distracted now.

David Penaloza

So, for millions of dogs, there's something special about the month of October. No, it's not a holiday, sweaters, or Halloween treats. It's the promise of a better life. You see, October is Adopt-A-Shelter Dog Month, which means it's the perfect opportunity to help homeless animals in shelters and rescue facilities all across America find loving happy homes. Since 1981 American Humane has celebrated Adopt-a-Shelter Dog Month each October in an effort to help the estimated three to four million animals waiting in shelters and rescue facilities every year get the loving forever homes that they deserve.

David Penaloza

With us today is Mary Ann Dell from the Shamrock Rescue Foundation right behind me. Mary Ann has been rescuing and finding homes for dogs since 1991. Joining Mary Ann is Santa Ana resident Charisse King. Hi. Charisse and her husband Ron King adopted a dog from Mary Ann in 2001 and began helping her efforts and what is and that is when Shamrock Rescue Foundation was born. Shamrock Rescue Foundation rescues and finds homes for approximately 50 dogs a year. They are small, but they make a huge difference to those 50 dogs. Some go to foster homes until

David Penaloza

they find permanent loving adopters. Others stay at a board and training facility nearby. They focus on dogs that no one is likely to rescue from a shelter. Dogs with behavioral and medical issues and senior dogs, many of whom have been taken to shelters when their elderly owners die and I'm about to get choked up because that is really sad. These dogs deserve to live out their lives surrounded by love, not die alone and unwanted in a cold shelter in an unfamiliar, loud, scary place. With that said, I'd like to introduce Bobby and Samson. Where's Bobby? Bobby's

David Penaloza

down here behind me. And oh, they're cuties. Two furry friends that are currently in the care of Shamrock Rescue Foundation and are in need of a loving forever home. So if anybody out there listening wants to give these two beautiful puppies a loving home, you know, please, please do so. Be a hero this month and adopt a dog from your local shelter or rescue group. You'll be saving his or her life and greatly improving your own as dogs are amazing, supportive, and heroic companions. And so this is Samson and Bobby, which are both adorable. If I could, I'd take them both home. But my mom would kill me. I live at home.

David Penaloza

And she almost threw Jackson Eye out the other day. She was like, he's barking. So anyways, thank you guys for being here. I just wanted to really plead with all you out there to look into adopting a dog, adopting one of these two here with us today. And just a reminder that on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m. and Sundays from 1 to 2.30 p.m., We have a low cost pet vaccinations at wellness clinics at our Santa Ana parking structure on Birch Street So for more information, please visit vet care pet clinic.com So now I'd like to present both of you with this proclamation On behalf of the mayor and the City Council

David Penaloza

For all the work that you guys do. So thank you

Yeah, if Thank you all. Thank you. We really appreciate this. If anyone is interested, our website is shamrockrescue.org. We're also on Facebook. And we are always looking for homes for dogs that are really, really in need of them. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you for that. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Let's go ahead and move along to Councilmember Becerra who's going to be presenting a proclamation to our director of planning and building, Director Min Tai. Hard act to follow, Director Tai, because you know, you're cute but not as cute as some of those

David Penaloza

puppy so and mr. mayor if I may while he walks up I just like to thank yesenia Cruz in our city manager's office who was able to coordinate and put this together and get these puppers here so thank you absolutely absolutely next time

Phil Bacerra

Can you put me before the dogs? I appreciate that.

Man, I mean, come on, right? I know. Our team is here. So, come on. All right.

So, come on.

Phil Bacerra

So, for me, this recognition is personal, just given my education and professional background. SO TODAY WE'RE HERE TO RECOGNIZE THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2021 AS NATIONAL COMMUNITY PLANNING MONTH THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. NATIONAL COMMUNITY PLANNING MONTH IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONTRIBUTIONS THAT SOUND PLANNING AND PLAN IMPLEMENTATION MAKE TO THE QUALITY OF OUR CITY AND OUR ENVIRONMENT ASSURING THEIR SUSTAINABILITY. NATIONAL COMMUNITY PLANNING MONTH ALSO GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUBLICLY RECOGNIZE THE PARTICIPATION AND DEDICATION OF MEMBERS OF OUR PLANNING COMMISSION,

Phil Bacerra

members that are volunteering on our advisory committees, boards, and the professional planners like I have here today who have contributed their time and expertise to making sure that Santa Ana is well planned and continues their commitment to public service. So as we know now, planning is more important than ever, especially as we try to navigate the disruptive changes that were brought about by the pandemic so planners as we know will help us lead our communities to a more equitable resilient and longer lasting recovery so as i said you know we celebrate the role that planning

Phil Bacerra

plays in creating these great communities and that's why each month i'm sorry each october um i feel like it's every month it should be right right but but for now we'll just say october as National Community Planning Month. So with that, I'd like to have Mintai come up and I'd like to present this proclamation to you on behalf of the Santa Ana City Council in recognition.

Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Becerra, and thank you to our mayor, Mayor Potem, and the city council. On behalf of our staff and the planning department, it is my honor to accept this declaration tonight. I just want to say that I have the fortune of working with some of the most talented and hardworking planner in the industry. Our team is second to none. They're extremely hardworking. They work day and night and sacrifice their personal time on the weekends and after hours just so that we can ensure that we get the job and we get it done right.

Our team consists of advanced planning, current planning, which also includes historical preservation as well as neighborhood improvement program those are the two programs that actually is very exciting because it is most closest and dearest to our community um i have here with me tonight our talented team does it's not everyone but uh planning manager fabiola zalea melaker we have principal planner melanie mccann she heads the advanced planning team and then we have principal planner ali possessor and he heads the current planning team so again I just want to say that on behalf of our department I'm thankful and very

fortunate to work this team and I want to thank the council for acknowledging the effort our planners put into our community thank you would you like to say hi

thank you

Thank you, Director Tai. Thank you for everything you and your team do. Let me go ahead and call on Councilmember Mendoza. She is going to be recognizing Cecilia Aguinaga. Cecilia, come on up. I think you've been up here before.

Good evening, citizens of Santa Ana, city staff, and to my colleagues. I would like to present here this certificate of appreciation to a very special lady who has been an incredible support and volunteer to the city of Santa Ana in many ways. She is a paisana, which means someone who has been born in the same state as you, as yourself. And so my paisana here, we're very similar in nature because it's the saying that goes, strong women who support strong women who support strong women.

And so this is the case here. I wanted to acknowledge all the years of hard work that Cecilia has given unselfishly to the city of Santa Ana. So if you'll hold this, I'm going to just say a few things.

Cecilia was born in Jalisco, and that's the same state that I was born in, in Mexico. and she immigrated to the United States in 1978. She has lived with her husband Armando Aguinaga in the city of Santa Ana for more than 37 years. Cecilia and her husband own a business in the city of Santa Ana and have been business owners for more than 60 years. After helping her husband manage the business, Cecilia became interested and devoted to helping children become successful in school. She started working for the Santa Ana Unified School District in 1994 and worked there for over 15 years.

Cecilia was appointed to the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Let's go back on that. She was appointed to the Human Relations Commission of the City of Santa Ana from 2004 to 2009. So that was five years and she served as chair and later as vice chair of the commission. In this role, she presided over the selection of social services programs and funds to improve the quality of life for her residents in the city of Santa Ana. Cecilia also served on the Board of Housing Redevelopment Commission as a vice chair and commissioner for the city of Santa Ana.

In this role, she continued participating in the selection of social programs and funds to help the community, as well as helping people who can afford housing. So as you can see, Cecilia is a go-getter. She is not a person who's going to wait to be asked. She goes out there and does whatever it takes to help her community. She is unselfish in volunteering lots of time, and she wants to ensure that our children, our youth, are successful. And one way through that is by the services that we offer through the city of Santa Ana. We would like to thank Cecilia for her years of selfless devotion to the children

and the Santa Ana community as a whole. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, Cecilia. A big round of applause to Cecilia Aguinaga.

Would you like to say a few words? Yes. Can you hold this?

Can you hold this? I sure will. I feel like I'm at home. I feel like all of you are my family, especially the city council, the staff members. I've been able to talk to them and be getting to know them personally. Why? Because over the years I've been serving in many, many commissions and boards. You're talking about my services goes about a behind 25 years.

As soon as I get graduated from college and learn English.

Okay. Good evening, Mayor Sarmiento, members of the council.

City manager and staff, my girls.

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you, all of you, for your election to direct our city. That's very, very important. My name is Cecilia Aguinaga, as already my friend mentioned it. I am currently business owner and a real estate agent. I have lived in the Santa Ana Florida Park neighborhood for more than 45 years.

I have raised three children in Santa Ana. Ramsey, who was proudly police officer, in the same time that I was working with the police in the district. So we together were doing presentations in our voluntary time, along with our brothers in blue from here, from the city of Santa Ana. We did a lot of good in the city of Santa Ana. Unfortunately, my son passed away of cancer three years ago in 2018. But he's in heaven. He's looking after me.

He served 10 years in Los Angeles, and he served six years in here, or vice versa. Alan, my middle boy, is an international culinary chef who graduated from the culinary school of the arts. And my little girl Sylvia, who is only 33, she's going to be 33, she just got married and her husband and her got their masters and they are CEOs or animus games to educate children and adults in

a fun way. They creating the games. They are the owners of the games. I'm very proud of my kids. I'm very honored to receive this proclamation

of voluntary service for more than 25 years for the city to help the city of Santa Ana community. Thank you for your continued trust and for you to appoint me to the different boards and commissions, which I have and continue to represent you with honesty, commitment, and respect. Thank you, all of you, for trusting me. Thank you. He's the only one that knows me very well for a long time. Thank you, thank you all of you, and thank you for being here. God bless.

Thank you, Cecilia. Thank you for everything you do. And go Bears, because I know her daughter went to Berkeley. Go Bears, right?

Great. Thank you for that, Council Member Mendoza. Let me go ahead and call on Council Member Fan, who is going to be making a special presentation to Godina's Fundamental High School. Are there any Grizzlies in the house? All right Grizzlies come on up. Let's see you all come up here. I see, is that Principal Church? I don't know if I, there he is.

So Godinez is going to be recognized, their staff and educators for the outstanding contributions to the educational system. Let me just name a few of them that are joining us tonight.

Jimmy Bravo, Elizabeth Castro, Veronica Chavez, Matthew Hall, Michelle Holguin, and Alva Valenzuela. welcome Grizzlies to your home.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Hi everyone, Tai Fan here representing Ward 1. I don't have any puppies, but I'm talking about free money for students, so that's better. So today as a council member representing Ward 1, I am issuing some certificates of recognition on behalf of the city of Santa Ana to educators, Ward 1 educators from Godina's Fundamental High School, for making the California Student Aid Commission's Race to Submit leaderboard.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

So it's really an honor to be here today and to recognize educators who are helping some of our, you know, most needy students in the city. The 2021-22 Race to Submit is a statewide campaign that aims to increase the number of financial aid applications for California high school seniors who complete the free application for federal student aid, also known as FAFSA, and California Dream Act application. Filling out these financial aid applications is the first step toward college success and helps students qualify for federal and state aid to help pay for college.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

I have personal experience with this, and if you are a first-generation, low-income student, it is next to impossible to navigate the process yourself. I didn't know what a W-2 was. I didn't know what a W-4 was. I didn't know what Social Security income was. And my parents barely knew it too. So it was educators at my school that helped me navigate that process. And so these efforts were modeled after the successful 2017-2018 FAFSA and CADAA completion initiative in Riverside. So joining us today, like the mayor mentioned, to accept these certificates of recognition

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

are Godina's fundamental high school principal, Jesse Church, and assistant principal, Felipe Zamudio. Also, Jimmy Bravo, higher education coordinator, and counselors and administrators, Elizabeth Castro, Dr. Veronica Chavez couldn't make it out tonight, Matthew Hall, Michelle Hogan, and Alba Valenzuela. So thank you all so much for helping to increase application count by supporting students with their FAFSA and CADAA submissions and for your outstanding contributions to the educational system.

Mr. Bravo, before you take the mic, let me just interrupt. I asked the council member for just a personal privilege here just to make a few comments because, look, I want to welcome you all here to your house. but I want to say, you know, I have personal knowledge of how you treat your students because my son just graduated from Godina's last year, and now he's doing very, very well, thanks to all the work that you all did, and we can't thank you enough. As the council member said, what you all accomplished in helping our students,

it's that personal touch that you all have with each other, and he was very frightened when he transferred into Godina's because, you know, changing schools midway through your high school career, and then the pandemic hits. Look, your team is excellent. But let me just share with you just a quick story from, you know, Principal Church and what he said when he was doing the commencement of, and I think Mayor Pro Tem might have been there when we were at Angel Stadium and the graduating class of, I believe, Godina's, and that other school called Seeger's Room. Just kidding. Go Grizzlies.

but a principal church said something that'll forever ring in my ear and he told students that were graduating and he said look when you all are asked where you went to high school don't say you went to went to school in Orange County say you went to school in Santa Ana and that right let's give that a round of applause that showed the pride that not only he is instilling INTO STUDENTS, NOT JUST FOR THE CITY, BUT AS SCHOOL AS WELL. SO PRINCIPAL CHURCH, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUOTE. YOU'RE QUOTED OFTEN WITH THAT, BY THE WAY, SO JUST SO YOU KNOW. BUT MR. BRAVO, GO AHEAD.

BUT THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU ALL DO.

THANK YOU FOR HAVING US HERE. THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER FAN, FOR RECOGNIZING US AND MAYOR SARMIENTO AND THE REST OF THE CITY COUNCIL. WE WERE HERE I THINK A COUPLE YEARS AGO FOR A SIMILAR RECOGNITION. actually has been our fourth year in a row that we've placed in state so we're really proud of that it's a lot of work that goes into it it's definitely a team it's a village of people that come together with a common goal you know we're talking about our counseling team our administrators have you heard a lot about mr. Church mr. Zamudio is over guidance so he he's definitely there

just you know cheering us on and making sure that we are supporting the students and giving them the services they deserve, as well as Mr. Davis, Ms. Tran as well, who are the other two administrators that are not here tonight. But I also want to compliment some of the other schools that have done a phenomenal job at the other high school, our colleagues too. We couldn't do it without them. Also, because we do a lot of sharing, we talk a lot, we share resources. The includes Santa Ana College Cal State Fullerton UC Irvine just have been

phenomenal in supporting our students here at Godina's as well as district and so you know this last I think like I said a couple years we came here pre COVID I did say hopefully that the district would consider hiring more counselors I'm not saying it was because of me but we do have more counselors now And so hopefully we will have more schools coming up and being recognized for their their hard work and their effort as well So thank you so much again for having us here. We look forward to being here. Hopefully next year again. Thank you very much

Mayor sorry mental Yes councilmember go ahead. I just want to say a few words while they're taking photographs is that my first assignment as a teacher was at middle college high school now but my first assignment was at Godine's fundamental school and I want to just say that I personally experienced the resourcefulness and the academic success and that's due to the leadership of principal Jesse Church and also the staff who are, you and it's provided with great leadership,

then you have a turnout of incredibly successful students. And it's with pride that I say we have Santa Ana high school graduates going on to several prestigious universities, Harvard, Yale. And it's because of caring people such as Principal Jesse Church, Mr. Bravo, and the rest of the staff. So thank you to all of you. And keep up the good work at Santa Ana Unified School

District. Thank you and a shout out to Mr. Hall as well. He does he does great work and I was just told the Dodgers won so for all you Dodgers fans but yeah but but but we we love Seegers from too we love all our Santa Unified School District schools. I mean this year was a banner year Santa Santa High School sent three students off to Harvard many many other students off to Ivy League schools so So kudos to everybody there. Let me go ahead and go to staff presentations. I'm going to turn it over to the city manager, and she's going to give us a COVID-19 update.

Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. For tonight's update, I'm going to share guidance on how to be safe during Halloween, and also talk a little bit about the digital copy that you can create for your COVID-19 vaccine. So first, some tips on staying safe on Halloween. Just last week, the CDC released updated guidance on COVID safety for the holidays, including Halloween. Their director, Rochelle Walensky, announced that trick-or-treating is on this year with a few caveats. Parents and kids should do their best to limit crowds, trick-or-treat outdoors in small groups, and avoid crowded parties.

The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated, and the other best practice is to wear masks while indoors, even if you are vaccinated. Now to talk about vaccine records. More and more entities are requiring some proof of COVID-19 vaccine to enter their premises or participate in activities. While the details of the digital records vary, they all work the same way. Digital health records stored on your phone can prove that you are fully vaccinated and that you present a low risk to others. Having a digital copy of your COVID-19 vaccine card makes it easy for the entities to verify that you are vaccinated.

So the state's Department of Public Health has set up a digital COVID-19 vaccine record portal for users to download and save a digital record of their vaccine status to their mobile device, either as a link or a quirky code. Residents can visit myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov. You complete an online form. It does ask for your first and last name, your date of birth, your mobile phone number, and a four-digit PIN. The record is retrieved automatically from your immunization record, and all personally identifiable information collected through the portal is confidential.

Lastly, we will be switching to monthly COVID updates. I know I have been doing them at every single council meeting and you can probably tell that we've had pretty brief ones. So if it's all right with all of you, I plan to do just a monthly update from here forward. And residents can always visit our website, santa-anna.org backslash COVID for up-to-date information about COVID-19. And I'm here if you have any questions for me.

Great. Thank you for that, Madam City Manager. Let me go ahead and bring it back to the council if there's any questions or comments on the COVID-19 update. Seeing none and hearing none, we have Councilmember Lopez who's also joining us virtually. So, Madam Clerk of Councilmember, please just go ahead and just maybe say something or get our attention and that way we can call on you in the event that you need to speak. But seeing no comments and hearing no comments on that, just keep doing that good work. I know you're working with our bargaining units for the requirements on the vaccinations

or the alternative and the options of providing testing or a negative COVID test. So just a reminder on that. So thank you. Moving along to the next item, let me go ahead and ask the city attorney if there's anything that we need to report at a closed session.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 1

We do not have any reportable action.

Great. Thank you. It's 10 minutes to 7, so we're going to maybe take a few public comments and then we're going to interrupt that public comment section portion of the meeting and do our public hearing on redistricting. So let me go ahead and just begin with some opening remarks. So this is the time and place for the meeting of the city council to receive comments from members of the public that wish to address the city council. Pursuant to the Brown Act, the city council may not enter into any discussion at that time. We will now hear from members of the public that are physically present, call on them first,

and then we have some people that are phoning in to contact us as well. via conference call or Zoom. And Madam Clerk, I'll ask you, and by the way, let me just preface this by saying, the last meeting, we went until 4.30 in the morning. So we hope that we don't do that again this time around. We want to make sure we get everybody home relatively early. And since we've had the third, this is sort of the third iteration and third round of comments that we've had on the ordinance on rent stabilization, we're going to condense the time, if that's okay with everybody. to about a minute and a half, so half the time.

And we'll go ahead and, you know, to the extent that you don't want to say anything and just say, look, I'm opposed or I'm in favor or I represent, you know, these many people, you can say that as well. And then the people can stand up in the audience if you're physically present. I know we're going to have some folks calling in as well. But to the extent that we thank you for all the written communications we've received, all the emails, all your comments in the past, we certainly appreciate that. So, Madam Clerk, do we have anybody? well these are the cards so let me go ahead and begin and begin with our first couple of speakers

Clay Haag or Clay Haag followed by Tanya Fan followed by Dr. Louis Bratcher

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. My name is Clay Haig. I work for Park Management Inc. We operate two mobile home parks in Santa Ana serving 176 families. And we oppose the rent control ordinance second reading. We're opposed because it fails as an economic public policy. If mobile home parks were too expensive, you would see more rental assistance applicants. My park, only two parks, only three people, less than 2% have applied and received assistance. More tenants would be delinquent in rent payments. Even during the pandemic, our customers paid 99% of their billed rents.

Now, if the tenants could not pay, there would be more who qualified for eviction. In my 13 years of managing these parks, we have never evicted anyone. The 1% that I talked about, we worked out payment plans. Our facts mean nothing to four of you. Your facts come before from the political and social parasites known as community organizers. Your concerns seem to be rooted in their rhetoric and their ideology, And they use terms like changing demographics to demand protection. Well, that's a code word. We know what that means, and it's a dog whistle.

So we oppose the second reading of this ordinance because it just does not make sense.

Thank you for that. Tanya Pham followed by Dr. Louis Bratcher.

I'm not Tanya fan, but I am Louis Bratcher, and I'd like to introduce Tanya to you.

You can do this together, and then maybe that might be easier.

Cool. We're here to support the growth of pickleball in Santa Ana. It's the fastest growing sport in the United States. and as an organization we have we are first there of Santa Ana and we have been a nonprofit organization since 2008 and our organization has offered tennis to young students over the 20 years that we've been in existence now and we are ready to continue to support the game of pickleball at the schools of Santa Ana

High School and now McFadden Intermediate School and it is very important that you understand that not only are we supporting pickleball we are putting our money where our mouth is first serve Santa Ana has installed a stand-alone pickleball court at Santa Ana High School and four pickleball court lines on the adjacent courts we've also just installed four pickleball courts at

McFadden Intermediate School we want to continue to support pickleball great

thank you both for that Tanya did you want to say anything

I just want to make an announcement and I sent out an email to Christine. She will forward it to all of you. This Sunday at Chapman's Sports Complex in Garden Grove, we will have a pickleball mixer and it's open to the public. It's free from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Everyone is invited. There will be raffles, there will be professional pickleball exhibition and then open play and free introductory lesson to everyone who would like to learn the game. Thank you so much.

Great. Thank you for that.

Appreciate it.

I like it. Even visuals. There we go. Chip Osweidi followed by Jesus Santana, and I think that's all we're going to have time for before we go to the public hearing.

It's 7 p.m., Mayor.

Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. members of the council members of the city of Santa Ana my name is Chip also we do with the apartment Association of Orange County and over the past two meetings we've had the opportunity to come here and provide you testimony that shows you a lot of different a lot of different points that don't seem to have really gotten through we pointed out that there is existing state law that has yet to have the opportunity to be tried out to see whether or not works before moving forward we've shared with you that the The proposed ordinances are fought with both legal and fundamental flaws that are going

to create massive problems in this community when moving forward. We've shared with you that the economic research, the public policy research on this issue shows that it is a detrimental policy to move forward with in any community. We've shared with you that these policies are more than likely going to result in a loss of investment in this city that we're trying to grow. We've shared with you, above all, that the industry is willing to sit down with you and help right these wrongs, help find solutions, and help come up with a solution to this issue. However, despite all that, the Council has continued to push forward on this,

ignoring the experts, ignoring the legal opinions, ignoring these impacts, but worst of all, ignoring the community partners that we're here trying to help you. And at what end? We're here becoming more divisive on an issue that didn't need to be. We're becoming more confrontational and we're going to lead this into a round of back and forth that doesn't need to be as contentious as it's being made out to be. All we need to do is sit down together and we're asking that you do that. Thank you very much.

Thank you for that. It's actually seven o'clock, so Jesus, if you're out there, maybe you join us after we go with the public hearing. So let me go ahead and accelerate item number 22, which is the public hearing. And let me go ahead and turn it over to the clerk to go ahead and give some instructions before we open up that public hearing.

Thank you, Mayor. And we do have Liz with redistricting partners who's joining us by way of Zoom. And she will go ahead and provide a presentation. But for tonight, I'm requesting that Council look at the resolution declaring the city's intent to change the boundary lines and revising the time and place of the said hearings. Since October 5th, the item was adjourned to October 19th tonight at 7 p.m. I am suggesting that we look at public hearing item on number,

or for the date scheduled on November 2nd at 7 p.m., which is on a Tuesday, and then November 15th, which is the Monday before a Tuesday meeting on the 16th at 5 p.m., and December 6th, also a Monday before Tuesday meeting, December 7th at 5 p.m.

All right. Well, I was just going to ask you to give us sort of the instructions for anybody that that wants to address the council by way of Zoom or conference call. Do you want to go ahead and give that direction and then let me go ahead and open up the hearing after that?

Yes.

If there are any members of the public who are joining us by way of Zoom or conference call, if you would like to make a comment for only the public hearing item 22, please dial star 9 from your phone or select raise hand from Zoom now.

Great, thank you. And just a technical question for the City Attorney. Are we reopening because we had actually opened before or is this a, are we opening for

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 1

the first time? So my understanding is that you would open the hearing last time as required and that you would continue the hearing. If we, that was the motion as I recall that you made. The posting would have had to have been made within 24 hours that you were continuing the hearing, otherwise a new notice would have to have been published.

Got it. So I know that we adjourned last time to this specific date and time, so I guess technically it's a reopening, so let me go ahead and reopen the hearing for the resolution of intention to revise the public hearing dates and times and hold the first public hearing regarding redistricting ward boundaries. And you've already mentioned to us, Madam Clerk, that the consultant is available via Zoom to go ahead and make the presentation. Before I call on the council members, why don't we go ahead and hear from any members of the public that wish to address us and if there's a presentation by the consultant thereafter.

Thank you. We did not receive any communications. We did receive a written communication and provided a map with a recommendation to consider keeping neighbourhoods together. And that's published on the website.

Great, so this public hearing is officially reopened. Let me go ahead and turn it over to staff and the consultant to go ahead and give us a presentation. Then we'll bring it back to council if there's any questions or comments.

All right, is it my turn?

It's your turn. You're up.

Oh, great. Perfect. Okay, well, let me go ahead and share my screen. One second.

All right.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Liz. I am a redistricting manager for redistricting partners. Tonight, we're going to go over redistricting 101. So everything you need to know as a council member, as a member of the public about this process and the next steps coming.

So just real quickly, a little bit about redistricting partners. We're a firm, obviously, that focuses on redistricting, on demographics and Voting Rights Act analyses. And in our partnership with the city of Santa Ana, we are helping out on outreach meetings. I've actually had the pleasure of going to multiple of them at this point, and they've been wonderful. We will be generating draft maps based off of the public input from these meetings and from the U.S. Census data.

We will be helping out by training staff and city council members on the redistricting process and the best practices. And then, of course, we'll be analyzing qualitative and quantitative data for the city to use during this redistricting process.

on tonight's agenda we will be going over what is redistricting what's the difference between the state and federal voting rights act we'll talk about the traditional redistricting principles that help guide us through this process then we'll get into the timeline so you all know what to expect and then we're going to talk about the current demographics because we do have the finalized census data that we will be using during this process. So redistricting is a fairly simple

concept. It's essentially just the act of equalizing population among districts or wards in this case. This is important in order to meet two requirements. So one is constitutional and then The other one is Supreme Court precedent. So first, it's the first 14th Amendment, equal representation. In practical terms, this speaks to how effective any resident can be at advocating for themselves or being represented within the city. So the act of balancing the population after the census allows for every resident to be

able to equally advocate for themselves and their needs. So things like a new stop sign, pot pools, safety concerns, a new community park, those kind of things.

And we've had pretty extreme cases in the past. So, for example, I think 10 years ago, we had a case where we were working with an agency that hadn't redrawn since 1950. And in that case, they had 12,000 people in one district and then 100,000 people in another district. So if a person in the 12,000 person district had a pothole or something like that, they would probably get a pretty prompt response from their representative.

But if you're living in a larger district, you'd need about eight people to have the same qualitative voice with their elected official. So that's why we have to redraw and rebalance to ensure equal representation, which is also required under the 14th Amendment. And then you have the equal voting power. So this is precedent through the Supreme Court with multiple cases. This is the one person, one vote principle, and it effectively measures the equal ability to elect a candidate.

And redistricting has been in the news and on people's minds more than ever. It's really transformed in the public perception. So we found this one thing where it said 97% of voters agreed that local governments should be required to have transparent and open redistricting processes. And then the media and community-based organizations have become more adept at covering redistricting.

So we're finding that more media are paying attention to this and writing about it or doing TV news productions about it. So having a fair and open, transparent process is not only good for the process itself, but it's great for the public to become involved and be a part of this transparent process.

And then we have the Voting Rights Act. There are two different Voting Rights Act that we're dealing with. So you have the federal one that is one that seeks to remedy racial disenfranchisement and has two sections in it that impact redistricting.

So Section 2, that is the majority-minority districts. That essentially means any class, any minority that's protected under the Federal Voting Rights Act. If there is a citizen voting age population of 50% or more in any given ward, then that could classify as a majority-minority district. And then, of course, there is the preclearance section five aspect of the Voting Rights Act that is no longer active.

It was Shelby B. Holder sort of made that inactive. originally there were states and counties throughout the United States that would have to get pre-clearance from the United States Justice Department to allow their maps to go through. This is no longer the case. And then you have the California Voting Rights Act. This essentially prohibits the use of at-large election systems in local governments. This does not apply to Santa

Anna. So we don't have to worry about that one. And so these are the traditional redistricting principles that we will be using to draw our awards. They're here to prevent gerrymanders, keep everything transparent and above board process. So the list that you see here is a list of ranked criteria under the Fair Maps Act, which is a state law that got enacted in 2019. So the very first criteria is each district

has to be relatively equal in size. And so we're basing that off of the US census data. So not citizens, not the number of voters, but the U.S. census data population. In what we mean by equal, it really changes depending on what agency you're in. So if you're rebalancing congressional maps, really the only difference between different seats can be one person.

The deviation for cities like Santa Ana, it can be up to 10% difference for the district. And then other legislative state assembly could be 1 to 5%. And I do just want to caution, having a lower deviation doesn't necessarily mean that it is a better plan. So we do have to consider things like keeping communities of interest whole so we don't dilute their voices.

If we draw districts that are all relatively equal in size down to the person, but we have to cut neighborhoods and not draw that majority minority seat, then that doesn't make it a better plan. So at least 10% deviation and go from there. So contiguous is the next criteria we have. So it essentially just means that words are one whole piece.

You can draw it with one line. There are two different types of contiguity. So you have literal contiguity and then functional contiguity. Literal means that you can, it's one piece. And then functional, this applies to things like islands or places that are annexed a little farther out.

Functional contiguity means an island would be connected to the mainland if there's a boat that goes from one end to the next. So if you can travel there, then that would be functionally contiguous.

And then we want to maintain communities of interest. This is particularly important with the Fair Maps Act. There has been a large emphasis on maintaining communities of interest and getting the public more involved. That's why these community outreach meetings are so important. And when I say a community of interest, that essentially just means it's a group of people, a neighborhood, a community with like-minded policy concerns and would benefit from being maintained in the same ward.

So this could include shared culture characteristics. They do have to be mappable. So they have to share a geographic location. And then they have to have some kind of relationship to the city. So they have to be impacted by the policy decisions made by the city council.

And then when practicable, we want to follow city and census designated places and boundaries. So the Fair Maps Act defines this as as to the extent practicable, the geographic integrity of a city or census designated place shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its divisions. So some of the different boundaries we could be looking at includes school district boundaries. Those are very common for people to be interested in knowing the extent of those boundaries and especially because that directly impacts neighborhoods.

And then we want to keep words compact. And when I say compact, I mean that in appearance and function, if we think in terms of scientific way of thinking about it, the most compact shape there is, is a sphere. So if you take that concept and place it to maps, we're looking at circles and squares, not long squiggly lines. So one of the best definitions I've heard actually comes from the state of California,

and their definition of compact is not bypassing nearby populated areas in favor of a more distant populated area.

And then of course, for the city of Santa Ana, there are more traditional principles that we will be following, especially with the Fair Maps Act being in place. So under the Fair Maps Act, we cannot consider incumbents or candidates when we are drawing the maps. We cannot draw award to advantage or disadvantage a political party. We do have to hold a minimum set of hearings and encourage public engagement as much as possible. And that includes having the meetings in multiple languages and having

handouts in multiple languages. The staff has been doing a wonderful job with that. And then posting all redistricting commission information on the website, which will be maintained for the next 10 years.

So here is the process that we will be following up until we pass the maps. So today is the first hearing. November 2nd will be the next one to gather inputs. November 15th will be the first hearing on draft maps. So then the city council will get three draft maps from us. and this will incorporate all of the public inputs all of the new census data and then December 6th

we will have a fourth hearing on the draft maps so in between then we will take all of your information that you gave us about how you want the maps to change all of the input from the public about how they want the maps to change and then we'll come back with a new set of maps on December six and then december 21st will be the first approval reading for the approval um and then a final vote on january 18th 2022 and for the public um we have already held three

public um outreach meetings but we still have three more so october 23rd uh we will hold one specifically for Ward 1, but I do want to encourage everyone to come. While it will be focusing on Ward 1, anyone from the city is welcome to come and give their own testimony. So you will not be excluded if you are from Ward 2 and you would like to join. And then the last one will be October 30, 2021. And just to go back, that will be before the third hearing.

So that will be before the draft maps, the first set of draft maps will be released. So thankfully we will get all those public outreach meetings in before the set draft maps. So here is the current lines for the awards. I do wanna go over quickly the change that we saw from the 2010 census data to the 2020 census data. So overall, the city lost almost 4% population. There have been, I think it looks like

five out of the six wards lost population with Ward 3 gaining 2.4%.

So we are going to have to make some changes. The deviation is 13.4%. So that's higher than what is allowed under the law. So we would need to bring that down.

And I'm gonna go through the wards and let you know which ones are overpopulated, which ones are under populated. So here Ward one, we see a, actually this is pretty close to even. The deviation is negative 0.2.

So the population is 51,828. That's gonna be roughly the ideal size.

And then you have Ward two. So this one is under populated by 3.2%. We'll likely have to give more population to this.

Then we have, I believe this is the largest ward. The deviation here is 9.6. So this is overpopulated and this will have to shrink.

and then we have a negative deviation of 3.3 for Ward 4.

We have a deviation of 1%, so pretty close to ideal.

And then finally, we have a deviation of negative 3.9.

So with all of that being said, there are multiple ways we can draw the maps. It doesn't just mean that we are rebalancing the lines. It could mean, depending on what we hear from the public, we completely draw new boundaries. So all of this, how the new wards are going to look, will depend on community input along with the census data. And with that, I'm happy to take any questions or turn it back over for any public input at this time.

Thank you, Liz. Thank you for your presentation. Madam Clerk, anything you want to add to the presentation by the consultant?

No, thank you, Mary. Great.

Great. So we do have one request to speak, and I believe that's Vic Mendez who submitted a card. So Vic, why don't you go ahead and come on up, and as you're coming, I'll go ahead, and since he's our only speaker on this public hearing I'll go ahead and bring it back to the council for any questions or comments

thank you mr. mayor thank you council it's a little disappointing to know that I'm the only speaker on such an important topic and we have to do better and I'm speaking to the community in that respect the one thing I can say on this is that I've encouraged the continuity of the districts and I'll say this from an example my own recent experience as most of you know I moved into Ward 3 where which where I abut the city of Tustin and I was represented by Lou Correa for many years and when I called Lou's office on a matter they asked for my address as they always do and they said well we don't represent

you anymore like excuse me I go yeah you're represented by Katie Porter I I said, well, that's interesting. So it turns out that development that I fit in in Santa Ana is represented by Caden. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just saying it's very peculiar how this development somehow got unrecognized. At the time they did the lines was probably just a vacant lot. Has is the lot next to me. So I would kind of encourage council and the community to kind of consider future development, what the neighborhood might look like in the near term.

You know, it may be a vacant lot today or a group of buildings that are dilapidated might not mean much right now, but down the road they could be. And that's some thought I would encourage the council and the community to do. Like I said, it's not a problem to me. It's just a very peculiar carve-out for that district. And I don't think the development that's going on right next to me is part of Katie's district. I think it's part of Lou. So literally, I'm like 10 yards from the next congressional district. I don't know how they're going to work that out in the redrawing. And again, I'm not complaining about it.

I would just kind of provide this type of anecdotal information to the council and also as I speak to the community to really consider what these lines look like. And not only that, but what's in those lines today and what are some of the plans for those lines down the road. At least we end up with something that I'm experiencing, which again, not bad, not a complaint, but just something that I would encourage you to consider as you move forward. Thank you. Thank you for that, Vic.

Let me go ahead and since Victor Mendez was our only speaker on that, let me go ahead and close the public hearing because we've had our presentation and I'll bring it back to Council for any comments or questions. Any members of the Council have any questions or comments for staff or the consultant on this item?

Mayor Pro Tem.

David PenalozaItem 1

Thank you, Mayor Sarmiento. The only comment I have is the same as the last one I made when we last talked about this. It's just that when these maps do come before us, and first off, I want to thank the consultant for the work that they're doing and meeting with our neighborhoods in the city and our city clerk. But when these maps do come before us, I want to make sure that we have more than enough different kinds of maps to show the community and the residents and that we could go over. I mean, there's no reason why we have to have less than 10.

David PenalozaItem 1

I mean, the more the merrier in just what these maps could look like. That's the only comment, Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you. Madam Clerk, Council Member Lopez, does she have her hand raised or is she good?

She does not.

Great. Seeing no other questions or comments, just a quick comment for the consultant or the clerk.

So what's the attendance been on these three hearings that we've already had?

Well, I've been receiving quite a bit of different types. I think the first one I had received a good number of Cambodian interaction, which, Mayor, you participated in. That was great. We had maps submitted then. We've been having a pretty good number. The only one that was really low is the one at the Pentecostal church. I did ask the members of the public if they wanted me to go and participate in another one of their neighborhood meetings, then I'm happy to do so. but I think everyone is really waiting on the draft maps. That's really when they want to start participating.

But we did receive several different versions of their maps and they only identified their community, what they felt they wanted to keep together.

Got it. Well, listen, I'm just going to lean on the council members because I think everybody has a meeting in their respective wards, so maybe to the extent one comes up in yours, please go ahead and message to your constituents and those that reside in your ward to do the best to attend or at least keep themselves informed. That way, you know, these maps don't blindside anybody when they come. And it's a fluid process, but I did want to ask you, what's the deadline to actually submit, I mean, and have these maps finalized?

Well, it's up to the council. The way we have it scheduled right now, we're asking members of the public to provide information about their neighborhood the sooner the better.

I guess what I'm asking is when was our deadline as a city council to finalize the map?

That is April 17, 2022.

Okay. So we're giving ourselves almost three months to be done in advance of that date. So to the extent we need to push this out, we've got some cushion, right?

Yes.

So if we're not ready on the first review of the first reading of the approval of the map, and by the way, there's a typo on this page. It says first reading approval of approval. So I think approval of a map. But I get what we're saying. So in the event that that needs to be pushed out a little bit, we've got some cushion, right? Yes, we do. Because, you know, things happen. People, you know, want to see another version of a map or they want to see some data on one. But all right. Well, look, I think we're just approving these three dates on this one. And go ahead.

David PenalozaItem 1

While you touched on that, Mayor, I also do want to say that I wouldn't feel comfortable We're also having a first reading on December 21st because that's just, I mean, people are out of town. That's a busy, that's right in the middle of the holiday week. So I would want to consider that, you know, we either do it after.

So moving it to January 18th?

David PenalozaItem 1

Just because, I mean, I want to make sure that the community is engaged with this and we have a turnout. And, you know, if we're doing this in the three days before Christmas, I mean, I don't know how that could, you know, our community travels and vacations. So that's the only comment I have. Thank you. Sorry, Mayor.

No, no. Thank you for that comment. I actually agree with that comment. I think it's a little close to the holiday. Plus, it straddles the holiday. You have the first, you know, reading before the holiday. You know, memories get a little vague and foggy. maybe we can keep those for the following you know for 2022 the beginning of 2022 so that maybe the first reading is on the 18th of January and then the other one is you know a week from that point or a few days from that so is that a maybe that is that a motion with a friend with an amendment to that sure yeah I'll second the motion great we have a motion in a second seeing no

No other questions or comments. Council members please vote.

Council member Lopez if you can please provide your vote.

Jessie LopezItem 1

I'm waiting for the voting screen to pop up.

Can you refresh your screen?

Or maybe you could just do it orally if you want, Councilmember.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 1

Yeah, I would be a yes.

Great.

motion passes with 7-0 great that motion pat uh carries unanimously thank you everybody So we're done with item number 22. Let's go back to the public comment portion of the meeting and let me accelerate something We have a reasonable accommodation that was requested by some mobile home residents that are elderly and disabled and we have Some speakers that are going to be addressing us via phone and I believe they've checked with you previously madam clerk Yes, thank you mayor. I have and just let them know I believe they're only going to speak for like 30 seconds each and they're gonna

That's correct.

Oh, my apologies, Mayor. I just received a communication from them indicating that if we can have them speak at 8.30, that they're not actually ready.

Perfect. Let's go ahead and go to Jesus Santana, followed by Citlaly and then Victor Cal.

You guys can start getting ready.

Victor Citlaly. Good evening, Mayor and City Council members. My name is Jesus Santana. I'm a proud and born raised Santanero. I am also an alumni from Gurdinez Fundamental High School and it was nice to see you know here being see them being rewarded today for the amazing job that they're doing for our students again the reason why I'm here is because I want to express my support for rent control just cause protections along with temporary temporary rent freeze until the local protections go into effect I would like to also start

off by saying thank you to mayor Vicente Sarmiento councilmember Jonathan Hernandez Jesse Lopez who's not here and Ty VFN for voting in favor of rent control. I think we need to continue supporting our community of Santana. We need to continue listening to our community of Santana. You know, not only that, but during the last city council meeting on October 5th, I spoke about the eviction tsunami initiating. Last week, during the second week of October, I was able to confirm that the tsunami has not only initiated, but it's only

going to get stronger, firmer and scarier. Yesterday I was at the city. I was at the city's court helping a resident who resides in the country club mobile home park, finding an answer to her unlawful detainer. You know how upsetting it is to go in person to help them throw this form out, getting in contact to our legal services during this time and where we are supposed to be recovering from the pandemic, it's very unfortunate that they have to take time from their day to go there because their lives and livelihoods is at stake.

Please, when you are voting again, I would like to ask State of Peña Loza, Phil Bacera, Nelida, think about our community, stand with our community, be with, be with our community. Santa Ana no se vende. Santa Ana se ama y se defiende. Thank you. Great.

Madam Clerk, I think, was that a minute and a half? We maybe went a little bit further, so let's go back to that minute and a half rule, please. Sitlali followed by Victor Cal, followed by Sal Ortiz, followed by Vicky Tal.

Sitlali, Victor Cal, go ahead. VICKTOR, I DON'T SEE SIPALALY HERE, FOLLOWED BY SAL ORTIZ, FOLLOWED BY VICKY TALLI.

VICKY TALLI, MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, MY NAME IS VICTOR KAU, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF THE CALIFORNIA APARTMENT ASSOCIATION.

WE IMPLORE CITY COUNCIL NOT TO RATIFY THE RENT CONTROL ORDINANCE AND THE JUST CAUSE ORDINANCE.

YOU'VE HAD SOME CORRESPONDENCE FROM OUR ORGANIZATION AS WELL AS OUR COALITION CITING THE REASONS And again, there have been issues related to process that we've raised. And while some members have classified it as gainsmanship, it really is just highlighting the fact that there hasn't been a consistent process. back in February of 2018, then council member had called for a roundtable of private industry stakeholders as well as residents, as well as city staff.

Something that was convened by the city as a center point to be able to solve these affordability issues that were happening in the community. That being said, for the time that I've been at the California Department Association, I've reached out consistently and met with individual members, both on this council, former members of council, and with city staff. We've been assisting with the rental assistance program several times, as well as other efforts. And we would implore you to not approve the ordinance tonight and to do proper stakeholder outreach. Thank you.

Thank you. Sal Ortiz, followed by Vicki Talley, followed by Julie Pauly.

Good evening, dear council members. My name is Sal Ortiz. As a housing provider in Santa Ana, I'm strongly opposed to item 7, the city's rent control and just cause ordinance. Listen to me. As a housing provider, I'm here because of my residents, who are dependent on me to provide them a habitable and safe environment they call home. listen to me I care about my residents and I'm tired of hearing how I'm a mean evil landlord listen to me the just cause or this has dangerous and undesirable loopholes that put my residents in harm's way prioritizing the rights of offenders over those of victims survivors and witnesses of crime

listen to me although rent control may sound like a solution to my residents it creates artificial constraints and it denies my it denies my ability to generate enough income to keep up with the cost of inflation or actual expenses of operating rental housing listen to me rent control does not effectively target and help those renters that need help listen to me this is going to cost us the Santa Ana taxpayers millions annually to implement just listen to me Vote no on the rent control and just cause ordinance. Thank you. Thank you.

Vicki Talley, followed by Julie Pauly, followed by Yossi Mendoza, followed by Liz Sanchez.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor and Members of the Council. I've been before you so many times over the years, and I reminded you previously that over the last 39 years we've had any number of opportunities to discuss the issue of rents and to reach and to obtain accurate information and as a result rent control has not been adopted because there have been reasonable accommodation I've shared with you information about Valley High and I I share with everyone here that listened to the 13 people testify last meeting, share concern.

I thought, my golly, what's really going on here? And you know, they had their picture, they had their name, some of them had their space number. And we were able, I said, golly, all those people are really having that much difficulty? So we checked the rent roll. Out of those 13, four people show up on the rent roll. Out of those four, three are paying $877 a month rent. It's beyond me how they can possibly complain.

So with that said, I don't know the answer to why the other nine people did not show up on the rent roll. But guess what? We should find out. And you're going to listen to them again tonight, and they're going to tell you all this over. we have no idea if the residents of this park i'm not saying they're not but what we haven't done is provided you accurate information on which debates your decision thank you i encourage you to please reconsider and allow those meetings thank you please reconsider thank you julie

paulie followed by yossi mendoza followed by liz sanchez madam clerk go ahead and just let me know when we hit the maybe maybe you advise them when you hit like a minute 15 seconds that way people

start winding up thank you good evening mr. mayor and members of the council julie polly with the wma on february 5th of 2018 many of us were here mr. Hernandez was here and we listened to presentations from tracy condon the executive director of the santa mana rent control board and Dr. Richard Green, the director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate and professor at USC Price School of Public Policy and the Marshall School of Business. And Dr. Green outlined the academic opposition and skepticism of rent control policies. And I'd like to quote someone that night.

To the extent that we can direct staff to create some working group that will incorporate the different points of view that we heard here tonight that that can come back and recommend to us the best solutions I look to the private sector to give us some solutions sort of rent control we heard you you can't support rent control I do think there are unintended consequences to rent control that would harm the very people we are trying to protect short of that how do we protect the lives of the families of those children who are living living in

conditions that are intolerable. I do think that we can get there if we all sit down, but I do want to direct staff to coordinate that because it is something that needs to be done and is something that needs to be mediated. And these were the comments of then Council Member Vince Sarmiento. 90 days later, Tenants United filed their paperwork for their first attempt to put the issue to voters. Your time is out. Thank you. And we know how that ended. There's been a lack of leadership and it It really doesn't matter who is mayor.

Thank you.

Please discontinue this.

Yossi Mendoza, followed by Liz Sanchez, followed by Chad Kassenheiser.

Good evening. My name is Yossi, and I'm a volunteer Tenants' Rights Councilor for TUSA. I am urging you all to enact a temporary freeze on rent increases during the 30-day period before the rent control law goes into effect. As a tenant councillor, I already have had cases where tenants have received notices of extremely high rent increases. We cannot allow landlords to hike up rents in retaliation of rent control being passed in Santa Ana. It is unjust that they are already doing this. They are choosing to retaliate against the most vulnerable of our community, single mothers, low-income earners,

and those that are out of work and underemployed, and those that are struggling to repay the rent up. I hope I can count on you all to honor the lives of the community by enacting a temporary rent freeze.

Thank you. Thank you Liz Sanchez followed by Chad Kacenheiser followed by Susie Winnequit Sorry Susie

My name is Liz Sanchez I'm a college professor in the field of sociology and queer studies I'm here today to not only support my friends and family but also my students from San Ana I'm here to speak on the topic of rent control I actually want to emphasize how housing stability connects with other social issues I want to first connect this issue to AB 705 which was a bill that eliminates placement testing and pre-requirements. This was done so students don't get trapped in remedial courses that prevents them from transferring quicker, which I do support.

However, I'm seeing the heavy effects a lack of resources has on a student who's struggling. I have students who struggle with reading and writing and achieving success in college. Why does this matter when it comes to the topic of rent control? It matters because these students who are struggling, they can't make it to the writing center or to my office hours. They can't set up an appointment with a tutor. They can't afford outside education services because they're too busy working two jobs to pay rent. They're too busy working two jobs out their family, pay for school to raise their children, and so much more.

A final connection I want to make is with the LGBTQ plus community. I often hear people talk about being a homegrown resident, born and raised. I want to share that many queer and trans people don't often get to have such a status. Queer and trans people, especially of color and those who are mixed race, are pushed out of homes and are given low-paying, unstable jobs, if any at all. There are often short-term residents in multiple cities, including Santa Ana. There are many social factors that contribute to this, but one for sure is rent being too high.

With that being said, I ask you to please vote yes on rent control and just cause evictions. I urge the City Council to enact a rent freeze within the time frame it takes for rent control to come to full effect. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Chad Kaysenheiser, followed by Susie, followed by Vincent Bacardi.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor, ladies and gentlemen of the Council. Thank you for having me again. Good to see you all. I've spoken up here before about delinquencies and actual statistics from the community that I run. It's a manufactured housing community. As of today, for the month of October, we have 97% of our residents have paid, 2% have applied for assistance and have yet to receive it. and I've asked you to consider the facts to look for the facts I've invited you to share communication with me and we've sat here and we've listened to claims of evictions and a so-called tsunami of evictions that are upon us I ask for you

to look and ask the questions find out if those people are residents of mobile home parks of apartments or are they members of single-family houses that are renting rooms or single-family dwellings because those people will not be protected from this ordinance these are meant to protect against landlords large landlords ones that are here that are doing the right thing who are already restricted from increasing rents by large amounts due to the emergency regulations enforced by the governor so again I just sit here and I ask you to do the research to figure out if these claims are actually factual because it's very easy

to sit up here and make claims but without you knowing the facts it's impossible to know if people are being truthful or not i don't know that they are and i feel sorry for them if they are and there are ways around it though and i think we can collaborate and find a better solution than rent control i urge you to oppose the ordinance and the eviction thank you susie followed by vincent picardi followed by eva raleigh followed by huvelia charcoal hi good evening um first of all I'd like to say I'm surprised in the past or tonight we don't hear that landlords are actually contributing to global warming.

We've been attacked for everything. I've been appalled at the last two meetings. I've heard rich white folk. I've heard nice cars out there and who gets to speak before or after because some have jobs early or late. It's been ridiculous. I'm thoroughly disgusted. All the lies that have been told. And basically, I went back and I looked at some of my rent rolls. I have had a tenant there for 17 years. and effectively rent was raised $20 a year. Who's the dummy? I'd also like to venture to say there's probably a lot of Latino property owners that have worked

hard, sacrificed, and done very well and don't support this. They're not looking for a handout. And what about all the people in here, this side over here with the group with their iPhones, their Priuses, all their leaders that may have some special relationships with councilwomen. Who knows what kind of sphere of influence is that. So tonight I say basically this room is circling the drain. If this council votes for the death trap, I'm offering my services to be on your rent control board because I offer a lot of experience history with property ownership and I'm sure I would provide fair representation.

I'm sure that's exactly what you want. So basically I am not quite sure what you're afraid of getting a large form. You have not reached out to us. There's nothing real definitive in there's so many details left out in this ordinance shame on all of you why is it my responsibility if a tenant doesn't pay that I can't evict them during a school year I am not the safety net you guys are don't put it on my back shame on you and basically you had all these organizations here earlier saying how supportive and successful and contributing win-win that's not what you did with us and the landlords it's been

pathetic so thank you thank you very much thank you Vincent Picardi followed by by Eva Raleigh followed by Uvelia Charco followed by Catalina Iniesta.

Hello, my name is Vincent and I pretty much know all of you.

These guys are really upset with the body worn cameras. You guys got to get the SWAT team to wear them as well. There's nothing classified going on. I'll tell you the .com website, it's got to be switched to .gov. It's kind of embarrassing because it's the entire state, every city. It's real easy. You just change the DNS stuff. Facebook recently did that. They were down for a little bit, but it went back up. And then you could upload different networks, like classified networks up there instead of using a .com. It looks kind of amateur. That's it.

Thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you for being brief. Eva Raleigh followed by Juvelia Charco followed by Catalina Iniesta followed by Veronica Garcia.

Good evening. Thank you. My name is Eva Raleigh with Lake Park. Thank you, Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers. We built our first park here in Santa Ana in 1974 and our second in 1982, the last park built here in Santa Ana. I was really pleased tonight to see that you're approving $91,000 for streets and a million for bathrooms and parks. Because just like you guys, we do our streets and infrastructure and have to have that money. And we did $500,000 for our bathrooms and clubhouses. And the residents didn't pay that, we did.

So just like you, we're operating a city within a city and we're asking that you please do not implement rent control. We've had long-term leases since 1983 with a CPI with a possibility of 1% or 2%, which has protected our residents and our owners from the unknown. And we ask that you do not impose rent control on this. We have not evicted anyone in the 21 years that I've worked for Lake Park from our parks. So all of these people I'm hearing about, I'm not sure who they are. And I don't have anyone who's up for eviction now. So I ask that you oppose this. Thank you. Thank you for that. Jubella Charco followed by Catalina Inestra,

followed by Veronica Chavez, followed by Nathaniel Greensides. Buenas tardes a todos. Buenas tardes, señor Sarmiento.

Primeramente, quiero agradecer a todas las personas,

Thank you very much. and I want to highlight the importance of putting emphasis on this situation. Because in our community, I thank you very much, as a mental health, but unfortunately, it is not the solution to the problem we have. The mental health is due to the conflicts that we have, Thank you.

Muchas gracias.

Gracias.

So we're going to have a translation, right? You know, so I didn't see that gigantic clock because this thing is blocking it, so I can go ahead and remind them.

Thank you.

Okay?

I'll go ahead and do that. Adelante. Esperese un segundo, van a hacer la traducción y ahorita sigues Catalina. Good evening to all. Good evening, Mayor Sarmiento. First of all, I'd like to thank all the people, all the council members who voted to support the community. It's very important to stress the importance of you approving this ordinance. As we said before, we do not have a salary that increases every month like many of the landlords. And it's important to stress that this issue affects the community. We have lots of community services like mental health, but that's not the answer to our problems.

mental health comes due to conflicts that our kids have because they have no stable place, they don't have a place to sleep, they don't feel safe. So we need to look at the problems. We need to have dignified housing so our kids can feel safe, they can sleep well, they can learn in school, and they can grow to be productive members of society, of the city, and of the country. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Catalina Iniesta, followed by Veronica Garcia, followed by Nathaniel Greensides, followed by David Carvajal. Good evening, members of the council. Mr. Alcalde, my name is Catalina Iniestra. I'm resident of Santana, area 92705.

I want to thank the Alcalde Sarmiento, concejal López Hernández Pan, for listening to the voice of Santana and to give their vote in favor of the order of rent and tax just. Also, I want to ask you to pass a re-reportation for the next 30 days, while the rent control is effective. Today is a historical day where the voice of the people is heard and validated, where we can confirm that this is a new concilio for all of those who live in Santa Ana. The change has begun. Thank you.

Gracias.

Good evening, members of the council. Mr. Mayor, my name is Catalina Iniestra. I'm a resident of Santa Ana in Zipco 92705. Thank you to all the council members. Thank you to the mayor, Mayor Sarmiento, council members Lopez, Hernandez, and Fan. Thank you for listening to the Santa Ana residents. It's important to vote yes for rent control and for just cost eviction and also to pass a rent freeze for the next 30 days while this is enacted. So this is a historic day. You have heard her voice. We can see that this is a new council. So change has begun. Thank you. Thank you.

Veronica Garcia followed by Nathaniel Greensides followed by David Carvajal followed by Sylvia Hernandez. Buenas noches. Respetable alcalde, señor Sarmiento, and members del consejo. My name is Verónica García, I'm from the Postal 92705. And today I'm here to thank you for listening to our community that has put all your hope and confidence in you. Asimismo, I appeal to your consideration that, please, put a confinement in the increase of rent for the next 30 days in which we put in place the new order of rent control. Thank you all for your support, even to those who told us that no,

because that allowed us to join us as a community. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Sarmiento, Council Members. My name is Veronica Garcia. I live in CIPCO 9 to 705. And I'd like to thank you for listening to the community. We deposited our hope in you and you responded. And I also like to appeal to you to consider a rent freeze increase for the next 30 days while this is enacted. I want to thank you all who supported this and even the ones who voted against us because this made us become more united as a community. Thank you. Thank you. Nathaniel Greensights, followed by David Carvajal, followed by Celia Hernandez, followed by Maria Ceja. Thank you. I want to talk about power.

Who has it and who has denied it? Kids are excluded from decision-making processes yet they are the ones whose studies and social connections are disrupted when a landlord arbitrarily decides to evict their family during the school year. Lower-income senior citizens living on a fixed income don't have the power to up and move elsewhere when a landlord arbitrarily decides to gouge them with rent increases. Those with access to capital have power. The Federal Reserve sets lending policies with them in mind and Prop 13 stabilized their tax increases. Voters have power

but only US citizens can be one, meaning those who were lucky to be born into it or had the privilege granted to them by the federal government. Thus, a large majority of Santa Ana is denied power to decide their lives and their futures. So it's up to our elected officials to ensure our residents are represented and protected. I was excited to think that Phil Bissera was like me, half white, half Filipino, but then he accepted donations from the Victor Cowes group and MHET opposition present here tonight. It's no surprise to me that the three who walked out on tenants are up for

re-election next year. To the remaining four who ran on platforms in the interest of our residents, the community has taken note. We won't forget. Power does not belong in the hands of police who kill our people on our streets. Rest in power, Rand and Lopez. Power does not belong in the hands of landlords who bully, intimidate and displace our community members. I urge a council to use their power to enact a rent freeze until new laws become effective. Rent burden households recovering from the pandemic don't deserve to be targeted by the abuse of power that retaliatory landlords are inflicting on our neighborhoods. Thank you.

David Carvajal, followed by Celia Hernandez, followed by Maria Ceja, followed by Dale Helbig. Good evening, City Council. My name is David Carvajal. I'm a lifetime resident of Santana. I live in Ward 4.

I didn't really prepare anything tonight except for just some kind of remarks or, you know, THOUGHTS THAT I HAD IS THAT I'M JUST REALLY TIRED. I'M REALLY TIRED OF MY COMMUNITY BEING SEEN. AS LESS THAN, I'M TIRED OF, YOU KNOW, THESE LANDLORDS TONIGHT, THEY'RE GOING TO TALK YOUR EARS UP ON PROFITS OR PEOPLE. AND I'M JUST REALLY TIRED OF THAT, RIGHT? I'M REALLY TIRED. AND, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED. YOU CANVASED YOUR COMMUNITIES WHEN YOU WERE, YOU KNOW, when you were running for for City Council you know that 56% of our community more than half of our community is tenants like you talked to

these people right they elected you and so we know what we need to do we know that a landlord's work are gonna start retaliating against we're already seeing that against tenants and so we need to enact the rent freeze for the next 30 days temporary rent freeze until the law comes into effect and that's all I wanted to say is that we need to look into policy that really reflects our community. Thank you. Thank you. Silvia Hernandez followed by Maria Ceja followed by Dale Helwig followed by Jackie Cordova.

Sabemos que quienes están apoyando la estabilización de renta están haciendo lo correcto. Los avisos que hemos recibido algunos de nuestros vecinos ya vienen con los incrementos que representan 15, 16 y 17 por ciento de lo que actualmente pagamos. Entonces, no deja ninguna duda, estamos haciendo lo correcto. to prevent those massive abuses and support the congestion of rent increases until the new ordinance is in place. Our community recognizes those who are supporting,

that represent the majority of us who live rent in our city, that truly represent African Americans, Hispanic, native, I think that we have to be able to live here, asiatics, to all of us who work with our work. We have to have a living for our families. And to the council, Bacerra, to you, Peña Losa, to you, Mendoza. We ask that we have to comply with our commitment to represent ourselves dignamente. We have to have a right to have a right to live in Santana, in a living in a dignified house. We'll have to visit them to show them.

These increases are not a lie, they are real. We already have them.

Good evening, my name is C. Bernandez, I live in the East Side, Santa Ana. Thank you for the ones that were listening to us. We know that we need to support rent stabilization, and this is the right thing to do. We have already received notices. we've seen them from our neighbors that rents are going up 15 16 and 17 percent from the current rents and there's no doubt that we are doing the right thing we need to prevent the abuses that are happening so we need you to support a rent freezes until this new law the new ordinance is

enacted and we need the community recognizes your support and you are representing the community and this the community is made up of blacks and Hispanics native people Asians everyone we working hard to get the dignified housing for our families and we are asking even by set miss the council Member Becerra and Mendoza, we ask you to commit to representing the community. Having a roof over our heads is our right. We need dignified housing in Santa Ana. Thank you.

Maria Ceja followed by Dale Helwig followed by Jackie Cordova followed by Carla Juarez. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Maria and I'm a volunteer with Tenants United Santana. Since 2017, Tenants United Santana has been on the ground. doing community and city council member outreach and we've been able to hear directly from residents most affected by housing instability substandard housing predatory rent increases and illegal evictions and we communicated this to City Council members rent control and just cause protections are in place to protect what the most vulnerable residents here in our city not the

stigma of criminals as stated from members in this group or this room earlier like preventing survivors of domestic violence from being displaced as elected officials you have all been elected into your positions to represent your constituents to ensure at the best of your abilities their safety and empowerment as the city continues to grow we must ensure that we choose to protect our people our community over profit we cannot have successful and ethic successful ethical and equitable development without ensuring that those most vulnerable to displacement are protected rent control and just cause

our anti displacement policies preventing displacement is actually a goal in the 2021-2029 a draft housing element to echo what other tenant counselors like myself have mentioned before we are already receiving new cases of San Ander residents experiencing sudden rent increases we need a temporary rent freeze on rent increases to protect San Ander renters from retaliatory rent increases during the 30-day period before the laws come into place thank you thank you Dale Helwig followed by Jackie Cordova followed by Carla Juarez followed by Alondra Salazar. Dale Helwig and I'm not a rental property owner. It was mentioned at

the last City Council meeting that the landlords and City Council have have known about the housing crisis for years. Members of the Council went on to say that landlords failed by not doing their research, performing due diligence and discussing options to address this issue with the city. If the City Council votes to implement a rent stabilization ordinance without knowing what type of program will be implemented and accompanying cost in terms of resources, program management, etc., the city will be guilty of the same thing. It is one thing to allocate money for a study and

from there vote on an implementation understanding the full cost and requirements. It's completely another to vote on implementing an undefined program with an undefined cost and an undefined impact. I ask you to follow the same process as you do for other programs you vote on implementing. Do your due diligence first, then decide. Santa Monica, a city that has a population of roughly 90,000 people, has 25 permanent employees and a budget of over $5.2 million to address rent control. It took me all of 10 minutes to obtain this data from the Santa Monica website.

Well, this is only one data point. It is more than what is provided by the City of Santa Ana. The only information I've seen on costs and staffing for the City of Santa Ana as the fair return petitions will be decided by the city manager. Zero mention is included as to the cost of staffing of administering this program. So shame on the city if this ordinance is approved prior to understanding the fiscal impact to the city. Thank you. Jackie Cordova, followed by Carla Juarez, followed by Alondra Salazar, followed by Cesar Medina. Good evening, council. Good evening, community. I am Jackie, a mother of Santa Ana.

I want to say every voice is important. I am so proud of us as a people. We stand our ground, we have no fear, and we obey God over men. I also wanted to let you know what your neighbors are up to here in the OC. Did you know those fat hogs in Orange City Council voted unanimously to shut down Mary's Soup Kitchen after 36 years of serving hot meals to the hungry? Did you know Orange County Sheriff and Orange County Board of Supervisors is dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding and reopening a jail in Irvine. The music facility has been closed for over two years, but

Sheriff Barnes has obtained state and local funding to expand and reopen it, adding over 2,000 beds and costing us $350 million. Who will they be using to fill these beds? Music was once used to house folks who were in ICE custody. Under a federal lease, we shut it down. We know jails do not provide opportunity for mental health recovery. Jails are traumatic, violent, and do not serve us. We say no to the greedy sheriff and his cronies at the Board of Supervisors who continually find ways to hurt us. Killers addicted to killing. We have a Stop the Music Coalition invites

you to an online public forum tomorrow Wednesday at 6 p.m. to learn more about the jail issue visit stopthemusic.net to register. Thank you. Thank you. Carla Juarez followed by Alondra Salazar followed by Cesar Medina. Hi good evening my name is Carla Juarez long-time resident of Santana also a community activist. I just want to mention that remember when everyone said the sanctuary city was going to taint the city and that's not true. That is also true for rent control. Rent control will not stay in the city. If you're already doing the right thing, well this is for the landlords, if you're already doing the

and directing landlords, then this is not about you.

Where does she if it fits? If your rent can pay a month of rent of any of those families, or your dangly earnings can pay the rent of any of these families, then this is not about you. You do not know the struggle. We aren't brought to the discussion where tenants rents are raised. So then, high rents in places with rent control, this is another rebuttal from theirs. Isn't high rent good for landlords then? I don't understand your argument. Landlords want to see our folder, show our receipts.

We want to see landlords' receipts. Simple math, show me the profit. Revenue minus cost, show me your profit. Verify the stories. Yes, include landlords. They make business. This is a business. Human, essential, basic should not be business. $50 per cost for every credit check per person. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Alondra Salazar, followed by Cesar Medina, followed by Jessica Martinez, followed by Dalia Rios.

Hello, my name is Alondra. My pronouns are she, her, hers. I'm a community member that lives in Ward 4. I work for the school district and Harvard UCLA Department of Family Medicine. I'm here in support of rent control and just cause evictions in Santana. I'm also here to urge city council to instill a rent increase freeze during the 30-day period while we wait for a rent control ordinance to officially go into effect. Tenants United Santana recently had a virtual community forum where many community members tuned in and some shared their rent just went up $100 this past month. Retaliation from landlords is real has been ongoing,

and especially now that rent control ordinance has passed the first reading. This shows even more the need for both rent control and a rent freeze in the meantime. Your community's livelihoods are at stake and this is nothing new. It's time to put a limit to these unjust repeated predatory rent hikes. It is beyond frustrating to know that there's people in this room and in general that not only strongly oppose rent control but are committed to dehumanizing and seeing working class people struggle to maintain their housing and overall struggle to survive. These are struggles and realities that most of them can't fathom.

These landlords that are here speaking and have been here before might rather stand here and degrade low-income people from Santana, call us dumb, call us criminals, but never actually offer solid factual reasons as to why rent control would not support the livelihoods of their tenants. Their reasons against rent control fall flat because they have all been rebuttaled and proven wrong. And to quote a community member, David Carvajal, if housing is a public health issue, then rent control is harm reduction. Let's all please remember that. Please support rent control like some city council members have already done.

Please enact a temporary rent free so we wait for rent control to go in effect. Cesar Medina followed by Jessica Martinez followed by Idalia Rios followed by Luis Aleman.

Santana no se vende. Se ama y se defiende. Buenas noches. I'm César Medina of the organization Sullivan in Action. César, come a little more to the microphone. I'm César Medina of the organization Sullivan in Action. Good evening, compañero and amigo, alcalde de Vicente Sarmiento, honorables concejales. I'm here, as in many other opportunities, to support the ordinance that congela the rent that would allow a 3% increase in future costs,

a confinement within 30 days until the order is effective, and a defense for injustice, that is, for a just cause. We are here because they never have given us another option. We are fighting for our interests, for our families, for ourselves.

Because in this fight, that we have been doing for many years,

the people never got tired, never got tired, never went away. We had the perfect torment, the pandemic. And, without any doubt, this city is crossing it. Thank you, Cesar. It is crossing it. Thank you. Good evening.

Santana is not for sale. We need to love it and we need to defend it. My name is Cesar Medina. I'm from the group Sullivan in Action. Good evening, honorable and friend Mayor Sarmiento, honorable council members. I am here because we need to ask you to support this ordinance with rent control for a maximum of 3% increase in the future. We ask you to provide rent freeze for the next 30 days while this law is enacted. And to support just cause eviction and defense. We're here because we don't know of other things.

We're here because we need to support our families. We are here because this is important, to support our families and for our kids. And we're in this fight for years, and the people have not given up. We found the perfect storm, which is the pandemic, and the people are making it through it. Thank you. Jessica Martinez, followed by Dalia Rios, followed by Luis Aleman, followed by Barbara Tinelli. Muy buenas noches, alcalde Vicente Sarmiento y miembros del concilio. Mi nombre es Jessica Martínez. Yo vivo en el Distrito 4 y mi concejal es Bill Becerra.

La noche de hoy estoy aquí para apoyar el control de renta y protección… Jessica, te puedes un poquito acercar al micrófono. …y protección por causa justa. and as a member of the Sullivan in Action and leader community, I will tell you that, I have to experiment with my manager in my mobile home, where I live. And yesterday, I had to respond to a letter of desalojo, which I don't want to see anyone. I feel very sad for the situation I'm going to be

I ask that the law is in the case of the law. Thank you.

Good evening Mayor Sarmiento, Council Members. My name is Jessica Martinez. I'm a resident of Ward 4. My representative is Council Member Becerra. And I'm here tonight to ask you to support rent control, just cause evictions, and I'm a member of Sullivan in Action. And also, because I have experienced myself, unfortunately, retaliation by the manager, I yesterday had to respond to an eviction notice, an eviction letter, and it's very sad. So I'm asking you to touch your heart to pass rent control, just cost evictions, and to freeze rent increase for the next 30 days while this is enacted. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Idalia Rios, followed by Luis Aleman, followed by Barbara Tonelli, followed by Duane Tonelli.

You know, I forgot to ask this, and I forgot this at the last meeting as well. Don't give your specific address, but let us know if you live in the city and if you do, what ward you live in. That would be helpful. Gracias.

Hola, buenas noches. My name is Idalia Ríos, I live now in the area 2, my representative is the concejal Nelly D'Amendoza. I'm here first to thank everyone who voted for the first lecture of the rent and the cause just because as I said last week, they voted for their people, for their residents, for the citizens that have been in their campaigns, that have been in every moment with you. At this time, I'm here and I'm going to take the camera because it's cold out there because Because in the logo of Tuzantana, there are two mothers who are taken by their hands, and one of them has a baby next to the side.

When I'm here, I represent a lot of mothers, and the majority of the people who are giving a public comment are women, are mothers who are defending their families. Now, I ask you to vote, once more, in favor of the rent control. And we need a confinement.

Gracias.

Good evening. Good evening. My name is Idaria Rios. I'm a resident of Ward 2, and my representative is Council Member Nelida Mendoza. Thank you for voting in favor of rent control and just cost eviction. I told you last week that when you voted, you voted for your people, you voted for your residents, you voted for your community, you voted for your citizens, you voted for the people who supported you and your campaigns. And I just took off my jacket, but you can see the Tenants United Sanana logo is two moms holding hands, and one of them has a baby. And this is what's happening.

Most of the people who are coming here are moms who are here fighting for their family, defending their family. So I'm asking you here to vote tonight to vote for rent control, for a rent freeze for the next 30 days while this is enacted. and people last time were talking about their income and their losses. Well, this may happen, but we just got a notice a couple of minutes ago. We just got information that neighbor's rent was increased $200 for next month. So vote for your families, vote for the parents, vote for the children, and vote for your community. Thank you.

Luis Aleman followed by Barbara Tonelli followed by Duane Tonelli followed by Fatima Paqui.

Mr. Mayor, can I just speak later? I think we were part of another group of folks who submitted our cards. So if I can just have my comment.

You want to go ahead and be put at the end of the meeting or something? Or at the end of the call list? Can you...

So please a little bit later if you order.

All right. Well, these cards are...

It seems like maybe the cards got mixed up because he's saying he should...

Well, just wait until you're ready with your group. Barbara Tinelli followed by Duane Tinelli followed by Fatima Paque followed by Blanca Juarez. Good evening, Mayor, Council Members. Thank you for hearing us tonight. I just want to mention that it's not us against them or them against us. We're all people. We live here. We're Santa Ana and there's already rent control in place. It's SB 1482. too. We're, as landlords, property managers, there is no rent above the 10% CPI. It's already there. We haven't had any rent raises in almost two years, so I don't know about any retaliation.

Our tenants, their family, we love them, they love us. We have expenses also. No one has helped us with our mortgage. We're going to lose everything, and it's not that we're trying to raise rent for retaliation and I see you're tired of listening to me already but it's really it's not about us it's not about them we're all here where we have to get along and please as community partners please hear us let's meet let's do one-on-one let's do a group hearing and listen to our our concerns that's all I have to say thank you thank you Dwayne Tinelli followed by Fatima Bakke followed by Blanca Ruelas

We're the owners and operators of the two eight-unit buildings.

The monthly rents are taken and used to pay for the repairs we need on the building, the loan on the building, and other action items. Roofs went from a roof on a flat building, flat roof building is like about $20,000 to repair or to replace. You're looking at painting the building itself as about another $18,000 or $19,000. Then we have the just cause evictions, and when it comes to the court, you file your papers, you pay the fee,

and part of that fee goes to a lawyer to defend the defendant against the eviction it takes then about 30 days for the get to the summons and complaint another 30 days maybe to come out of court and then the sheriff gets it and about another 30 days so we're looking at like about a five month four to five month duration for an eviction. In the meantime, the other tenants are now disturbed from the noise and carrying on and we lose some of those people

occasionally. I get requests that the, uh, respectively request that you vote for or against the rent stabilization deal. Thank you. In closing, I didn't get all this gray hair just from getting old. Thank you. Fatima Paquia followed by Blanca Rueles followed by Carmen Tofik.

Buenas noches, honorables miembros in la mesa del concilio. Vivo en el 92701. me Conceja les David Peña Loza y quiero decirles muchas gracias a ustedes por haber trabajado en el control de rentas fue un placer trabajar con ustedes y creo que ahorita el trabajo que va a empezar es más fuerte porque hemos visto que trabajando juntos la comunidad con los concejales podemos salir adelante y hacer el cambio en Santana ahora tenemos que buscar las propuestas de que la ciudad adopte medidas propias para que muchos de los personas que viven en esta ciudad puedan

us tener accesso a casas o comprar sus casas y que ustedes pueden ayudar y así esto puede hacer un cambio que venga que venga viviendo el problema de las de las viviendas es muy bueno porque porque de ahí depende que nuestros hijos pueden tener un acceso a vivir bien y eso se va denotar que todas las la educación aquí en santana va a estar teniendo mucho cambio nosotros como organizadores comunitarios pertenecientes a las iglesias de aquí de santana estamos en la mejor disposición de trabajar con ustedes como autoridades y salir adelante para para todo santana gracias

good evening honorable members of the council um i live in 9701 my council my council member is Peñalosa and I want to thank you for supporting rent control it's been a pleasure working with you and it's we need to continue working together and this makes us stronger when the community and the council members work together for the betterment of the community now you need to adopt other measures that support housing the purchase of housing and housing is better when we have housing problems this is a good this helps our kids to

live in better housing to live well to do well in school education gets better and this this is good for everyone so we need to continue working together to support Santa Ana thank you

when I'm not just a Caldey member of the con se who me number is blanka Ruelas so you leader community upon organization s he congregate a s community at the condado the orange jolly welcome is colleague as you otras congregaciones en la ciudad de Santana, aquí presentes quisiera pedirles que apoyen el punto número 7 de la agenda. Su apoyo a la comunidad de Santana sería una gran ayuda. También traería un necesario alivio que nuestra comunidad, que fue muy impactada por la pandemia, les pedimos que estén a nuestro lado, a de los inquilinos, ahora más que nunca.

tambien is pretty most get congelant temporalmente los aumentos de arquee ler durante el periodo de 30 días antes de que entre en vigor la ley del control de alquiler gracias por su tiempo y dios los guia en sus decisiones muchas gracias buenas noches

Good evening, members of the council. My name is Blanca Ruelas. I'm a member of OCO. And myself, with other members in the community, ask you to support item number seven on the agenda. Now, your support has been—it will be very helpful for the community. This will give us a long-awaited relief for people who have been affected by the pandemic.

And we're asking you to be on our side, on the side of the tenants. We're asking you to have a temporary rent freeze for the next 30 days before this law is enacted. And we thank you for your time, and may God guide you in your decisions. Good evening, and thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Next is Blanca Ruelas, Carmen Taufik, and Sylvia Avendaño. Please line up.

Anyone?

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Blanca Ruelas, Carmen Taufik, Sylvia Avendaño.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

and after that is Isabel M Lopez and Elizabeth Martinez

Buenas noches, concejales y alcalde. Estoy aquí para dar las gracias y como ya lo habíamos dicho, estamos pidiendo que se congelen las rentas en lo que pasan los 30 días, cuando va a pasar la ley. And I'm being very quick. We are thanking all the people who have been walking with us for three years, the people who are not, who have been up, who have been up. Also, from the above they will be looking for a rent control.

And we also have a living, we have a dignified living, and estables, because the community has to have an emotional stability. We are in a society without many problems, we had a pandemic, people died, people are in poverty, and they say that we want to work together. Well, let's do it. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Council Members and Mayor. I'm here, first of all, to thank you. Thank you for your support. We're here to ask you also for a rent increase freeze for the next 30 days while this is enacted. And I'm going to be very brief. We'd like to thank you. Thanks to the people who walked with us for the past three years, including the people who have departed from here and are looking at us from above, asking you to pass rent control and to have dignified housing. This is, the community has suffered a lot. They've had, we need emotional stability as well. Through this pandemic, people have died, people have been evicted.

So you're saying you want to work together? Let's work together. Thank you.

Great. Thank you for that. We're going to take a quick, interrupt the speakers in person, and we're going to hear from the speakers by phone that wanted a reasonable accommodation tonight. Madam Clerk, do we have somebody on the line?

Yes, thank you, Mayor and members of the Council.

Isabel, te esperas un segundo, vamos a tomar unas llamadas y ahorita te llamamos.

Thank you, you may proceed. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you.

Thank you.

30 seconds is up. Thank you.

We are Cương Pham and Gina Nguyen. We are 85 years old and 74 years old, currently resigning at Kona Kai Mobile Home. We have lived here for more than 20 years. We've been working for 30 years since the year we arrived in America in 1991. Now that we've retired, the two of us receive about $1,800. If rent keeps increasing by 6% each year, then soon our family will not have money to pay the landlord anymore. Please help us in this time of need, Council members. Thank you.

Khoảng 1,300, 1 tháng cho 2 vợ chồng. Với số tiền thuê đất quá cao, chủ đất tăng mỗi năm từ 5% tới 6%, chúng tôi sống rất khó khăn. Kính mong Hội đồng thành phố Santana xem xét giúp đỡ cho tiền thuê đất được giảm. Xin cảm ơn.

We are G Ngo and Ngọc Nguyễn, residing in Konak Hai Mobile Home since 1997. It has been over 20 years living in this mobile home. We are people who have already retired and are living with an income from SSA and SSI provided by the government. With a rent so high, the landlord increases rent by five to 6% each year. Our lives are very difficult. We asked the city council members to examine and help reduce the rent costs.

Thank you. Thank you. Time, Mr. Thank you. Thank you.

My name is Han Vo, 73 years old, living in Konakai Mobile Home Park for 20 years. With the money from SSA and other assistance, money from the government, my life is very difficult. The old landlord who died passed the mobile home to a new person who has raised the rent prices too high for us seniors and retirees. In the meantime, the general cost of living has risen. We have tried our hardest to not become homeless in the future. So please help us council members of Santa Ana by passing rent control.

Good evening, Mayor Vicente Samiento.

Thank you, Thomas. Please don't increase the wealth of money, so that we don't pay for it, but become a property. We thank the city a lot.

My name is Mai Nguyen, 63 years old, living at Konakai Mobile Home Park. Currently, my life has many hardships because I cannot make enough money by working as a vendor to pay my rent, which increases each year. I am struggling. whoever hires me to do work, I take the job to try to pay my rent. I hope that the city of Santa Ana has compassion for the poor residents living in the mobile homes. Please do not raise our land leases and make us become homeless. We thank the city.

Thank you. Second, sir.

Our names are Dao Le and Lina Nguyen, living at Konakai Mobile Home. We are not yet retired, but due to our old age and illnesses, is we can only work part-time so our income is limited the truth is before this the former owner of the park helped the elderly and poor people but when they passed the mobile home park was sold to a business owner who exploited us the land lease amount increased from two percent to six percent it is unbelievable and they will continue to increase it if it increases it continues like this how can poor people like us live so we asked the city council of santa anna to help us by

passing rent control. Thank you very much.

and help people who are young and young like us. After working time from 1989 to 2012, the money for my wife is not over 1.200. If there is a person who died, it is not enough to pay for the money to increase 6% a year. To help us to avoid the homeless situation in the future,

My name is Alan Nguyen, 69 years old, resident of Konakai Mobile Home. First, let me thank the city council members who thought about and helped elderly and poor people like us. After working from 1989 to 2012, the retirement money that my wife and I make totaled less than $1,200. If one of us dies, then we will not have enough money to pay the rent, which increases by 6% each year. Please help us avoid becoming homeless in the future and the negativity impacting the city of Santa Ana.

Como start amigo mayor.

Hello, the city council. Hello everyone. My name is . I live in . In the past, I worked very hard, but right now I'm disability. And disability, disability, pay less than $1,000 a month. But right now, the monthly renting, almost $1,000, with the utility, everything. 30 seconds are up. I cannot pay for a long time, you know, and so please, but the rent control or the probably they call rent stabilization and efficient protection.

You know, the money we have, we don't cannot, in the future, we're not gonna pay rent only, only. Thank you. I wonder what become hollered. Thank you very much.

I am Kim Chun. I'm 76 years old. I stayed in the Konakai 23 years ago. When I moved in, I paid only $385 a month, but now I pay $815 a month. My soul sold under $800 a month. I have to pay over my income. Please help us. Don't increase the rent too much. I am unable to pay the rent. Thank you very much for helping us.

30 seconds, sir. Thank you.

My name is Nam Kan Thuyeng, 68 years old at Lake Park Mobile Home. I ask you all and the council members to help my family who are retired seniors with a total monthly income of 1,582 through SSA. My monthly income is 1,192 and we only have 380 left for everything else. This year, the rent at Lake Park increased by almost $70. We do not know if we will have the ability to pay the rent. The rent is increasing so much that we will become homeless. Please intervene for us and the other senior families with similar backgrounds as us. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Huang Li. I am 76 year old. I'm living in Santa Ana Lake Park. to tonight come to the request for rent to not increase every year for the senior mobile home. Please have our family not increase the rent more than 3%. Each year because my income is very low. So I am not spent for the whole family. Please control my rent, please. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Indigo Vu and I'm reading a statement on behalf of Gui Vu. Hi everyone, my name is Gui Vu. I am 59 years old and I'm a senior resident of Valley High living on fixed income. My current monthly income is $957. I will not receive my social security checks until I'm at least 62 years old, including utilities for my high risk immune system compromised disabilities. my monthly housing cost comes to $1,096 this past month. That makes my ratio of housing cost to income 116%. Thank you in advance for rescuing me with your critical rent stabilization and eviction protection ordinance by voting yes tonight.

Sincerely yours, oui vous.

We are Lê Trị, 83 and Hoàng Thái Lan, 81.

Thank you.

in order to follow the program to improve the cost of rent and rent. Today, the third time, we will talk to you to talk to the Grand Control program. Thank you, time is up. I hope the team will continue to follow the last time of this program. We are very grateful to you.

We are Lei Jee and Huang, Thailand, currently living in Valley High Mobile Home for the past nine years. We live with the support of SSA and SSI with a monthly fixed income of 1,600 with 1,300 in expenses. Thus, our lives are very difficult. This is the third time we have sent this letter to the city council to ask for help by passing rent control. This is the third and final time you will meet to pass rent control. Again, we plead the council to finally pass this ordinance. We sincerely thank you all.

My name is Dow Tran. I am 71 years old and I live with my husband, Tuk Mai, who is 74 in Bali mobile home. We are both refugees from Vietnam. We have lived in America for over 40 years. I would like to respond to the comments made by Vicky Thaler from the Manufacturing Housing Education Center. Vicky, we're not truthful with you. We, the reason of Bali High, have not been mid-led. Vicky spoke about us as if we were children. Children who had no-30 seconds are up. Children who are not smart,

children who cannot understand how policy affects their life, children who do not understand why they are angry and upset, insulting. We are not children, Vicky. We are senior citizens and we have spent our life, working hard to support our family. We have come here to tell you the true story about our rent and make it difficult for us to survive and to leave our retirement in peace. We are low-income residents, Vicky said that we are not only asking for rent control, she said that we are now asking for rent free and rent reduction. This is a lie. We are not asking for this.

We are only asking that the rent be raised by 3% maximum every year. So thank you again, Major Salimanto and City Council member for your continued support.

My name is Thut Mai, 74 years old. I live in the Barney High mobile home. Dear city council representatives of Santa Ana, today I would like to thank Mayor Vicente Sarmiento, council members, Thay Viet Phan, Jonathan Hernandez and Jesse Lopez for your courage to stand up for Santa Ana people who needed your help the most by voting for rent stabilization. You are our heroes. I also once again would like personally ask Mr. Phil Basura,

Mr. David Penaloza and Mrs. Nelida Mendoza to reconsider your votes on this issue to help the people who are currently suffering with these cost increases. I want to mention that last time, Ms. Vicky Tharling told you that our rents are cheap compared to all the places, but she did not tell you that our mobile homes are under 1,000 square feet while all the mobile homes have 1,200 square feet to 2,000 square feet. Mr. Talley did not tell you or she didn't know that gouging rent money truly happened.

For example, spate number 16, rent 2016 was 590. Today, 887. It was 297.

Thank you. Thank you.

But it's not that. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. and help me to be worried about my age by using the rank control program so that I can live with the value of people on earth and the first thing is Hoa Kee. Thank you.

My name is Hu An, 59 years old, living at Valley High Mobile Home for one year. and this year they have increased my land lease by $50 and are continuing to increase it. I worry for my livelihood because I thought I was living in a neighborhood that supports seniors, but this is not the case. I asked 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 land that is the United States.

Good evening, Mayor and members of City Council of Santa Ana. Good evening, everybody. My name is Hang Nguyen, 64 years old. Today, I again join our group of seniors from Bali Hai Mobile Home Park coming here in order to continue contributing our voice in support of rent control. We have been struggling to pay the rent, to buy food, to make broth and meat. We have been crying out everywhere for help. We have been struggling to survive. We are living on the brink of homelessness, not knowing when we will lose our shelters.

We are not asking for rent decrease. We are not asking for free rent. We are just asking for rent control, for fair rent. Housing is a human right. low-income families deserve to live with a dignity. Thank you for your time. Up to now, we have had all the necessary information, all the data. Please conclude your support with the final yes vote this time. Thank you very much.

Hi, City Cason. I am Keltren, 78 years old and my wife. We are living in Bali Hai Mohong Park since 1994, 27 years old. As you know, the cost living in the market right now increased six to seven percent. And inflation happened right now. That is the reason some of the city council vote yes for the rent control to support many residents of Santa Ana, 30 seconds are up. who can pay the rent every month. We thank a lot for your support and we never forget your help.

We hope the low rent control will be approved by CTU San Diana on October 19, 1931 for 3% or lower for the rent.

My name is Huy Nying Zai, 69 years old. My wife's name is Huy Nying Mary, 68 years old. We have lived at Valley High Mobile Homes for the past two years since 2019. I want to express sincere thanks to Viet Rize and the four city council members who have supported and helped us elderly and retired people through rent control. We are retired after more than 20 years of working in the United States and don't want to become homeless. Thank you. Thank you.

My name is Le Kim Hong, 73 years old, currently living at Valley High Mobile Homes Lodge. I have lived in this mobile home for 14 years. Please continue to help us with the issue of increased housing costs in order for us and and myself to receive only a yearly 3% increase in rent so that I can pay for my living expenses and live peacefully. Please continue to support and help us have a decent life as seniors. I sincerely thank you all.

I'm now going to read a statement for Reverend Joseph N. Nukman. My name is Joseph N. Nukman, a retired priest from Los Angeles Archdiocese residing at Valley High Mobile Home Lodge since the fall of 2010. I am now 93 years old, having been in USA for 65 years, I would like very much to thank the original owner and local managers for a quiet residence with a peaceful atmosphere. I have been enjoying it with deep gratitude. However, these recent years, the space rent has increased several times beside the regular increase of 3%, causing so much anxiety and worry for us senior citizens with low income. Before the threatening increase,

the city council has listened to our desperate cry of help and took action to save us. We therefore thank you sincerely, especially those members and the mayor, for your positive vote. God bless you for your goodness. with sincere gratitude, Joseph N. Ducman.

Final comment from the residents of Lake Park. We the residents of Lake Park, Phan Le, Nam Thuyang, Vieng Le, request for rent to not increase every year for senior mobile homes. Please help our families not increase rent more than 3% each year. Support rent control. This concludes our comments, thank you.

Thank you everybody and let's remember that we were making reasonable accommodations for those callers that had difficulty getting here and their comments were reduced to 30 seconds. So we appreciate their brevity but we appreciate their message as well as we do everybody who spoke tonight and is speaking tonight.

So let me go back to the in-person request to speak starting with Isabel Lopez followed followed by Elizabeth Martinez followed by Fausto Ramirez.

Good evening everyone. My name is Isabel Lopez and first of all I want to give my consults to you sir. I really do. Isabel, can you move closer to the microphone? I have my consults to you and to your family members. It really did hurt me personally. That same day I had a nervous breakdown. stuff. I really do feel for you and thank you all for the rig control for supporting the ones that don't you guys have your reasons. I'm not here to judge but I here am to judge the property owners that say that they're there to help and that they're there help to people. Five years I've been waiting for

downstairs. I've been threatened. I think guns have been turned out to me and they said that they get payments. Yeah, payments that we don't, I didn't have a choice. They made it for me. They wanted me to pay half of the rent plus my top of the rent. I can't even pay the $1,100 now. How am I going to pay the other half? But anyways, it's, this is only the beginning to tell the truth. Me, I'm used to it. I know the streets. I live out, I have slept in Garfield.

built is still volunteering you know so you guys know what to do and you know this is only the beginning there's gonna be a lot more people out on the streets it's on your guys's side I'm not saying disrespectfully but thank you for hearing me out thank you Isabel Elizabeth Martinez followed by Fausto Ramirez followed by Rosa Pisano followed by Sergio C.

de de pedirle a los dueños de casa y de vivienda que vean como trabajan sus manejadores porque muchos de ellos este muchos de los manejadores abusan de su poder y no no no este respetan los derechos de los de los residentes muchas gracias que dios los bendiga gracias a todos gracias Yes.

Good evening, members of the council and mayor. My name is Elizabeth Martinez, and I'm a community leader in Santa Ana. And I'm here to thank you for working with us on this rent control. Thank you to all those who voted for it and for those who didn't. So I'm here also I'm here to ask the landlords to look at your managers closely, because many are abusing their power. they do not respect the rights of the residents. So thank you and God bless you all.

The truth is that we are all happy for the support they have provided. I hope they keep supporting us for this rent control. And also, they support us in these 30 days so that we don't increase our rent. We are going to continue working on this, to be able to continue, so that the community is bigger and not there are so many problems as those that are emerging around the city. Okay, so thank you all for your support.

I'm Fausto Ramirez and I want to thank you all for the support you have provided. I'm a resident of 92701 and truth be told I'm very happy to hear that for the support that you have provided and I'm asking that you continue supporting us in this rent control and also for the next 30 days for the rents not to increase and we'll continue working together to make the community greater so we don't have so many problems in the city. Thank you all for your support. Rosa Pisano, followed by Sergio C., followed by Esperanza Rosas and Jorge Ofracio. Buenas noches.

Para cada uno de aquí del cuerpo de nuestro alcalde Sarmiento. Soy Rosa Pisano y vengo representando el área 4 de mi representante es el serra

también este día quiero por favor apoyar al control de renta y protecciones con una causa justa además queremos que por favor se pase un congelamiento a la renta durante estos 30 días mientras que esté en vigor esta protección y quiero

Good evening to all here, to all the body, the Mayor Sarmiento. My name is Rosa Pisano. I'm in Ward 4. My representative is Council Member Phil Becerra. and I'm here to support rent control and just cost protections. Also, I'm here to ask for a rent freeze for the next 30 days while this is enacted. And this protection is better for the community. I'm asking also my council member, Phil Becerra, to vote for rent control. Good evening and thank you. Thank you.

um sergio corona followed by esperanza rosas followed by jorge of rasio followed by maria christina moreno muy buenas noches a todo el consejo muchas gracias por estar al pendiente de esta de esta que es muy necesario para la comunidad yo soy un residente de santana Jonathan Ryan Hernandez, él es el que está a cargo de Ward 5 y él es mi representante. Muchas gracias a todos los concejales que apoyaron, Typhan, Vicente Sarmiento y Jonathan Ryan Hernandez y Jesse López por apoyar el control de renta en Santana.

Es necesario y es urgente. Ustedes han visto que hay muchas personas, especialmente las personas de mayor edad of the community of Vietnam and the Hispanic community that are in danger of staying in the street. I still believe in Santana. I still believe that Santana can be a city that can give the example of that if it can be worked with the owners of the property, also with the residents and the city. I want to ask you, please, that the money is going to be able to save the rent,

to protect the rents, and also to protect the rents. And I want to ask you, please, that the money is going to be able to save the rent, that it is not only for those who have the money, but also for the people who need it for the future. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening to all here, all the council members. Thank you. This, what you're doing is very needed for the community. And a resident of Santa Ana, my representative is Jonathan Ryan Hernandez in Ward 4. He's my council member. So I want to thank all the people who supported this. Tai Phan, Mayor Sarmiento, Councilor Hernandez, Councilor Mayor Jesse Lopez. This is very needed in the community. As you can see, this is very important. There's a lot of elderly people, as you have seen, Vietnamese and Hispanic that are at risk of ending up in the street. Santa Ana.

I believe that Santa Ana can be a city that can be an example of people working together, landlords, residents, and the city. So I'm asking you as well for rentries to protect the renters in Santa Ana. And also that the money that is used to help people with rent is not only for the people that owe the rent, back rent, but also for the people who might need it in the future.

Esperanza Rosas, followed by Jorge Ofracio, followed by Maria Cristina Moreno, followed by Vanessa Gonzalez.

Buenas noches a todos los concejales. And the people that I asked the other time, why are they sent in the seat? For their leadership, for their own community or for their own personal? It is very important that they clarify that in their own people. I understand that you are there to represent and protect the community, not to attack them. And Santana is not selling. We are all present in each one of you to support them in the good and the bad.

good evening to the council members thank you for supporting rent control Tenants United Santa Ana and the other organizations and Santa Ana thank you for working together and thank you for passing this as I said before there are people that are still being evicted I told you the story of a couple 83 and 80 years old who were evicted they had no protections so I'm asking you to work with your heart last time I asked you why are you sitting there in those chairs is it to support the community or to help yourselves? So you represent the community and Santa Ana is not for sale. We are here to support you for better or for worse.

And Jonathan, we are with you 100%. And we respect the work that the mayor is doing, working with the community. Thank you and we're asking you to pass rent control for the community. Thanks, I skipped over somebody that I forgot to call on. So it's Luis Aleman followed by Jorge Ofrazio, followed by Maria Cristina Moreno, followed by Vanessa Gonzalez. Good evening, Councilmembers. I wanted to offer my condolences to Councilmember Hernandez, too, on his loss. I want to thank, before we start today, I want to thank Mayor Sarmiento and Councilmember Hernandez and Councilmember Lopez and Mendoza, who's met with some of the workers.

They're going to talk about an issue that they're facing. Just this morning, some courageous workers in the city of Santana in the company of Kingspan Light and Air took a courageous position to ask for the company to respect and to try to the agreement for them to be able to join a union right we're talking about a green economy and a green future but that also includes a living wage and it includes dignity and safety in the workplace and you're gonna hear right now from one of the workers about some of the inhumane conditions they're facing there and why your support in this is greatly appreciated but also the community

support we were out there today in the morning with them and also in the afternoon with some community work community folks including some environmental justice groups because we know that it's folks of color who are doing this work so I'm just gonna pass out some flyers so that it's the city clerk and you'll hear from Jorge why they're doing this and why it's important for you all to continue to support that effort so thank you thank you Luis Jorge Ofrazio followed by Maria Moreno followed by Vanessa Gonzales followed by Maricela Castro

paneros que trabajamos en compañía de kinspan

soy yo del comité organizador de los trabajadores entonces la razón es por las que mis compañeros y yo estamos organizando una es respeto queremos un trato justo de los

de los trabajadores de los previsores que trabajan ahí

good evening My name is Jorge Ofrasio. I represent our co-workers from Kingspan. And I'm part of the organizing committee of workers. And we are here to ask for respect, to have just treatment from our supervisors. We are welders and we have some noxious air that we have to breathe, gases that we have to breathe, and also it's going out into the Santa Ana community. So we need to make changes in our company for the benefit of all. Thank you.

Maria Cristina Moreno followed by Vanessa Gonzalez followed by Maricela Castro followed by John Murray Murphy.

Muy buenas noches. Yo soy Maria Cristina Moreno. Soy residente de Santana aquí. Vengan darles las gracias al señor. If you can get a little closer to Maria. Perfect.

Good evening. My name is Maria Cristina Moreno and I'm president of Santa Ana. I want to thank the Mayor of Sarmiento, the Mayor of López, the Mayor of Hernández,

Thank you very much.

Good evening. My name is Maria Cristina Montero. I'm a resident of Santa Ana. I want to thank Mayor Sarmiento, Councilmember Lopez, Councilmember Hernandez, and Councilmember Fan for your support in rent control and just cost eviction in Santa Ana. Your decision has helped many people in our community, many people who are renters. So I want to thank you and God bless you.

Vanessa Gonzalez followed by Maricela Castro followed by John Murphy followed by David Goodspeed.

Hi, thank you so much for having me today. I'm providing our manifesto for race equity and parent leadership in early childhood systems. We can provide a more in-depth presentation at a more opportune time. We're reminding parents that they have a voice and their voice matters. Some might wonder how city council is an early childhood system. It is an early childhood system because it involves the housing of small children and their families. I'm going to give examples of the percentage increases of the 10% and 3%. So for $1,600, 10% is $160. 3% is $48. That's a huge difference. For $1,800, 10% is $180.

And 3% of a rent increase for $1,800 is $54. They're both over $100 increase. of a difference. So everything trickles down. $126 or $112 can go to the obvious expenses of food or gas to go to work, but it could also be a child support, support expenses. It could also affect a child's well-being. And what I mean by that is the child might not be able to get healthier foods anymore because of the cost. A family might decide to get something less healthy, more affordable. And even something like diaper rush, the cost of diapers will go, going to exist. And they're not going to be able to change

the baby quite as often because they're trying to make the diapers last. And I leave you with Isaiah 32, 16. For a fool speaks nonsense and his heart inclines toward wickedness. To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord. To keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to hold drink from the thirsty. Let's not withhold anything from our families. Thank you. Thank you. Marisela Castro, followed by John John Murphy followed by David Goodspeed followed by Manuel Gonzalez.

Maricela Castro.

John Murphy followed by David Goodspeed followed by Manuel Gonzalez.

Good evening, Councillors. My condolences, Councilmember Hernandez, for your loss also. Thank you for taking the time to listen to us today. I'm John Murphy on behalf of SMART Local 170 and supporting workers who are organizing at Kingspan. You know, workers initially talked to us about their concerns about ventilation inside their facility, and we learned about the Madison Park Neighborhood Association and the work that they are doing about air monitoring in the city. and workers did a toxic tour and they asked can we do that inside our workplace and so we did that we partnered up with dr. Shahir Masri from UC Irvine and we

did an air monitoring study inside the facility that air monitoring study has just been published and we'll share it with all the city councilors and it's shocking how bad the air is inside this facility and it's a company which made six hundred million dollars in profits last year they could afford to fix the ventilation they could afford to provide proper respirators it's horrible that they're treating their workers like this as we're coming here today to ask for your support and we appreciate all the support you've already given council member Mendoza and mayor Sarmiento council member Hernandez and council

member Lopez and we hope to talk to all the council members and we'll have a letter that we'll share with you all that we hope that you'll sign on to and send to Kingspan to allow their workers to organize freely in the fair process and to change their behavior when it comes to the environment. Thank you for your time. Thank you. David Goodspeed followed by Manuel Gonzalez followed by Vic Mendez followed by... go ahead. Mayor Sarmiento, Council, my name is Dave Goodspeed. I'm director of production workers with the Sheet Metal Production Workers with the Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Workers

International Union. I'm here today to ask you for your support for a fair process for workers at Kingspan Santa Ana in their pursuit of the Union. You've already heard from John Murphy about the air quality issues at Kingspan. We're alarmed given what we've learned about Kingspan's profitability and planet passionate platform. We're dismayed to learn that Kingspan employees found reason to file whistleblower complaints at Cal EPA and Cal OSHA alleging violations of the clean water of clean water and safety worker safety laws. Workers have provided evidence that Kingspan has

not complied with parts of the stormwater pollution prevention plan it filed with the California Water Control Board. It is crucial that Kingspan adhere to this prevention plan. The company's own records show that it exceeded allowable discharge levels for zinc and stormwater runoff by almost seven times in plan year 2020 2020 and 2021 and by over 13 times in 2019 to 2020. The company is currently party to a federal consent decree with an environmental group addressing its practices. Our ask is that you encourage Kingspan. David if you wrap up just after your ask.

My apologies. Our ask is that you encourage Kingspan to respect a fair process for workers in their effort to form a union. And please hold Kingspan accountable in any way you can. Thank you very much. Thank you. Manuel Gonzalez, followed by Victor Mendez, followed by Angel Sanchez.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Councilmembers. My name is Manuel Gonzalez speaking before you on behalf of workers at Kingspan. Kingspan is a manufacturing company located in the Delhi community. Workers are afraid to report work injuries to the supervisors because they fear of being terminated. That is what happened recently to a worker who had been on light duty at the request of a doctor for about a year. The employee continued to do his regular work as a welder with the only restriction of not being able to maneuver heavy parts at times weighing 80 pounds or more.

Recently he was terminated because the company said they could no longer accommodate him with his restriction. He was able to perform his duties as a welder and was looked up to by his co-workers for the knowledge and experience he possessed. Workers don't have the adequate tools to safely perform the job duties. They lack the proper PPE, personal protective equipment, and they work in conditions that have contaminants that are unsafe. Kingspan doesn't provide proper training for employees to perform their duties safely.

I just want to bring this to the attention of the City Council of what is taking place in this great city by an irresponsible manufacturer. Thank you and good evening.

Thank you. Victor Mendez, followed by Angel Sanchez, who's our last speaker, in-person speaker. Go ahead.

Point of order, Mr. Mayor. I have items I wish to comment on that are not related to the ordinance. I know your intention was to limit comments on the ordinance. It's a minute and a half, which I'm more than happy to do, but I request three minutes for my full comment which include other matters before the council. Go ahead. Go ahead. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so very quickly I wish to express my support for the ordinance to move this thing forward. I would every my research has indicated the following everything that's positive about rent control and that can be done has been proven it's factual

it's data driven anything negative has shown to be a maybe a possibility or no real correlation So to me, there's a very strong case for rent control, whereas the negative or the case against rent control is nebulous at best. So I think you're moving on full ground here. I would only suggest to this council they look at the following. Make administration easy by just putting a 3% cap even every year. It'd be a lot easier to administer. Look at extending the window for when newer buildings fall under rent control statewide to 20 years versus 15. that certainly can make Santa Ana a place for new construction and moving

forward on the regulation it can cost a lot of money to regulate these rent control ordinances I would I always say you just move toward a system of fines rather than try to regulate individual instances of abuse or non-compliance it could cost somebody probably as much as 25 to 50 thousand dollars to comply and get registered on a per unit basis and that's a pretty good haircut for I think a property owner to take so I'd encourage you to make it more efficient like the gentleman suggested relative to the other comments as you know I've been proposing and advocating for moving Santa Ana

back to its payment or support for ongoing rental payments I don't see a necessarily constraint here it's just a matter of policy I think the money discretionary money is there I know some constraints right now with the current funding but this is a protection that other people in other parts of the state get fan and residents do not have it at this time and I think from what I'm hearing from these residents this could be definitely something that could be you can be helpful as you phase into new rent control today we were very honored to see advocating shelter for dogs. I think it's time to advocate shelter for senior citizens,

children, and the rest of our residents. You know, we matter too. Thank you.

Thank you. Angel Sanchez. Angel's our last in-person speaker. Madam Clerk, we have some

speakers on the phone yes we do mayor great adelante okay buenas noches señores del concilio mi nombre es sangel sánchez soy residente de santana en el área del código postal 92 705 okay esta noche me tomado el tiempo de llegar a esta reunión para agradecer

I thank you for the Attorney General Sarmiento, the Honorable López, the Honorable Hernández, the Honorable Pan, for having voted in favor of a control of rent and cause just.

Thank you very much. that they are going to be able to continue to be able to Santana to a better place to live. I ask you, please, that you can't stop the rent, because I am in a situation where I am going to get a lot of money. I have a problem that, by the pandemic, I am going to get a lot of money. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Good evening, members of the City Council. My name is Angel Sanchez. I'm a San Ana resident of zip code 92705. And I'm here. I took the time to come here to thank you. Thank you, Mayor Sarmiento, Council Members Lopez, Council Member Hernandez, Council Member Fenn for voting yes for rent control and just cost eviction. We are living under hard times and many of us are in possible eviction situations and And what you are doing is very helpful for us. And I want to thank you for your support, for supporting us so that we can make Santana a better place to live.

And I'm also asking you for a rent freeze to help us who are in the process of being evicted. I am in the process of being evicted due to the pandemic. Thank you.

Thank you. That was our last in-person speaker. I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to the clerk so she can call on those that are waiting on the line to go ahead and address the council.

Thank you, Mayor. To request to speak, dial star 9 from your phone or select raise hand from Zoom now. Before unmuting callers, I'd like to begin by reporting the following summary of emails provided as of today. We received one local artist non-agenda item comment on an RFP process for the city arts project. 1, residency not disclosed comment on finding against autism. 10, Santa Ana residents or organizations support temporary freeze on rent increases until rent stabilization ordinance takes effect. Item number 7, 28, Santa Ana residents and organizations in support and 1, residency not

disclosed. 16 Santa Ana residents, organizations or property owners in opposition, and 17 non-Santa Ana residents or residency not disclosed in opposition. Item 11, we had one Santa Ana resident comment on the plan. And that is all with the written communication. And with that, Zoom ID Jose Trinidad Castaneda, if you would please select the microphone icon on your device to unmute your call.

Person with Zoom ID, If you would please select the microphone icon on your device.

Zoom ID, Kaylee Levitt. Thank you. You may proceed with your comment.

Hi, can you hear me okay?

Yes, we can hear you.

Great. Hi, I would just like to emphasize my gratitude for the council members for their support despite of rent stabilization and just cause protections, despite being faced with intimidation. Do you know what I mean? Mayor and City Council members. Tonight we are asking the City Council to prioritize-

I'm gonna put you on hold, one second.

Hello? Yes, I'm sorry, Kayleigh, go ahead. You may proceed with your comment.

No worries. And then the second piece is just asking FOR A FREEZE ON RENT INCREASES UNTIL THE LAW IS ENACTED TO PROTECT TENANTS FROM RETALIATION. AND LASTLY, I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE JUSTICE AND ENSURING THAT THE LANGUAGE HAS SPECIFIC PROTECTIONS REGARDING PROVIDING IMPORTANT TIME-SENSITIVE NOTICES IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE TENANT. AND THAT WILL BE ALL FOR MY COMMENTS tonight. Thank you. Thank you.

Zoom ID, Jose Trinidad Castaneda, you may proceed with your comment.

Yes, good evening, Mr. Mayor, City Council and staff. My name is Jose Trinidad Castaneda. My apologies for interrupting the previous speaker. My comment is very brief. I wanted to thank you all first and foremost for having integrity to foresee how the climate crisis will impact the city of Santa Ana and its residents by voting for that climate resolution in a previous council meeting. It shows that all of you but one, Councilmember Becerro who voted no, have the integrity to make

difficult decisions despite a multitude of voices coming before you and I urge you to use that same sensibility and common sense to support and approve the second reading of the rent control ordinance for residents so that way they can stay housed. It does connect to climate in the fact that we don't want residents exposed to the elements as climate change continues to fluctuate and exacerbate already existing conditions. And and to Council Member Becerra as it relates to the full city council, please do not be a climate denier. You are a climate denier. It's embarrassing.

Thank you and have a good night.

Thank you.

Zoom ID Daisy, if you would please select your microphone icon and proceed with your comment. Thank you.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you. You may proceed with your comment.

Okay, thank you. Good evening, my name is Daisy and I'm with the Kennedy Commission. The community and community leaders have already said it all and have shared their stories and experiences many times over. And I just want to express my gratitude to Mayor Sarmiento and council members Lopez, Hernandez and Fean for your support of Ren Stabilization in the city of Santana. Please continue to support it in your vote tonight. Thank you. Thank you.

Zoom ID, Araceli Robles. If you would please select the microphone icon on your device.

Zoom ID, Araceli Robles, 714gmail.com. If you would please select the microphone icon.

Persona con el nombre Araceli Robles, 714gmail.com. Por favor, seleccione el icono del micrófono para activar el sonido en el aparato. Thank you.

I.

Si me escucha sin. Para continuar con su comentario. Si solamente estaba llamando para darle las gracias por apoyar el control de renta quien la ciudad de Santana. Y también le quiero decir este que tomen muy en cuenta toda la necesidad es que estamos teniendo como comunidad ahorita ya vienen las lluvias bien el frío y es muy triste que muchas personas estén quedando sin vivienda o con cartas de desalojo. Los dueños están pidiendo que cuánto dinero se va a gastar, cuánto va a gastar la ciudad. Si nosotros ya estamos poniendo demasiado de nuestro presupuesto en el departamento de policía

y no vivimos en la ciudad más segura, ¿por qué no invertir en la vivienda de todos nosotros y el bienestar de nuestros niños aquí en la ciudad de Santana? Gracias por tomar mi comentario y les agradezco mucho el apoyo y recuerden nosotros siempre estamos apoyando los a ustedes. Ustedes cuentan con nosotros. Sabemos todo lo que ha pasado por apoyar a la comunidad, pero no están solos. Estamos una comunidad muy grande apoyándolos y juntos vamos a hacer que el control de renta no sea destituido. Gracias y buenas noches. Gracias.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, Hernandez, Lopez, and Fan. Thank you for supporting rent control for the city of Santa Ana. And we need this. Thank you for supporting the needs of the community. The community needs this a lot. The rain season and the cold is coming, and it's sad that many people are going to be getting evicted, eviction letters and getting evicted. To the landlords that are saying that, why is the city spending so much money?

The city is already paying a lot for the police and the police budget, and we are not the safest city. And you're asking why investing, why do we need to invest in that? We need to invest for the safety of all. So thank you for your support and you can count on our support. You are not alone and the community is going to support you so that rent control is not taken back.

Zoom ID Benjamin Vasquez, you may proceed with your comment.

Hello, Mayor. Hello, City Council. This is Benjamin Vasquez from the city of Sanana in Heddinger Park. I'm here for a support of a rent control, but we also need a rent freeze increase as we propose this as well. Many of you have paraded folks in front of city council and given awards and the awards are like, they did good job, they're doing good work. They're giving out backpacks, things like that. Godina is like I commend the work being done at Godina's especially Jim Ibravo is a good friend

um and the work being done but with our kids we have 7,000 kids who are unsheltered right now we have 7,000 kids who who need this more than 7,000 they all need it but 7,000 are unsheltered we we're really in the best situation with our families and this rent control is necessary and if you really want to give awards, if you really want your work to be done outside of awards, when it really means something, you need to vote yes on this. This is not about photo ops, this is about real lives and how it affects us. So please, along with the rent control,

let's do a rent freeze as we move forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Zoom ID, Mexley Lopez, If you would please select the microphone icon on your device.

Persona con el nombre Mexley Lopez, en Zoom. Por favor seleccione el icono del micrófono para activar el sonido. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. You may proceed with your comment.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hello, you may be mayor Sarmiento and members of the council. My name is Ashley Lopez. I'm a resident of ward five and Jonathan Hernandez is my council representative. I'm speaking tonight in favor of rent control and a temporary rent freeze to be implemented during the 30 day period before the proposed law goes into effect, before the proposed rent control law goes into effect. I also want to use my time to thank all of the mothers, elders, youth, college students, and community members at large who have at some point or another, over the last three years, volunteered their time to ensure rent control was passed,

who never took no for an answer. These folks had to start from scratch, and it was years in the making to see the level of organization that we've been displaying over the last few council meetings. After years of coming to city council meetings and having our voices ignored, we learned the process of ballot initiatives and successfully voted out council members who we knew would never support rent control. And we elected representatives who campaigned on rent control. I also want to thank the four council members who ultimately brought rent control home to us with their votes despite facing heavy intimidation.

And I wanna give a special shout out to council member Tavia Fan, who was originally opposed to the idea of rent control but who changed her mind after hearing from her constituents and studying the viability of rent control and the success it has had in the

other cities across the state. Thank you. Zoom ID Carl Benninger if you would please select the

microphone icon on your device. Thank you. Good evening council this is Carl Benninger. I hope to join you again in the very near future as my wife is progressing very well from her surgery. But I'm really here to talk about rent control. It's unfortunate in my experience, it has not worked. And the people that I hear speaking, my heart goes out to them, but do they realize that New York, Cleveland, Detroit, even Santa Monica, rents have not gone down as some people expect.

they continue to end up rising. What we really need to do is freeze rents for 90 maybe to 120 days while we can sort out a best solution to what we want to do. One of them is tools. I got into a house in New England Michigan because the company I worked for provided me the tools through which I could get a loan for a down payment and thus put me into a house, made me free of a renter, of renting situations. I think we need to do this in the city is encourage first,

first buyers, first income rather than spending God's amount of money is what Santa Monica is on a rent board that in the end-15 seconds left. Will not provide what you say. Thank you.

Thank you. Zoom ID, Adolfo Sierra. If you would please select the microphone icon.

thank you you may proceed thank you thank you very much um i just want to thank uh the um major and council members that are um talking in favor of rent control i really commend you for your leadership and i'm looking forward for the vote tonight and also um extend an invitation to uh council member hernandez if he can join us at madison park i'm the active president for the madison park neighborhood association and we would like to have you come and talk to us and walk

the neighborhood with us in the near future thank you very much thank you

zoom id anabel para if you would please select the microphone icon on your device

You may proceed with your comment.

Okay, Mayor, that was all the callers we had.

Great, thank you, Madam Clerk, and thank you, everybody who called and appeared before us in person. So let me go ahead and bring it back to the Council to ask if there's anybody on the Council that would like to pull any items off the consent calendar or abstain from any matters, AND LET ME GO AHEAD AND CALL ON COUNCIL MEMBER FAN. THANK YOU MAYOR. I'D LIKE TO RECUSE MYSELF FROM

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

ITEM NUMBER 16 AS I'VE DONE BEFORE REGARDING ANYTHING INVOLVING CHARITABLE VENTURES AS THEY ARE A CLIENT OF MY EMPLOYER RETAN AND TUCKER AND BUT BECAUSE IT'S A CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM I CAN STAY IN THE ROOM I BELIEVE AND THEN I'D LIKE TO PULL ITEM NUMBER 11. ALLO.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Hello? Hello?

It looks like someone was able to unmute yourself.

Was that our last speaker?

Yes, that was. That wasn't able to speak earlier.

Go ahead.

If she… . . . . . . . . .

I am infinitamente grateful to Mr. Sarmiento, Mr. Hernandez, Mr. Lopez, for supporting the order of rent control that the families of Santa Ana need. As a mother solter, this will be a great relief for me and my economy and will allow me to enjoy more time with my family. Be with my support so that this order is fulfilled and nobody will remove so that our community remains in Santa Ana, safe and without fear. Gracias a todos por su arro trabajo y su gran apoyo por mi comunidad infinitas. Gracias a todos por su arro trabajo y buenas noches. Gracias.

Gracias.

Okay, Mayor, that was I lost.

My name is Anavela Aparra. I've been a resident of Santa Ana, California for 26 years. I'm infinitely grateful to Mayor Sarmiento, to Councilmembers Hernandez and Lopez and Fenn for passing this rent control ordinance. It's very needed for our community. As a single mom, this means a great relief for me financially. I can spend more time with my family. And your support of this ordinance, we're going to help you for this ordinance to remain in place and not be revoked or removed. So I want to thank you all for your hard work. Thank the community of Santana for passing this. Thank you to all.

Great. Thank you. and I think that was the last speaker. So we had Council Member Phan pull item number 11, and she's going to be abstaining on item number 16. Any other items off the calendar that Council Members would like to pull or abstain from?

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to point item number 7, please. Item number 7.

Phil BacerraItem 5

Same, Mr. Mayor.

Okay. Any other items?

Nothing from Council Member Lopez.

No, I don't see her hand. All right.

Hearing none, seeing none, is there a motion for the balance of the consent?

So moved.

I'll second. We have a motion and a second.

Council members, please vote.

Matters of the council, yes, please cast your vote.

Council member Mendoza, if you would please vote.

Okay, motion passes with Councilmember Becerra, Hernandez, Lopez, Mendoza, Fan, Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa, and Mayor Sarmiento voting yes.

Great, thank you. Let me go ahead and just do inverse order because 11 is probably going to be very short, so let me call on Councilmember Fan on number 11.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Hi, thank you, Mayor. So this is the California Urban Forest Council, excuse me, the Urban Forest Management Plan. And I'd like to ask Nabil to come up. He is aware. I will be asking. I wanted to pull this to speak with my colleagues about specifically the tree list that we have listed in the Urban Forest Management Plan. And first, I am really proud that we are at Tree City USA. I've helped planted some trees, actually with my colleague, Councilman Brissera at Thornton Park. But this tree list is disconcerting if you go through it.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

So I would like for staff to look at editing it and removing some of the trees and potentially listing other ones. So the first, I kind of looked at it with three ideas. One, is it drought tolerant? As we all know, we're going through a water crisis. There's a big drought. It's been around for 10 years. And we really need to focus on plants that are drought tolerant.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Secondly, is it something that, is it an evergreen or is it native? Is it something that's going to last year round, right? We care very much about keeping things green rather than trees that are going to die or require a lot of maintenance. And thirdly, I'm very worried about trees that are merely ornamental or trees that cause a lot of waste, trash, and actually a lot of destruction to both public and private property. So a few of the trees that I would like to see us remove from this list and I would like staff to look through it more carefully is one, jacarandas.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

They are so beautiful for about two months out of the year when they have those pretty purple flowers, but afterwards they drop, they create waste, they ruin cars and property, and I've had residents ask to remove perfectly healthy jacarandas because they are somewhat of a nuisance every year. They're also not drought tolerant. They're also not evergreen. They require maintenance every couple years. So it's really something that we can replace with potentially better trees.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

I think you mentioned that the crepe myrtle is a similar tree with beautiful flowers that don't create the same type of destructive waste. The next is something like the Modesto ash. I understand that it's a California native, but being deciduous, meaning it drops its leaves every year. so it kind of looks dead and sad. I don't think that necessarily improves the look in our city and it's not drought tolerant. And then finally Queen Palm. I know everyone loves a palm tree. We're in Southern California but palm trees in my

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

mind are somewhat merely ornamental. They don't create shade. They're actually dangerous when the Santa Ana winds come around and they're not drought tolerant. So you know they're not really providing all of the necessities that we need here in the city especially when you're going through certain parts of the city that are lacking trees any trees on the sidewalk so I'd like for us to kind of go through this and prune the list I guess no pun intended and maybe even add others that might be better suited for drought tolerant you know for a city like Santa Ana I'd also like for us to focus on I know one of the concerns

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

about keeping Jacaranda on there is maybe a street already has Jacaranda and And so when it dies or needs to be removed, we want to replace it with the same tree. Unfortunately transitions are hard. And if we can put in a crepe myrtle, eventually all of those jacarandas will be replaced. And if we're going to make that transition into a green city, into having, you know, more beautiful environment, we're just going to have to make those hard decisions. So it's a receiving file. I just wanted to make those comments and see if my colleagues had any thoughts on that. Thanks.

Thank you, council member. any additional thoughts? I concur, just maybe we look at that a little bit closer. I know that we, I did receive some calls and you know, we always see some of the residuals, you know, on cars and the damage and you know, just something to look at. Good evening Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, member of the

council. Yes, this document is a working document and we are very much open to adding and taking out species that we don't see that they fit or would like to change it change those into something else so like I said it's a working document we can make those changes and just to give you a perspective we have 4,781 Queen palms mainly on Broadway that we maintain right now and we also have 4,188 jacaranda trees that are in the city so we maintain those and out of the 300 that we planted

jacaranda trees last year only five were planted so we're phasing out the jacarandas and we're going with grape myrtles and others that are more drought tolerant and shade providing and And at one point, we're selecting more evergreen type trees than others.

Perfect. Thank you. And just the last thing, I remember a few years ago, there was, and this is way, way before your time and any of our time here, I think. So along Sandpoint, there's these pathways that go through, and there were some pine trees that were planted really near, not only the pathways, but near property walls. and near homes, I mean, less than five feet away. So they didn't have the netting around the roots, and the roots went horizontal rather than vertical, and they started damaging, raising and buckling not only the pathways but the property walls. So I know we got sued on that, I think, a couple of times.

So something for us to look at when it comes to any trees, just seeing how we can net the roots so they grow down rather than out. Right. Great. Thank you.

Next item is, and that was just a receiving file, right, Council Member, I believe. So moving along to item number seven, that was pulled by Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member Becerra.

David PenalozaItem 5

Thank you. Take your choice. Thank you, Mayor Salmiento. I just wanted to pull this item to address some of the things that have happened since. I know that at the last Council meeting, City Council meeting, October 5th, I did exit the room. when this item came up. And I didn't exit the room because there was an alleged Brown Act violation or because I thought that there was an alleged Brown Act violation or because we received a letter from some of the apartment people that there was an alleged Brown Act violation. I exited the room because the Santa Ana City attorney, Sonia Carvalho,

David PenalozaItem 5

on four separate occasions, one, two, three, and four separate occasions, told me that there was a Brown Act violation. And so I exited the room. And I wanted to ask the city attorney in public that those four separate times that you told me that there was a Brown Act violation committed, did you, were you misinformed with me? Did you lie to me? Did you, I just wasn't sure why

David PenalozaItem 5

you told me that. The last, the fourth time that you told me that was in the back room after I exited and she went back there to speak to us and when I told her what had transpired in the conversation with the mayor on September 16th she said yeah that that would be a Browneck violation and I said in front of my colleagues Councilmember Becerra and Mendoza there they were witnesses I said okay city attorney can you go out there and say that and she said now now mayor pro tem I work for the seven of you I can't do that and I'm like but you know there's a reason why I exit the room it's because you've told me four times that this was

David PenalozaItem 5

a brown act violation then in my conversation with the mayor on October 5th over the conversation that we had on the phone he said well she told me that it wasn't a brown act violation so I'm asking you madam city attorney did you I mean why would you tell me that it was when it went tell the mayor another

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

thing. Mayor and Councilmembers I would like to address this issue. First of all I'd like to say that I do provide you Brown Act advice. I provide you conflict of interest advice and public records advice and all of you know that when I provide you that advice I am very conservative. Yes Mayor Pro Tem you did ask me a hypothetical question based on your recollection of a conversation and yes on four separate occasions I told you that if your recollection of that conversation was accurate true and provable there would be there would have been a serial meeting resulting in the violation of Brown Act I will admit on

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

the record that that is what I told you but it was a conversation with the mayor who told me his recollection of the conversation based on his recollection of the conversation there was not a serial meeting in violation of the Brown Act I had a third conversation with another member of the City Council who put in writing and told me that they would be willing to sign an affidavit saying that she had a conversation with the mayor and that conversation was not substantive. So yes I did tell you that based on your recollection of the facts there would have been a violation. The mayor does not agree with your

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

recollection of the facts. You cannot expect a city attorney to choose sides between two people who have a different recollection of the facts. If you want to pursue legally whether that's someone who's going to challenge you or not that can come out at the end of the day as to who might have been telling the truth or whose recollection is more accurate but yes I told you that based on your version of the story there could be a problem I told the mayor that's where

your pro temp let her finish because you okay because the question wasn't hypothetical pro temp you've got a letter finish okay you can't finally let me go

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

back to this in an abundance of caution. In an abundance of caution I advise the City Council, you weren't here in the room when I did, that based on this difference of recollection that it was my opinion that the City Council should cure and should have a new first reading of the ordinance and they did that.

David PenalozaItem 5

Okay so thank you for that and it wasn't a hypothetical question I mean it was verbatim what the conversation with the mayor happened. When I came back into this room on October 5th, I pulled the mayor aside here and we discussed the conversation that we had on the phone. And he agreed, and correct me if I'm wrong, Mayor Sarmiento, of what we discussed. And I could list the three things, the three parts to the conversation which I've told to you in an email multiple times. There was the heads up that the urgency rent control ordinance was coming before us. That was number one.

David PenalozaItem 5

Number two, I asked why is this coming as an urgency in my conversation with the mayor. He said it was always the ad hoc's hope that Governor Newsom would extend the eviction moratorium past the September 30th deadline. And now in conversations with someone who's close to the governor, it looks like that's not going to happen. The third part was I'm okay if a majority of the City Council or the majority of a City Council doesn't agree with an urgency. You told me and Mayor correct me if that wasn't the conversation we had.

David PenalozaItem 5

You told me that number two was substantiative and it was a violation of the Brown Act. When I discussed it with the mayor here and he agreed that that's what we conversed He said that you told him that that wasn't a violation of the Brown Act So you're not consistent and it's and you know You even told me in front of my colleagues in the back room that that was a Brown Act violation

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

Mayor pro tem. I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm not gonna provide legal advice in public I'm not going to get between any of you as council members in your recollections. That's not what we're asking you That's not what I'm asking. You have stated your opinion and your recollection at least five times.

David PenalozaItem 5

That's not my opinion.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

I have not heard, well, that is your opinion.

David PenalozaItem 5

No, that is what you as a city attorney told me on four separate...

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

What you are failing to realize is that the facts are what you're explaining them to be. Your colleagues are not agreeing with your recollection. At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to.

David PenalozaItem 5

Mayor, was that conversation that we had, was that correct?

or is that look I think that we're now deviating from what we're what we're supposed to be talking about which is the merits but to the extent that you have a version that you believe violated or somehow brought into a question the conversation violating the Brown Act I don't believe we did and I don't believe that I don't believe that any of the conversations that we had did that but to the extent that there is a dispute between the exchanges that you had with the city attorney. Look, I told her my recollection, you told her your recollection. I don't think that those two

can reconcile. But look, this isn't a question and answer. If there's, you know, you have a version, I have a different recollection, you have an opinion of whether or not that was a was was something that violated the Brown Act. I disagree, we disagree on our versions, right? To the extent that my only contact and communication was with the intent of advising you that this matter was going to be brought before us on the agenda. Look, I did it as a courtesy. I didn't get into the substance. I spoke with Council Member Mendoza the day after, I believe that was October 6th, when she called me and she

said she wanted to discuss this. I told her, look, I'm part of the ad hoc. I can't talk to you about this matter, but I can tell you it's going to be agendized and and we will be hearing about it on Tuesday at the council meeting. That was it. I mean, and so, look, I don't want to take over your time because you have a chance to speak, and we have some others, but look, I do have some responses, but go ahead.

David PenalozaItem 5

I do appreciate that, Mayor Salmenta. I didn't exit the room, and I'm not bringing this up now because this is what I believe is or not a Brown Act violation. I simply am stating that the reason why I exited the room is because the city attorney, on four separate occasions told me not because of a hypothetical question but because of what transpired from the conversation that that was a Brown Act violation. Did she change her tune? That's fine. Moving on to the rest of it I just wanted to you know thank the residents and everyone that came out to speak you know on behalf of this item you know it's something that it's not

David PenalozaItem 5

lost on me that it's needed and it's important and it's and and our community is hurting I mean the last year has been extremely tough that is not lost on me at all you know there's a reason why I supported two weeks ago the $300,000 allocation to the eviction moratorium I mean the eviction defense fund because it is needed that is a serious it's a problem that's never gonna go away rent It's always going to be high, regardless whether we pass this or not, and it's a serious concern and problem to our community. That is not lost on me at all.

David PenalozaItem 5

However, I need to make sure as a member of this legislative body that the decisions we make on this dais are sustainable, not just over the next month, not just over the next six months, but over the next 10, 15 years. I'm only here for a short time. I'm not here forever. And I don't want to leave and leave this city in financial ruin. There's a reason why this city has always, we've always, as residents, have had the bare minimum of everything. Bare minimum in park quality, bare minimum in staffing at City Hall, bare minimum in just services across the board.

David PenalozaItem 5

Because we always seem to just kick the can down the road, and this city has always done that. I cannot make a decision that is going to have long effects and I don't know what they are. No one here on the staff level could tell me what this is going to look like a year or two from now. You know, when last year, when the city of Burbank put this forward as a ballot measure, and it was measure RC, management partners did a study to see what the impacts on the city of Burbank

David PenalozaItem 5

were going to be and in that study they they they came back with the information that you know cities that like Santa Monica where this is already in play have 25 city staff members that are part of this rent control that govern this or oversee the rent control in Santa Monica cities like West Hollywood with 12 city employees. Richmond, 13 city employees. Berkeley, 22 and a half city employees. And the median is 25 city employees. That comes at a cost. That's not free. That is going to cost anywhere

David PenalozaItem 5

from five to seven million dollars like it was proposed to cost in the city of Burbank. I mean, somebody needs to think about these things in the long run. And when I see, you know, in 2018, the city council was on the brink of financial ruin. So what do they do? They put a measure on the ballot to increase your sales tax. We pay the highest sales tax in the county in the city. Our community is getting completely squeezed with nickel and dime across the board.

David PenalozaItem 5

in December of 2019 Public Works came to the City Council and said you know what we have to raise residents water rates and sewage rates I knew that that would hurt our community because our community cannot afford that and I was the one person that voted against these water and sewage rates January 1st 2020 water rates went up 7% and sewer went up 3%. July 2020 they went up another 7% and sewer rates went up

David PenalozaItem 5

5. July 2021 they went up 6.5% and your sewage weights ran up 9%. July 2022 they're going to go up another 2% and the sewage rates are going to go up another 9%. July 2023 another 2% and sewage rates another nine percent and finally July 1st 2024 you will see another increase to your water rates for two percent and nine percent to your sewer rates these things hurt our community monthly I get tagged on Facebook day in and day out why is my water bill so damn expensive why are we paying so much and

David PenalozaItem 5

it's decisions being made by this body that just keep kicking the can down the road. Then we ask, well why can't our residents afford to live here? Well if we stopped screwing them over every chance we got, they wouldn't, they would be able to afford to live here. So you know I look at things like this, I look at things that I don't know what this is gonna cost the city. I cannot just sit here and say yeah let's let's do this because because it's neat. I know it's it's our community is hurting but when I'm looking at seven to ten million dollars five to seven million dollars in cost and I know that six years from now

David PenalozaItem 5

measure X is gonna sunset we're hoping it's hunts it's but guess what I'm gonna just warn you right now it's not some city council six years from now I was gonna say you know what we realize that we we can't afford to get rid of measure X so we're probably gonna increase it again I mean or cut thirty million dollars in service where is that where were they gonna cut that services so I'm I'm trying to just think of this, at the end of the day, we are in the business to provide services to our residents. What is that gonna look like? I don't know. I wish somebody could tell me, hey, this is right now, tomorrow,

David PenalozaItem 5

this is how much this is gonna cost the city, and this is where it's gonna come from. When we're looking at a structural deficit, when we're looking at measure X sunsetting, these ARPA dollars, I keep hearing everyone up here thinking that they're gonna be forever. but they're not. They're one time. So I just have to make the decision of what's gonna be sustainable. I'm not looking for a cool headline for next year to be like, yeah, you know, and that's it. You know, a lot of the people are just looking for that headline and they're just gonna troll off into the

David PenalozaItem 5

sunset. And who's gonna get screwed over? Not the 50% renters, but 100% of the San Ana residents are going to get screwed over at the end of the day because of these budget cuts and the cost that just keeps going up and up. So that's all I have to say. Thank you, Mayor Samuel.

Thank you. Council Member Becerra, then Fan, then Hernandez, and then Mendoza.

Phil BacerraItem 5

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm not going to restate all the reasons why I'm opposed to this proposed policy, but I do want to address some things that were brought up by some speakers. Frankly, I'm disappointed with some of the comments that were made that believe that if one of us doesn't support this ordinance, that means we don't care about our residents. That's absolutely ridiculous. My opposition to this policy isn't because, or I'm sorry, excuse me, it's because I believe that this policy does not solve the issue that was stated as the reason for bringing this proposal forward, and it only attempts to help some of our residents.

Phil BacerraItem 5

I care about all of our residents, and I'm here to make sure that policies that are adopted, or at least that I support, help as many, if not all, of our residents. That being said, the state reason that we were given for this ordinance was that there was an expiration of the statewide moratorium on evictions. This item does not address, or does not provide a moratorium on evictions. Many have asked for it, but that's not what this does. It's like having somebody complain about a pain in their arm, and then the way to resolve it is to put a tourniquet on their leg. So what we have before us does not address what was stated.

Phil BacerraItem 5

It is completely far from it. And what's disappointing is that numerous residents came before this council with the false belief that this proposed policy was going to stop evictions. This policy, again, is not going to. So shame on those who've led folks to believe that that was going to happen. They provided them with false promises and false hopes. Also, this policy will only hurt those that are not covered by the proposed policy because it will only increase rents for those who are living in units that are billed after 1995.

Phil BacerraItem 5

It's ironic that many of the folks that are proponents of this policy are also opposed to gentrification. If you want to see gentrification be expedited, this is the policy that's going to do it. Look, I don't want to see rents in Santa Ana compared to San Francisco and Santa Monica. It's not good for our residents. I mean, it's not good to see rents increase that dramatically. But that's what this policy is going to do. Again, I care about all of our residents, and that's why I can't support this policy.

Great. Councilmember Fan, then Hernandez, Mendoza, and Lopez.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you to my colleagues for speaking and providing, I think, very substantive comments regarding why they oppose these two ordinances. As you all know, as many of our speakers have stated, I did not support rent control. I did not support rent control because I was worried what it would do to the supply in the city. I did not support rent control because I was worried what would happen to future residents and young people looking for apartments. I did not support rent control because it wasn't clear what would happen with Ellis Act evictions

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

and conversions of apartments to condos. But I was clear as to why I also changed my mind and do now support rent control. I support rent control because it's the one tool we have to protect current residents, longtime residents who have nowhere else to go but to the Inland Empire and to Riverside. I support rent control because I know what it's like to not have the 20 or 50 or 150 bucks next month to make the rent increase. I support rent control because it along with other policies that we're trying to pass here in the city of Santa Ana and

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

have already passed will be one way to support tenants and help them predict what next month and next year will look like. And I support rent control because residents came to me, my residents, seniors, immigrants, refugees, those who speak English, those who don't speak English said we need your help, this is what we need and this is why. So I am doing my job. I look through the studies.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

So first, you know, we had a lot of, you know, landlord advocates, apartments folks, email literature to me, and I read them. I read them. In fact, one email was actually really great because they listed 10 different sources with links. Love that. Except all but two of those sources cited the exact same study eight different times. It was a Stanford study by Diamond, McQuaid, and Cheon, which I stated before I have read. And while in that study they stated that rent control in San Francisco, which is old,

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

spurred gentrification because of some LSAT conversions, what landlords are leaving out is that that very study said that it saved current renters, long-time residents, over $2 billion over time. Landlords have also said, you know, why aren't you studying this? Why aren't you reading studies? Why aren't you educating yourself? And I did. So last time I mentioned USC Dornsife, Pastor Carter and Abood supports rent control. USC Price Chair of the Department of Public Policy, Gary Painter, one of my professors, supports rent control and he's an economist. And also the Haas Institute out of UC Berkeley also supports rent control.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

and every single article every single report that says rent control is good or bad always tells you rent control is not the cure-all and we know that the cure-all is building supply and I believe that so I would want to update the general plan but unfortunately the county needs a hundred and eighty 3,000 new housing units. Santa Ana is required to build only 3,000 of those. I don't know how we're gonna build 180,000 other units for the rest of the county because last I checked there are only a couple cities that are even bothering to

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

build multi-family units at all. So go ahead and go to Buena Park and Seal Beach and San Clemente and some of these other cities that refuse to build anything go to Costa Mesa and ask them to build the ballot box. So we want to do that but Santa Ana can't solve the problem for the entire county and what makes it worse is that the vacancy rate in Santa Ana is as of third quarter 2020 1.32 percent and for the county that's 1.25 percent and to compound on that supply problem, Orange County and every county nearby is growing as of the 2020 census.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

So what we're seeing is a limited resource, land, other cities refusing to build housing, an increase in population. What do we get? An even worse supply demand issue. How do residents fight that? I can keep building units here in Santa Ana and it's not going to make up for the lack of housing here in the county. And you know I spoke to some folks with the Apartments Association and they had mentioned you know the statewide rent control and just cause eviction and David Chu, Assembly District 17, who really championed the statewide eviction protections and rent stabilization. The

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

median income in Assembly District 17 is $100,000. Their home value is a median of a million dollars and they have a lower poverty rate than the city of Santa Ana. What works for the rest of the state or what works for the Bay Area does not mean it works here in the city of Santa Ana. I also want to address some of the comments from the landlords. You know one landlord which I really appreciate talked about fixing his roof costing you know $20,000, $50,000 that's why we have a process for fair return petition and that's why we asked that city as part of the resolution that the mayor Potem supported look into

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

creating capital improvement pass-through so you can make those changes and help have residents help you with it and I know some folks are talking about well let's subsidize right why don't we subsidize renters and instead of putting it on the landlords section 8 housing voucher which my family benefited from when I was a kid has a waiting list of 2,352 families. I had a person an individual just the other week asked me for support for an application he submitted in 2015 and is now finally getting Section 8 housing vouchers.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

That's an incredible number. You tell me how I'm gonna tell those 2,300 families here in Santa Ana that they're going to have to wait another six or seven or eight years.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

And then some folks also said, well, help people buy homes. Well, guess what? Santa Ana has a down payment housing or down payment assistance program. But it's hard. The moderate income for one individual is about $83,000. So when you're looking at a one bedroom here in the city of Santa Ana one-bedroom condo costing $440,000, that's very difficult to purchase. On top, that's about $22,40 a month if you pay 30% of their person's income. That's not including student loans, that's not including car payment. There's a lot there that is really difficult for folks to qualify for

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

down payment assistance. And you know one of the things I really do want to address is Mayor Pro Tem's concern with funding. The funding that costs Burbank Santa Monica this five six seven million dollars is because they have a rent board. The current policies for just cause eviction that we're trying to pass as well as rent stabilization does not create a rent board. What a rent board would do is actually review all the attempted evictions in the city, ensure whether all the notices were proper, and actually has a hearing on those eviction processes prior to the court. That's why they are staff heavy.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

That's why they cost money. But rent boards are cost neutral because all those cities, including the city of Santa Monica, has a rent registry. Meaning, for every rental unit on the market in the city of Santa Monica, the landlord pays $198 a year, which turns out to be about $16.50 a month, to place that rental unit on the registry. That's where they can post notices. That's how the city and residents know what that rental unit costs. And the US Supreme Court recently found that a rent registry is not unconstitutional.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

So in fact, a rent board would be cost neutral if staff with the $300,000 as part of the eviction defense fund develop such a rent board and develop such a rent registry. They go hand in hand and they would be cost neutral. The exact kind of program that those of us up here are trying to be fiscally responsible would like to see because it would help every single renter here in this city, no matter what your income. And finally, I'll conclude by saying that none of the residents, not one resident believed that just cause eviction would prohibit all eviction.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Not one resident believed that rent stabilization would prohibit all rent from increasing. That is completely wrong and an incorrect summary of what residents said. We just want a little bit of help. We just want to say if I'm a victim of domestic violence, I shouldn't be evicted from my home because my boyfriend beat me. He should be evicted, not me. I'm saying if you are a senior, you can afford 3%, but you can't afford 6%. That's what our residents said. This is why I support

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

rent control, and I really hope that our colleagues up here consider those factors in deciding

their vote tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Fan. Councilmember

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

Adnandez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to thank my colleagues for the critical dialogue that we're having. One of the things that I take pride in is being able to respectfully disagree with my colleagues. One of my colleagues mentioned financial ruin. The issues that we're facing in this city go beyond financial ruin. What leads us down the path of financial ruin is that we live in a city where a police department can come from outside of our community, kill you and dip. We live in a community where we're spending hundreds of thousands of

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

dollars and resources to have legal counsel handle personnel issues. We're spending millions of dollars on lawsuits related to police misconduct and police shootings. That's what financial ruin looks like. One of my colleagues mentioned kicking the can. Not having rent control is how we've kicked the can historically.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

And something else, rent control is not going to nickel and dime this community. The only thing that we have in this city that we can quantify and say, okay, this is what nickel and dime looks like is the little amount of resources we put into parks and recreation and our community and investing in children and families. Nickel and diming looks like that. It's not overinflated police budgets because that's why children are falling through the cracks. That's why residents are coming here, you know, on three separate occasions demanding rent control. I have to remind everyone up

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

here in Ward 5 we have representation that is intersectional and it is at the grassroots roots level, I have to remind myself that although I'm not in that position today, I once was a 17-year-old father that used to get paid on the fifth of the month and it was very normal for me to have an eviction notice on my door for two days before I can pay rent. That's a scary feeling. So if we want to talk about screwing people over, it's not passing rent control. That's what that looks like.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

Research shows that families living in high poverty areas are more likely to be associated with crime-related activity, either as a victim, as a witness, or as the person accused or arrested. And although there are different neighborhood variables, such as unemployment, peer influences, the exposure of being either a person who commits a crime or a victim is very high in our community, what is more alarming is that when people are stably housed, they have fewer recorded nonviolent

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

offenses. For instance, people commit fewer survival crimes, offenses like theft, robbery, trespassing, loitering. And these are all chief reasons why people with low-level offenses are incarcerated is because they're struggling to get by. So rent control is housing intervention. It's one of the most effective ways to have an intersectional policy that allows us to address housing insecurity, public safety, mental health, and education. And if you're struggling to see the intersectionalities, I'll break it down. The housing intervention of why we need

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

rent control is going to allow us to have comprehensive data-driven public safety. When people are not having to work two jobs to feed their family and pay rent, and they're not having to work from 6 a.m. to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, pick up their kid from school, drop them off with their grandma, and then work from 5 o'clock p.m. till 12 at midnight, and then they're walking home from their car, you know, to their apartment complex, and they get robbed on their away, so now they got to carry a gun to get to their house. That's how you create crime in

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

communities like ours. And I know it may seem foreign to some, but this is a reality. And in Ward 5, it's something that we see very often. The mental health component of this, when families are able to spend more quality time with their children because they're not having to work two to three jobs to make ends meet, you have better mental health. You have families that can prioritize resting, building memories with their children, and having dinner at the table.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

And lastly, rent control is important because it is about prioritizing education. Education in Santa Ana today, without rent control, is about getting to the point of self-actualization and leaving where you come from. That's the purpose of education in urban communities. It means your mama's not good enough. Yeah, we might have lived here, but but we can't afford to stay here, so we gotta get out. Rent control means that the quality of education increases so significantly that children can come back to the very communities that they were raised in. And when roses that grow from concrete come back to the concrete,

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

only then can we create rose gardens.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

Thank you. And with that being said, Mr. Mayor, I wanna make a motion to go ahead and move rent control with an amendment to have a rent freeze that is reflective of the current amount all the way up to the date of rent control being in effect.

Thank you, Councilmember. So there's a motion on the floor with an amendment. I

think we have some additional speakers. Yes, we do. I haven't spoken and Councilmember Lopez.

I think it's Mendoza, then Lopez and I guess I would I do want to comment Sure, quick question Councilmember Mendoza we have a question by Councilmember Fan.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Madam City Attorney, I think you know exactly what I was going to ask which is that because that amendment is substantive under our charter it would result in a new first reading correct?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

Yeah and I think not only a first reading um perhaps even having to re-notice because the rent freeze is is not even similar to the substance of what we've been discussing at the last several meetings. If that's something that you would like we could prepare that for the next meeting, we could prepare it in an urgency form, but but to propose that tonight is just so different I understand, absolutely understand the reasons, but I think it does not provide the community proper notice that you might have been considering this item. Thank you. So I

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

I just wanted that clarification.

Got it. Just another question on that before we go to Mendoza and then Lopez. So under the city manager's authority that we've vested her with under these emergency conditions, does she have that authority to do that unilaterally?

Because she's done other emergency orders based upon the crisis that we've been in under the pandemic. And I think we looked at this before. We were looking at doing a rent freeze, and we may have even attempted in the past. But we didn't do it then. But I think at this point, it could be warranted because between the time in the event that this is adopted and it's attested to and it becomes effective, there's a 30-day gap. So it's just a question. Does the city manager have that within her vested right?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

Because you have you have the declaration of the emergency still exists. We would have to determine whether those findings could be made. I know that we did look at this issue. We have done legal research and I do know that the City of LA's rent freeze was upheld by a Court of Appeal. So we we will look at the Council so desires. We can look into that research it and advise the City Manager.

Right, but I guess my question is does the Council have to move that direct the City Manager to do that or Or can she do it under her own unilateral authority?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

Well, the executive orders can be carried out by the city manager based on the authority you've given. But we would need to make sure that those findings are solid and that she can make those findings and act on her own.

All right. Can we do that research maybe then and have that done and then maybe get back to the council on something like that? Look, that's just a question.

My understanding, Mayor, under the emergency declaration is that we absolutely can do that and an executive order does not require coming back to Council, but we can provide you the information. I would caution it's probably going to be subject to challenge, but that is something you gave me the authority to do.

Right. Well, listen, I'll get back to it during my comments, but let me go ahead and make sure that Councilmember Mendoza and Lopez have an opportunity to speak. Go ahead.

Thank you Mayor Sarmiento. I am not in favor of landlords. I am not in favor of tenants. But I am in favor of protecting all of Santa Ana residents. I agree with all of you who spoke in favor of rent control. I also want a dignified housing for all of you. I want a safe, quiet and comfortable living environment for you. Rent control is not the answer to the rental crisis that you spoke of tonight. Rent control will cause a shortage of affordable housing, forcing many of you to move. Rent control is an expensive tool for the city of Santa Ana.

A rent control board will need to be created, which means a loss of revenue that could have gone to other much-needed services for you. Rent control prohibits landlords from doing regular maintenance on your housing. There was much misinformation disseminated to you tenants. I don't blame you for believing that rent control will prevent your rents from being increased or that you will not get evicted. I would like to thank all of you who spent endless hours with us in deliberating this crucial issue.

I would also like to thank the mayor and my colleagues in having this intelligent and meaningful discussion on such an important issue. You elected all of us to represent you equitably and you can be sure that we are passionate about that and hence the reason that we have such strong differences of opinion among us here on the dais.

It doesn't mean though that we are heartless. We are also looking out for the best interests for you. I ask that you put yourself in my place and consider how you would vote if you wanted to protect your constituents properly. Many of the public has threatened me that you will not vote for me in my next election. I sincerely and from the bottom of my heart say to you, who will not vote for me, that I would rather lose your vote than to see you lose your housing.

Great. Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Lopez, can you hear us?

Jessie LopezItem 5

I can. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can. Go ahead. Oh, great.

Jessie LopezItem 5

City Manager, is Director Downs in the chamber?

I'm sorry, Council Member. I believe she has exited.

Jessie LopezItem 5

Okay. Well, I do have some questions, and would you like me to direct those to you? Certainly. Okay. So, you know, I often hear this talking point about financial ruin, and I wanted to hear from our financial expert. I didn't want any assumptions. I wanted her to tell us directly. And maybe you can tell us now. Is the city of Santa Ana in financial ruin?

Council Member, I would not phrase that term to apply to the city of Santa Ana. We do have a structural deficit. And when I came into this position, it was around $18 million. It has steadily gone down. And we do have a fiscal plan in place. so I would not categorize it as financial ruin. Okay, thank you.

Jessie LopezItem 5

And in your professional opinion, you know, is the city of Santa Ana on the verge of bankruptcy?

No.

Jessie LopezItem 5

Okay, thank you. And do you know if the finance team, you know, along with your office is working on a plan to address the sunset of Measure X?

Yes, as I've publicly stated before, one of the goals of mine would be to get the finances in shape so that we would be able to let the 0.5% tax increase sunset at the given time. Okay, thank you.

Jessie LopezItem 5

Those were all the questions that I had, City Manager. You know, we've heard this term, screwing Santa Ana residents over. And I want to make sure that when we're talking about that, nobody here glosses over the fact that members of this council have voted in the past for a $25 million raise that was unfunded. So when we are talking about screwing people over, you directly have done that to us in the past. You have directly stolen from us in our future. And further, I would say that it puts the city in a financial predicament. And I know the rent control doesn't stop rent hikes.

Jessie LopezItem 5

I know that evictions are not going to stop, but we are trying to have a process in place that is going to be fair for everyone. And, you know, Captain Member Fann, I do want to thank you for explaining that financial plan again for everyone. You know, I think it's important that when we're talking about kicking the can down the road, we're seeing it here tonight, exactly what that is. You acknowledge that there is an issue. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS NEEDED IN THE CITY OF SANTA ANA AND YOU STILL REFUSE TO PRIORITIZE YOUR CONSTITUENTS, THE PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPRESENTING. THAT'S KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD.

Jessie LopezItem 5

THAT'S THE CONTINUATION OF SCREWING SANTA ANA RESIDENTS OVER. WHEN YOU ARE A POLICYMAKER IN THE CITY, CAN ACKNOWLEDGE AN ISSUE AND REFUSE TO BE OPEN-MINDED, I THINK THAT IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL AND EXTREMELY SAD. And, you know, we've, this new council has been in office for 11 months. And I know that it's cool to blame us for the sky being green. But while you're trying to make it seem like all of the problems in the world are our fault, we need to take a good look at the voting records. And we need to ask ourselves, why do we continue to have the same issues?

Jessie LopezItem 5

You know, somebody said that this has been studied in 2018. And again, nothing came from that. And here you have a council that is trying to do something differently. And we're continuously being punished for that. Even sexist rhetoric was spewed tonight. And I think it's fair to say that we know where the same issues are occurring in the city. And Mayor Sarmiento, I know that there's a motion on the floor, I'd like to make a sub motion to pass item seven as is. Second.

Great, thank you. Any additional comments, Council Member Lopez or was that it? No that concludes my comments thank you. Great thanks so I think everybody had a chance to speak let me go ahead and just wind it up because I think we've you know all spoken about this a few times you know several times let me begin by just thanking everybody who spoke over the past three meetings both in person and remotely. I also want to thank staff for their

support and for their patience because I know our last meeting went to 4.30 in the morning. That was probably a record meeting here, but we also wanted to make sure that we engaged the public as much as possible. And I think that's something that we've all been proud of as we see other agencies that limit public comment. We have painfully for all of you and all of us, I think, you know, try to make sure we accommodate as much comment, both in support and in opposition. You know, I finally want to, you know, thank my colleagues who sit with me because this is not a simple issue. It's a very complex issue.

So, you know, as I think I started, you know, three meetings ago, I said, we're not going to agree on this. We're not supposed to agree on everything. And I think it makes public policy better when we debate something. We, you know, we disagree. We're not in lockstep with one another. But I think what's been unfortunate about this whole thing is that, you know, there's been sort of a distortion of what, you know, what's intended and what the facts are. And that's been the, you know, the disappointing part of this all. I don't think there are any evil parties. This isn't meant to punish landlords or property owners.

That really isn't the intent the way I see it. because when I look at the, you know, when we're being called socialists, when we're being called people who are narrow-minded or short-sighted, look, I look at the fact that California already has rent control, but it has rent control that doesn't preempt cities from doing more. And what that means is it invites cities to pass their own local legislation that is tailored to our community needs. Santa Ana is not like Beverly Hills, is not like Palo Alto. So our AMI here, our average median income, is probably some of the lowest in the state, not just the county.

So to the extent that our residents are just much more rent burdened than most is a reality. That's not a fallacy. That's not something that we're making up. I think somebody mentioned Irvine earlier. Well, we're not Irvine. I mean, we don't have that benefit of having that average median income that they do. I guess what I see is when I'm looking at this, I look at, you know, things like the census. We had the census back in 2010. It showed that we had 337,000 residents here in Santa Ana. The census data in 2020 showed that we're at 311 here in Santa Ana.

That means that we had a net loss of close to 16,000, 17,000 people. Even with an undercount, that shows that people left the city. And at the same time, the city of San Bernardino became the seventh largest city in the state. Or excuse me, in the county. No, the state. So it shows that people are moving to the Inland Empire, not by choice, but because they are priced out of this market. And I see that there are people that have to leave that, literally, this has been their community that they've been grazed in, that they've grown up in, that they have family in.

and if you look at studies, look, immigrant communities tend to live in communities with one another because they're interdependent with one another. And people have talked about studies, and I think, you know, Council Member Phan talked with real precision about studies and about, you know, what the cost effect is here, and she's correct. It's a cost recovery system that's cost neutral to most cities. But look, I don't like to share my pedigree often, but, you know, those Berkeley studies, Well, I majored in economics at Berkeley. So I was taught by some of those Nobel laureates that did draft these reports and showed that

rent control works in communities. It doesn't work in every community. That's why you see some communities that have rent boards. You see some communities that have it just as a legal resource, right, that they can go ahead and enforce and use. So look, I think that, you know, what's unfortunate is people say that there are, you know, that being supported in the future. Well I've seen you know for those that are in opposition to this, well for those of us that are in favor of this, I've also seen those same communications say we're gonna recall you based upon this. Now how

does that make sense? We disagree on public policy. There isn't any corruption going on here, there isn't anything you know there isn't any malfeasance going on here. There is just simply a disagreement and I can tell you because I've been on this council for 12 years and I've seen people come to this Council for my entire time on this on this dais where people said we're having trouble paying our rent and I'll give you one clear example of why there's an overcrowding problem here we have this parking problem in the city right is it that people have more cars than they then then most other communities no the

reason why is because rent is so high that for a single unit that's intended for one family, you have two and three families living in that unit and two and three times the number of vehicles. So all you have to do is look at your streets, see how overcrowded they are, and realize, yeah, this wasn't set up for this, right? And if you want to turn, you know, sort of turn a blind eye to it, ignore the facts, use scare tactics like the sky is going to fall, this community is going to be destroyed, come on, let's stick to the facts and let's not be hyperbolic about it. Let's be intelligent about it. Let's study this.

Let's see the reality, but let's not use fear. That doesn't make sense. Because look, one thing I will tell you is the same people that come back here, meeting after meeting, saying that they have it really difficult. We've done nothing when we've addressed this whole issue of rent stabilization in the past and just cause eviction we've done nothing now let me ask you has the status quo worked as that made people's lives better you know do we see people living great do we see all these you know great things being done and saying yeah you know this is the ideal system to be in well I'll tell you what people

that have to pay 50, 60, 70 percent of their salaries on rent, they don't have disposable income to buy goods and services in our city. And I guarantee you that commerce will improve. So look, we can go round and round on this, you know, but I think, you know, reasonable minds will differ. And I think at this point, what we've done and what, you know, to oppose this would be to do the same thing that we've done over and over again. And I think it's, you know time that we listen to our residents and not listen to those that aren't our residents so that's what we're vested to do as

as representatives and so let me just address this whole like this whole question of you know this brown act violation and and something that started off this conversation look i i see this as it's an issue that was raised. I think that, you know, I don't see it. I don't see that, you know, there was anything even remotely close to a violation. But look, I think that we took, you know, exceedingly cautious steps at the last meeting and for transparency purposes,

is we decided to reintroduce the first reading just to make sure that even if there was any cloud, even if there was any perception that there might have been some issue related to that, we were extremely, I think, overly abundantly cautious, and so we made sure that we reintroduced reading. What that did is it put people in peril because it gave more time for landlords and property owners to spike rents. So we did that at the expense of putting people in peril. Right? But nonetheless, we did it because we wanted to make sure that this was even more transparent. We were extremely cautious.

But, you know, we've heard over 150 people speak. I think over 10 hours of public comments that we've heard. So, and you know, I guess what this did as an ancillary or peripheral benefit was that we had three hearings. Full-throated hearings. So people that said, hey, we didn't have an opportunity to speak, you had, you know, over 10 hours of public comment. But one thing I would just direct you to or direct you with, Madam City Attorney, is that if there's any challenge, you know, a Brown Act challenge,

and I believe, you know, it would be baseless at this point because we reintroduced the first reading and that would cleanse it of any violation. But if there is, I would say that you meet that challenge by filing anti-slap motion and asking for fees and costs on whatever firm and whatever party files that against us. So please be aggressive on that. So look, at this point, I just had two substantive questions because I think that was a good one about the rent freeze. And, you know, my other question is that I know there's exemptions to this, and I believe

I had two questions on the exemptions which apply to acquisition rehab. So we have some office buildings that were converted to residentials, and my understanding is that those would be exempt as well, because it's like an introduction of new units, so So that would fall under the 1482 exemption as new construction, new rehab, or excuse me, new units. The other one was on units that were substantially rehabbed, right? So we're talking about units where, you know, they've been gutted maybe to the stud wall and, you know, it's not just putting paint on the wall or, you know, or putting carpet

on the floor, but really, you know, substantial rehab. those are in essence new units as most case law you know has said so would you know is that something that would be a material change or is that more of an of a of a non material change that could be introduced and reflected in this in

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

this in this ordinance so just make sure I understand this with respect to the to the latter when you talk about the substantial rehabilitation you would just want to add a clarification or additional description of what that is because we do have some guidance from state law, we do have some guidance from our own building codes with respect to what substantial, but are you asking to

add some clarification to that? I am because I think that some people may want to define substantial rehab as just very simple superficial work done to a unit and qualify as you know a substantial rehab which would be exempt as new construction. I think maybe we add saying hey if you spend you have to spend at least $40,000 a door or a unit and that would be considered substantial rehab because then in essence it does qualify for something that is almost a new unit, right?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

I believe that a clarification or a further description of what you believe is already in the ordinance would be consistent with what you have in your city charter.

Got it. Okay, so that's something I would suggest we do just to be extra careful and more specific on that. Finally, on the idea of the rent freeze, because it would be for a 30-day period, because assuming this ordinance is adopted tonight, it wouldn't be effective until 30 days from attestation. So we're talking about a very limited window of time. So if it is subject to challenge, the issue may be over before it expires. So I would just say, you know, I'm not sure which way we do this, whether we wait for

the city manager and your analysis on this, and you all get back to the council, but I mean, I'm just trying to figure out a way how we can, you know, get a response.

I believe the city attorney has done some preliminary work on it, so I will meet with her and we will address the findings that are necessary for the executive order and then I can notify you all by email as to whether we've found those findings and then it could it's something that could be issued rather

quickly. Great thank you. All right listen I think everybody is. Mr. Mayor. I just

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

like to make sure that it's clarified that we had a motion in a second on the table so we would need an amendment to that motion to reflect the clarification on substantial rehabilitation and we would include that in the final version.

I forgot who the maker of the motion was.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

I believe that was made by Ms. Lopez with a second by Ms. Fan.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

It was, and I'm fine with that.

Is the maker of the motion good with the... Jessie and then...

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

She was, and second is also okay with it. Just a quick point of order, though. It says substitute motion. However, it should be a motion as Council Member Hernandez's motion failed to have a second. Thank you.

Thank you for that procedure. Correct. Perfect.

Phil BacerraItem 5

So, Mayor, just real simple. and quick just because this idea of a rent freeze was brought up after I made my comments. This is just another example of us using the ends justifying the means. So because there's a majority that wants to push a certain direction, we're hearing this dialogue. Yes, it's an open forum, an open session, but it's to circumvent the democratic process, the transparent democratic process. We have a mechanism within our charter that if it is of vital importance to bring this back as an urgency, the mayor, and correct me if I'm wrong, Madam City Attorney, the mayor can call a meeting, we can have it noticed,

Phil BacerraItem 5

have the opportunity for the public to weigh in, rather than have our city manager issue an executive order to which the community has not been noticed on, and there'd be no opportunity to have this dialogue that members of this council were so praising of that we were having tonight, but because on this one we're going to try to shove it through, that we're going to go ahead and cut corners. This is why people don't trust our city governments, because we keep playing these games, and it's not right. If this council, or at least if the majority of this council, wants to go forward with the rent freeze,

Phil BacerraItem 5

then do it the old-fashioned way. Schedule a meeting, notice it, have the discussion in public, and vote on it there. Don't force it on our city manager.

Any other questions?

And simply, I think nobody was going to even say that we have to act on it tonight. the question was can you do the research and get back to us if it's even possible for the city manager to do that under her authority. So in any event We have a motion and a second on the floor Madam Clerk, I think we've all had a chance had an opportunity to speak if you'll allow us to vote

David PenalozaItem 5

Go ahead Thank You Mayor Salminto. So Madam City Manager if this ordinance is approved tonight What does that look like at your staff level?

So staff has already done an RFP and received a proposal. I'm not sure if you've executed the agreement yet. I haven't executed the agreement for a consulting firm that would staff to perform the roles that are outlined in the ordinance.

David PenalozaItem 5

Okay. So and do we know how, so that would be what they would do, right? what they would study the what this would cost and well they would be

assisting with the role that the city has to perform in the ordinance okay and I'm

David PenalozaItem 5

assuming that part of that is being funded by the one-time dollars that were

given to us by the feds refer to our assistant city manager is to the

funding source funding sources of three hundred thousand dollars that was

David PenalozaItem 5

approved at the first rate. Right, which is revived dollars from the American Recovery Act. So just bring me back to, I mean, just to reiterate, there is still a structural deficit and right now we're looking pretty because of these one-time

dollars that the feds have given the city, correct? We do have additional dollars as a result of the one-time monies but we do track the general fund separately and you are correct there still is a deficit we are monitoring it on a 10-year horizon and making the adjustments to align the revenues with the expenditures so when we wean off the just the measure x

David PenalozaItem 5

um i mean what that's going to look like i mean you've told me you don't plan on being here 10 years from now and so I just want to make sure that as we look at the horizon 10 years from now, you know, because we're still in a structural deficit and it's only getting wider and I'll take into consideration these one-time dollars and the sunset of Measure X, I mean that that is part of making sure that all of this is taken into consideration.

You're correct. Our analysis and projections to the future taking away the Measure X does create a wider structural deficit. But currently our structural deficit is getting smaller and very close to closing the gap for the immediate future.

David PenalozaItem 5

Because of Measure X and one-time dollars, correct?

Not because of one-time dollars. This is the general fund that I'm speaking of. So it is your general tax revenues and your general fund expenditures.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. Seeing no other questions or comments. Council Member Phan, go ahead.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Sorry, just for clarification regarding the 300,000, because I think some folks had even had questions. That consultant that we are looking to engage to help provide some support in developing a potential rent board and rent registry does not, the entirety of their work for the next year is not going to be only that.

The work will be implementing the two ordinances and the instructions that were provided in the resolution. The study will be...

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Right, so it would be reviewing fair return petitions. It will be providing a hotline or some type of informational support to tenants as well as landlords. lords it will be providing a report and studying how we can create a rent registry and a rent board here in the city so multiple factors time limited

to one year correct or however we may go a little longer than a year yeah but

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

about however long it takes you okay so we on board got it and so when we're looking at potentially just the fair return petition it's and reviewing those in the city it's not necessarily going to cost three hundred thousand dollars a year so that portion of it went on right so i i do want to also state that you know that those funds go to numerous items in including supporting tenants who might be at you know unlawful detainer court and helping provide them access to um you know advocates or information or help to negotiate

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

with the landlord so that they are not immediately evicted or create some type of settlement. So it goes to a number of items to help bridge this gap until we can look at whether a rent board or rent registry is necessary. And that is all. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. And Madam Clerk, I'm going to ask you that we not vote by device. I'm going to ask you to take a voice call because this is a historic vote. And I want us to be on record. And I want it to be clear. and I want the public for transparency for us to be on record as to our vote. And look, I do think that it is historic. I personally think it's the right thing to do. I will be supporting it, but I also want the record to reflect clearly where we all stand.

Okay. So a motion by Councilmember Lopez and seconded by Councilmember Fan. Councilmember Becerra?

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

Nope.

Councilmember Hernandez?

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

Absolutely, yes.

Councilmember Lopez? Yes. Councilmember Mendoza? No. Councilmember Fan? Yes.

David PenalozaItem 5

Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa? Structural deficit, no.

Mayor Sarmiento? Yes. I don't know what that meant, but yes. Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you for staying up with us. Not as late as 4.30 in the morning, but look, it's still 11, so it's still Tuesday.

Thank you.

So let's move along to the business calendar and something not as, well, almost as exciting. Item number 20, which is the, I think this was continued from the last meeting, regarding some improvements to restrooms at Campesino Memorial in Madison Park.

Yes, honorable mayor and council. Remember, this item is a number of approvals to do a construction contract to do the prefab restrooms in a number of our parks. It was continued because there was concerns expressed over the design presenting in Alcove. Staff has worked hard and got an amendment to the design. We certainly can put up a picture of the new design, and then we are looking for your approval of this item tonight.

Great. So do we have an image?

We're going to have Daniel place one up.

Either that or if you can describe it in detail. Oh, there he is. There we go.

SO THE ISSUE BEFORE WAS WHERE THE SINK WAS, THERE WAS A LARGE ALCOVE AREA THAT SOMEONE COULD STAND IN, LIE DOWN IN, AND SO THE PICTURE DOES REMOVE THE ALCOVE AND MAKE IT COME OUT MORE. SO IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ON THE DESIGN, I'M PROBABLY NOT THE BEST PERSON TO ANSWER THEM, BUT WE DO HAVE NAVIL SABA, OUR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS.

GREAT. LET ME GO AHEAD AND BRING IT BACK. COUNCIL MEMBER OF SARA.

Phil BacerraItem 5

Thank you, Mayor Sarmiento. Yeah, I was definitely one that wanted to see the redesign of this, and I want to thank staff for their work because I think they came through with exactly what I was looking for. So, Nabil, Lisa, thank you guys for all your work on that. And with that, I'd go ahead and make the motion to approve this.

Great, thank you. There's a motion. Is there a second?

Phil BacerraItem 5

Second. Second.

Second by Mendoza. Seeing no other questions or comments, council members, please vote.

Councilmember Hernandez, if you would please.

Motion carries with 6-1 with Councilmember Hernandez absent, Councilmember Becerra, Lopez Mendoza fan mayor pretend being a lesson and mayor Sarmiento voting yes

great thank you moving along to item number 21 and this is a resolution

to to adopt to consider a resolution declaring and denouncing COVID-19 misinformation and declaring this a detrimental effect on public health so I want to thank staff for preparing a staff report on this and bringing it to council. So in essence, I know I had spoken with Council Member Mendoza. What we're seeing is we're obviously not a public health agency and most of these orders and denouncements come from county boards of supervisors and this is simply to draft a letter to our county board to let them know that a lot of the information,

A lot of the reason why we have so many people that are not being vaccinated and are not getting vaccinated have to do with information that's not accurate. And unfortunately, we see the percentages here in Santa Ana of people not being vaxxed, the result of information that's coming to them that isn't accurate. And so we have information from the Surgeon General that says health-related misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined public health efforts and has led to increased numbers.

Those are clear statements that show that unfortunately we have a community that listens to information and some of it is inaccurate. And to the extent we can give some guidance and let our county board know that if people decide not to get vaccinated, it should be based on facts and it shouldn't be based on fallacy. So this is simply a way to urge and to request that the county board distinguish misinformation from fact. And so to the extent that we can, you know, compel them and other county boards, I know that this has been adopted by the county of San Diego.

Unfortunately, we have a large Spanish-speaking community, and I know there is a lot of misinformation that occurs, unfortunately, through the press. and I've tried to reach out to some of them personally, but a lot of it is just very, very difficult for people to distinguish between fact and fiction. To the extent people are able to make informed decisions based upon factual information, this is something that I think is helpful, knowing that we still have many, many people that are not vaccinated, and we certainly want them to be able to make those decisions based upon accuracy. So, Council Member Mendoza,

I'll go ahead and turn it over to you to go ahead and follow up.

Yes, thank you, Mayor Sarmiento. Well, the reason that this is such an important issue is that

Santa Ana is one of the cities that is in the low percentages of getting vaccinated. And that's unfortunate because the only way that we're going to reduce and eventually eliminate this pandemic is for everyone to be vaccinated. Just similarly to polio or some of the other diseases that have been an issue in our history, the only way to eliminate that is to vaccinate the public. And it is understandable that the public has hesitated because there's much misinformation

and the benefits of being vaccinated are not fully explained. There are some countries who are already up to 85% vaccinated and they're not requiring masks in public and they're almost back to normal. So with this proclamation, we would like to see the same thing here in Santa Ana, that we increase our percentages in vaccinations, especially in our young children. We have seen that more of the younger children are getting the COVID, and so they're back in school.

There's a lot of large groups of people here at the campuses, and the only way that we're going to be protecting our youth is to ensure that the parents are comfortable with the vaccination information so that they can take their children to get vaccinated. So that is one of the reasons that I wholly support this proclamation. You know, my three kids are in the healthcare industry, and they were one of the first to get vaccinated when the vaccine was ready.

And even with that little bit of knowledge that we had back then, they knew that the only way to continue to do their job in saving lives was to ensure that they vaccinated themselves so that they can at least have that extra protection against the COVID-19 infection because they were out there in the front lines being exposed and treat people who did have the COVID. And so I'm telling you, and the public and everyone listening in, being vaccinated is a good thing.

There's many benefits, and all the misinformation that you've heard is not true. So with this proclamation we're going to give you some true facts and please if you have any questions, you contact any health care agency, contact our city and to get your questions answered. There is much benefit to you and to your families and to those around you to get vaccinated. We want to continue to provide free vaccinations, free testings,

and eventually the booster will be available to you so that we can get back into a somewhat of a normal environment and continue to grow our economy and make Santa Ana one of the better cities, one of the cities who will take the lead in vaccination. I would like to see a 100% vaccination rate within the next few months.

Thank you, Council Member. Well said. That sounded like a motion.

Absolutely, yes.

I'll second it just to keep the conversation going. Mayor Pro Tem.

David PenalozaItem 5

Thank you, Mayor. And just first off, thank you, Mayor Sarmiento and Councilwoman Mendoza for this resolution before us. I am very supportive of it. I think it's something that really needs to be addressed in our community. And just general ideas that I have that maybe staff could help in is I know that something like example with the 2020 census.

David PenalozaItem 5

I was the chair of the Complete Count Committee here in Santa Ana, and that was a collaborative effort between churches and medical offices and school representatives and neighborhood leaders to really get that information out there about the census and how important it was for everybody to fill out.

David PenalozaItem 5

I think we should look at something similar to have some kind of committee amongst all volunteers, obviously, members of the community and trusted members of the community that could help relay positive information and factual information out to our community. I know that I personally have a lot of tias and tios, aunts and uncles, that are still completely against getting vaccinated. And they believe everything that they see on Facebook and social media. and I've also heard of instances where there's these little neighborhood

David PenalozaItem 5

churches throughout the city that are putting out not factual information about vaccines and whatnot so there is there is just a strong belief and it's disappointing to hear from members of my own family that they said well you know I'm not comfortable doing it and I think we should try to change the narrative. We should, I know that the the city manager's office has put out sponsored content on social media before. We should be putting out positive, factual, COVID related information to dispel any rumor that's out there that might not be

David PenalozaItem 5

factual and we could also work with these neighborhood churches, neighborhood leaders and nonprofits to, and I know we have, but on a larger scale to get our community out there to get vaccinated and whatnot. But just thank you both. This is a good thing. We need to do better across the board and this is a nice thing to bring forward. Thank you. Great. Thank you for those comments and

yeah I think thank you for the both those personal stories. You know I didn't want this to go on too much longer but you all know I lost my 37 year old nephew just about a month ago. And so these issues are very personal at this point, whether it's family members that are being misled or misinformed and putting themselves in real harm or whether it's people that we love that are in the healthcare industry and my son is as well. But I want to thank Daniel for helping us draft this resolution. But this This is very personal when it comes to a young man who had no business losing his life.

He left his 16-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. To the extent we can do something as nominal as putting information that's correct out there for people to make their own informed decisions, that is a very small price to pay to keep our community safe. So with that, we have a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, can you put the device up and council members please vote.

Council Member Lopez and Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa.

Hi, I got my vote.

Jessie LopezItem 5

It's green on my end.

Yes.

Okay.

Councilmembers Becerra, Hernandez, Lopez, Mendoza, Fenn, Mayor Potempeñalosa, Mayor Sarmiento voting yes. 7-0.

Great. Thank you. Motion passes unanimously. We've already taken care of item number 22. So that brings us to the city manager comments.

Thank you, Mayor. A few announcements. We have a lot of activities happening in the upcoming days. Tomorrow our public works agency is hosting a community meeting where you can learn about the update on the design details for the Standard Avenue Bikeway project. It is tomorrow between 6 to 8 at the Roosevelt Walker Community Center. And the Santa Ana Police Department is sponsoring a spooktacular trunk or treat community event. It is on Thursday, October 21st. The PD will be taking over the parking lot of the Chick-fil-A located at 3601 South Bristol. From 4 to 6 there will be vehicles on display and lots of candies and treats.

In addition to that, we have the Boo at the Zoo, which will be running the 23rd, 24th, 29th and 30th. From 530 to 730, this is a fun-filled family event. participants can wear costumes take photos children will receive a treat on the way out because of COVID protocol you do have to purchase your tickets in advance on the website and they are limiting the number of tickets you can go to www.santaannazoo.org backslash booth to find out information on that and then this Saturday I'm hoping that we will see you all out there along with I'm challenging my department heads to be out there.

We do have the revived Santa Ana 5K run. I'll be participating myself. I probably will not be running, though. Maybe a fast walk. That's all, sir.

Thank you, Madam City Manager. Maybe we'll convince you to take a trot. I don't know. All right, let me bring it back to the council. Council Member Becerra.

Phil BacerraItem 5

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, got some exciting football coming up this weekend. My alma mater, Santiago High School, which has a very significant amount of San Ana residents. As students, they're going to have their homecoming game this Friday evening, so I want to wish good luck to my Cavaliers. Also, San Ana's very own modern day high school, which is the number one football team in the nation, is playing their rivalry game on Saturday here at the Bowl of downtown against Servite. So hopefully the monarchs will beat the friars from Anaheim. And I want to also make sure that everybody knows that tomorrow over at Thornton Park,

Phil BacerraItem 5

the Pacific Symphony is bringing their Symphony on the Go program to the park for a performance. So I hope to see everybody out there for that. That should be fun. We had one of those performances at Santa Ana College, and now we're bringing it down to the south side of town. So hopefully we'll see you there at Thornton Park. and just want to wish our golden city a happy birthday. On October 27th, 150 some odd years ago, William Spurgeon bought 74 acres of land from Jacob Ross and founded the town that we are now in today. So just want to say happy birthday to our city.

Phil BacerraItem 5

And with that, I'm glad we're concluding our meeting the same night that we began it. Thank you.

Thank you. That's a good thing. Council Member Hernandez.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm going to keep my comments very short today. This was a historic meeting, and since September 28th, I've struggled with comfort. As I've walked into the chambers, as many of you know, my cousin was murdered by Anaheim PD off of Bristol and St. Anna Boulevard. and I see the eyeballs I see how people look at me when I don't pledge to this flag I'm an American and what this flag represents is it also represents the people that fought against injustice

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

it represents the people like Dr. King Malcolm X Rosa Parks that fought and resisted a government that at one point didn't see them as human and if the world saw value in people like George Floyd they would see value in people like Brandon Lopez. So until there is justice, there will be no peace. And to conclude my comments, arrest the cops who killed Brandon Lopez.

Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Lopez?

Jessie LopezItem 5

No comments, thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Councilmember Mendoza?

Yes, I would like to just continue to ask for support for the workers who came today for a safe environment and if necessary we know I don't know what the city can do but we need to protect everyone especially with and ensure that our businesses are doing the right thing and it's a ethical environment for our workers ethical and safe and secondly I'd like to ensure that you support us in our pickleball efforts.

We are trying to get the funding for the lighting over at Machandler Tennis Courts right across from Santa Ana High School. And we'd like to also set up a program to offer free pickleball to our youth. and actually it is a very popular sport among the adults as well. And so I'd like to invite you every Saturday from 9 to about noon. There's always pickup games at the Chandler Tennis Courts on the corner of Flower and First Street.

And there's always paddles there, balls. All you need to do is bring your water and come and have a lot of fun because after these meetings of a lot of emotion, a lot of stress, we need to unwind. And this is one way to really get you out there and get some fresh air and sunshine and keep your emotional health in check. So we'll bring it hopefully in the future once we can get agendized and find some funds from someplace to get this new program out there.

In addition to, of course, continuing the free tennis program for our youth. So pickleball all the way.

Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Fan?

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Thank you, Mayor. So first of all, I'd like to announce that Viet Film Fest is ongoing and it's been ongoing. We actually had a screening this past weekend at the Frida Cinema, but please check out Viet Film Fest. Just Google it. They have free online movies, shorts, as well as drive-in shows throughout the county. And it's all films, productions created by folks of Vietnamese descent from all over the world. is the largest of its kind and it is run by Vala who we provided a proclamation to earlier this

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year. I'd also like to just make sure I announced I attended a retreat with the Metropolitan Water District. It was paid for by the Met and not the city but I just wanted to state that and at that meeting we talked a lot about what water the future of water would look like especially at the Met, the Metropolitan Water District is the largest water importer I believe in the country. It provides imported water to the city of Santa Ana and part of the increases that occurred prior to my time on the board also causes increases here in the city and to our residents.

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So for me and for the city we're fighting for sustainability and a future that does not rely on water from the Colorado River or the Bay Delta. So that's my commitment and those are all my

comments for tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member. Mayor Pro Tem. No comments, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Have a good night, everybody. Great. Thank you for that. I just simply wanted to say good night to staff. Thank you for all your hard work. Everybody be safe this Halloween. Thank you. Good night. We're adjourned till November 2nd, 2021.

Thank you.