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Orozco, Norma From:Maribel Toan <maribel.toan@newsong.net> Sent:Tuesday, March 02, 2021 6:07 PM To:Hernandez, Johnathan; Sarmiento, Vicente; eComment Subject:Public comment hazard pay I pray you are well, grateful for your service. My name is Maribel Toan Local and Global Pastor at NEWSONG Church Santa Ana I am glad to see that Santa Ana is considering a Hazard Pay ordinance for our amazing grocery workers. I wholeheartedly SUPPORT the passage of Agenda Item 15 and urge the council to pass it immediately. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our grocery workers have been on the frontlines, risking the health and lives of them and their families, to keep us fed and nourished in these unprecedented times. We need to care for these workers in the best way we can. We know that when hired most grocery workers were not expecting a job that would one day endanger their lives. This is a critical difference between them and their fellow heroes in police and fire departments across the country. And yet we’ve seen our grocery workers step up to this mighty task, despite the inadequate compensation provided by their corporate employers. Our community has pronounced them “heroes,” but without truly acknowledging their incredible sacrifices. We owe it to them to pass this ordinance to get them the hazard pay they so truly deserve. Over the last year, we’ve seen large grocery chains earning billions of dollars in profits, benefitting from the increase in meals eaten at home. It has been exasperating to see large corporate grocery chains fail to honor their workers with the hazard pay they deserve, meanwhile spending billions of dollars in profits on self-serving stock buyback schemes. As a follower of Christ, the Bible makes it clear that a laborer is worthy of their reward and to give honor to whom honor is due. However, it is not enough to honor these heroes with just our lips; but we must take the appropriate steps to honor them with our actions. Our Grocery & Pharmacy workers are indeed essential to our community's survival; let's compensate them accordingly. Santa Ana should be at the forefront of resolutions like this that help our community, and that serve as an example for other cities to follow. We ask that you stand with us and do the right thing by insisting that grocers do their part and honor our heroes with the hazard pay they deserve. Thank you for your time and consideration as you selflessly serve the people of Santa Ana. Maribel Toan NEWSONG Church Santa Ana 1