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Orozco, Norma <br />From: <br />Sent: <br />To: <br />Subject: <br />Hello City Council Members, <br />Greg Camphire <gcamphire@gmail.com> <br />Monday, September 20, 2021 3:43 PM <br />eComment <br />Item 33: Rent Control in Santa Ana <br />I urge you to vote in favor of Agenda Item #33. You must help enact rent stabilization and just cause eviction <br />protections in Santa Ana. I also urge you to take the necessary steps to create a rent board to help enforce these <br />protections after they become law. This ordinance was drafted by, and for residents of Santa Ana with the goal <br />of protecting the most vulnerable working-class tenants in our communities. <br />Federal and state COVID-19 related eviction moratoriums and additional protections have either ended or will <br />expire by the end of September 2021. Likewise, the federal unemployment benefit programs under the CARES <br />Act ended on September 4th, 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over; the city of Santa Ana has been <br />the hardest hit in all of Orange County, with almost 900 COVID-19 confirmed deaths and over 48,000 <br />confirmed COVID-19 cases to date. Yet, renters are being unjustly evicted and facing predatory rent increases, <br />all while accumulating rent debt which they are still liable for. Figures show 89% of rental assistance funds <br />have not been distributed at the federal level. In Santa Ana, minimum wage workers earning $14 an hour would <br />have to work 104 hours a week to afford a modest 1-bedroom apartment. Renters with rent debt and renters who <br />have exhausted their savings to avoid rent debt cannot continue to face excessive and unpredictable rent <br />increases otherwise they will be permanently displaced from our city. Now more than ever, Santa Ana needs <br />REAL renter protections to safeguard our communities. <br />Thank you, <br />Greg Camphire <br />Ward 2 <br />92701 <br />