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Community <br />r��i�iUCI <br />December 7, 2021 <br />Santa Ana City Council <br />c/o Daisy Gomez <br />Clerk of the Council <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92702 <br />ecomment(a,santa-ana. org <br />Re: Public Comment to Agenda Item #37 for December 7, 2021 Santa Ana City Council Meeting <br />Dear Mayor Sarmiento and Council Members <br />I am writing to express concerns that the community outreach process for the Santa Ana General Plan <br />Update has not sufficiently engaged with the perspectives and needs of impacted residents in Santa Ana <br />Furthermore, the policies the city is proposing to adopt into the General Plan do not adequately address <br />the decades -long soil -lead crisis and its toll on the health of our most vulnerable communities. <br />UCI Community Resilience Projects, a unit within the UCI Office of Sustainability, has supported iPlo- <br />NO! Santa Ana! (Lead -Free Santa Ana% a community -academic partnership formed in 2017, to <br />investigate and remediate soil lead in Santa Ana and to advocate for the health equity needs of Santa <br />Ana's disadvantaged communities. <br />Through soil sample testing, we found that over 50% of residential samples had levels of lead that <br />exceeded California EPA recommendations. What's more, we found that the neighborhoods most <br />impacted by soil -lead contamination were also: <br />• Predominantly people of color <br />• Lower median household income <br />• Lower % of college educated residents <br />• Higher proportions of renters <br />• Higher fraction of residents without health insurance <br />• Higher proportion of residents with immigrant status background <br />• Limited English proficiency <br />• Predominantly Latinx/Hispanic residents <br />These frontline communities in Santa Ana face a disproportionate impact of lead in their everyday lives, <br />and yet they have been left out of the decision -making process that decides how to address the issue. This <br />is why it is critical that moving forward we ensure that stakeholders that can give voice to their <br />community are included in the city's planning efforts. <br />The City Council has shown a willingness to engage in this process before. Last fall, the City Council <br />paused the adoption of the General Plan Update and invited community stakeholders, including iPlo-NO! <br />Santa Ana!, to a series of roundtable discussions to inform the development of a community survey for <br />outreach and engagement. Additionally, the City Planning Department invited iPlo-NO! Santa Ana! to a <br />series of meetings to present research and inform policies to address the soil -lead crisis. <br />Ma61Hing ddirass: c/o UCI II...aw, 401. l::::ast II::�aIkasoirn II)irve, 3uto 1.000, Ili 6irwa, CA 92 97...1.000 <br />I::�h s6call ddirass: Suirnirneir 3ass6oirn I13' (13uH6ir:g 230), 3uto 1.1.0, umU ll, Ilia ine CA 92697 <br />(949)824 2489 coirrwirrwu ini tyiras61l6eirnce.u.:c6.edu.: <br />