HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - 75A
December 1, 2020
www.kennedycommission.org
17701 Cowan Ave., Suite 200
Irvine, CA 92614
Mayor Pulido and City Council
949 250 0909
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza
Santa Ana, CA 92701
RE: 75A and 75B: Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report and Second
Amendment to the COVID-19 Response Funding Plan
Dear City Councilmembers:
The Kennedy Commission (the Commission) is a broad based coalition of residents and
community organizations that advocates for the production of homes affordable for families
earning less than $27,000 annually in Orange County. Formed in 2001, the Commission has
been successful in partnering and working with Orange County jurisdictions to create effective
housing and land-use policies that has led to the new construction of homes affordable to lower
income working families.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated needs that were already existing in our communities
and it is important that recovery efforts include both immediate and direct assistance to residents
alongside a vision for the economic recovery post Coronavirus pandemic. As you make
amendments to your 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan to access emergency funding intended to
assist in making a timely response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic we ask that you
direct staff to ensure that assistance programs will be implemented without barriers and that they
Housing:
Affordable Housing and Homelessness prevention must be a community priority to prevent
increase in homelessness as statewide housing protections are lifted. Our recommendation would
be that these investments are made in a way that addresses immediate housing needs and creates
opportunities that can be leveraged in the near future to create new permanent affordable housing
opportunities.
Rental Assistance Program
We support the proposed amendment allocating $1,103,328 for Emergency Rental Relief for
Tenants and encourage the City to increase wherever possible. There is a need to increase the
amount of funds available for Emergency Rental Relief for Santa Ana residents and it is
important that it is accessible to residents with the greatest need. This includes residents that are
undocumented and have very-low and extremely- low incomes.
Affordable Housing:
The Commission urges you to consider and prioritize developing programs and policies
that facilitate the production of affordable housing development. While the city has seen
increased production of affordable housing it has not been enough to address the past deficits and
Working for systemic change resulting in the production of homes affordable to -income households
ercent of Santa
1
Ana renters are moderate, low and very low-income renters. Yet the most significant increase of
is 90 units for the current RHNA planning period. To date, the City has approved 2,409 above
moderate income units.
2
Housing and Community Development. With above moderate average rents of $2000 -
$4000 in these developments, none of these above market rent units are affordable to most
3
. Since 80% of renters in Santa Ana fall into the moderate,
low and very low income category and 84 percent of residents hold low-income occupations that
pay less than $53,500 per year, the majority of these new rental housing units are not available to
4
address the housing needs of most working families in Santa Ana.
5
predominantly families comprising 81% of households.
Thank you for your consideration of these ponse to COVID-
19. We urge you to include the recommendations listed above. Your actions can address urgent,
growing concerns about current affordable housing productionwhile promoting ongoing
development of the affordable homes our residents desperately will need, during and after this
crisis.
The Commission looks forward to partnering with the City to increase housing opportunities for
lower income residents in the City. Please keep us informed of any updates and meetings
regarding strategies to increase affordable homes for lower income households in the City. If you
have any questions, please free to contact me at (949) 250-0909 or
cesarc@kennedycommission.org.
Sincerely,
Cesar Covarrubias
Executive Director
1
City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014-2021, p. 14, January 2014.
2
City of Santa Ana Housing Element Progress Report 2019, April 2020
3
Rent survey of recent market rate developments - The Marke, Essex Skyline and Broadstone Arden
4
City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014-2021, p. 12 and 14, January 2014.
5
City of Santa Ana General Plan Housing Element 2014 2021, p. 11, January 2014.
2
Working for systemic change resulting in the production of homes affordable to -income households