1) The Santa Ana City Council declared a local emergency for the COVID-19 crisis on Tuesday, March 17, and City Manager Kristine Ridge is taking actions to protect the public. City Hall and all other City buildings are closed to the public until further notice, including libraries, community centers and the Santa Ana Zoo. All skate parks operated by the City of Santa Ana are temporarily closed to the public beginning on Wednesday, March 25. Parks remain open but the public is urged to avoid congregating in groups and maintain social distancing.
Some City employees who provide non-essential services have been sent home, but essential City services continue to operate, including Police and Fire emergency services, graffiti removal, tree trimming, street repairs, trash collection, street sweeping and utility billing, among others. City staff are currently still working at City Hall and can be reached by phone and email for essential services.
3) The City of Santa Ana has enacted a moratorium on all residential and commercial foreclosures and evictions for non-payment of rent for anyone who is unable to pay due to financial impacts related to COVID-19. The Santa Ana City Council unanimously authorized in the proclamation of local emergency. City Manager Kristine Ridge signed the executive order on Thursday, March 19, and it immediately went into effect.
4) Street sweeping parking citations have been suspended in Santa Ana under the proclamation of local emergency. ONLY street sweeping tickets are not being issued. All other City parking fees, rules and citations remain in place, including residential permit parking.
The street sweeping ticket suspension is retroactive to Sunday, March 15, so no street sweeping tickets received from that date need to be paid. The suspension will remain in place through March 31.
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5) All OCTA Bus routes temporarily shifted to the Sunday service schedule seven days a week, on Monday, March 23, a reduction in service necessary to help protect the health of OCTA employees while providing reliability to riders who are still depending upon the OC Bus service.
6) The Santa Ana WORK Center connects our community's job seekers to the resources, skills and opportunities they need to find better jobs and careers. We provide all Santa Ana residents who are job seekers a single, convenient and no-cost access to a wide variety of employment services and resources, such as:
- Find new jobs or change careers
- Upgrade skills
- Get the training they need
- Qualify for benefits, including unemployment Insurance for those who recently lost their job or had their work hours reduced
- Get career guidance
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If you have a work permit and recently lost your job or had your work hours cut, you may apply online for Unemployment Insurance with the California Employment Development Department (EDD).
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Undocumented members of our community whose job or work hours were recently impacted may be eligible for Disability Insurance or Paid Family Leave. You may apply online with the California Employment Development Department (EDD).
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.
7) 2-1-1 Orange County runs a comprehensive information and referral system for Orange County. 211OC provides a resource database of health and human services and support, accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online and through a multi-lingual hotline, connecting people quickly and effectively to existing programs and disaster response information (e.g. food pantries, soup kitchens, health care services, and financial assistance programs). Just dial 2-1-1.
2-1-1 connects people of all income levels and language and cultural backgrounds to resources tailored to their needs and circumstances, taking into account accessibility, eligibility requirements and other factors through live assistance from highly-trained and certified Information & Referral Specialists or through a searchable online resource database.
8) All Consumers, regardless of their immigration status, are protected against price gouging. Following a declared state of emergency, if individuals or businesses are increasing prices for essential goods by more than 10%, please report any suspected price gouging and/or any COVID-19-related scam to the Orange County District Attorney's (OCDA) Coronavirus Scam Hotline at (714) 834-3482 or by email
reportascam@da.ocgov.com
. You may also report a business complaint directly to the California Attorney General's Office.
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9) Virtual Community Budget Meeting this Thursday! The community is invited to participate in the upcoming virtual Community Budget Meeting/Com-Link General Meeting
on Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 7 p.m.
Due to the Governor's Executive Order N-29-20 prohibiting large gatherings, we can no longer offer an in-person meeting location for the community to attend public meetings. We are offering three remote ways to participate:
2. Listen and comment over the phone at
(669) 900-9128
, meeting ID is: 368 639 001
This meeting is being held in accordance with the Sunshine Ordinance, which implements additional measures aimed at making city government more transparent.
Topics to be covered include:
* Overview of the Fiscal Year 20-21 Citywide and General Fund Budget
* Measure X Revenue & Service Enhancements
* Fiscal Outlook
There will also be opportunity for the community to ask questions and comment on the City's operating budget and any finance-related questions. You may also find information on the City's budget at
www.santa-ana.org/finance/budget
.
If you are not available to watch this meeting on YouTube Live, you will be able to view the recorded meeting following the conclusion of the live meeting on YouTube, as well as on the Com-Link page of the City's website at:
www.santa-ana.org/neighborhood-initiatives/com-link
.
For more information, please visit
