HomeMy WebLinkAboutFaraz Rizvi - SB-Public Comment-CARESACT_RedactedCENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
"Bringing People Together to Improve Our Social and Natural Environment"
Dear Councihnembers of the City of San Bernardino,
I am Faraz Rim, Communications Coordinator for the Center for Community Action and
Environmental Justice, and organization which promotes the economic, environmental and social
justice concerns of marginalized communities in the Inland Empire.
We are taking action in regards to San Bemardino's Amended 2020-2021 Annual Plan and the
allocation of Federal COVID-19 Funding our City has received from the CARES ACT and
Emergency Solutions Grant to address the pandemic in our city.
The 2021 Annual Plan has budgets allocated to various services and descriptions for what they
are to be spent on. However, the lack of detail in regards to structure, framework, and specific
processes does not speak to the level of accountability we expect of our city and its leaders. In
addition the Judicial Council's delay on processing eviction cases will cease September 1st,
meaning that our community members who are waiting for critical eviction prevention funds to
be approved will be displaced before their application could be processed.
• We ask that you modify the language in our eviction moratorium to protect our
families from becoming homeless while our eviction prevention programs are funded and
put into place.
• We ask that you ensure that the process for Rent Relief and Eviction Prevention is
fair, equitable, and efficient for immigrant families in our community who have
been excluded from prior relief funding when in desperate need of support.
• We ask that you work with our community to implement a working oversight
committee to maintain that the budget proposed in the city's Annual Plan is managed
accordingly and reported to the public. This would help ensure that our community's
needs are being properly aided, and give our city the statistical data to effectively adapt
to our recovery moving forward.
• We ask that the funding for the eviction prevention program be administered through
our direct service providers as opposed to San Bernardino Corraws Housing Authority.
This pandemic has hit our community hard and the proposed eviction prevention program is a
step in the right direction. It is our hope that you will go further to protect our families in need as
we leam to navigate this pandemic in an effective and equitable manner.
I am a voter and along with my friends and family we are paying close attention to the way in
which these funds will be allocated to help those in need.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to your community,