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General (06) Susana Barrios From:Ivon Peña <ipena@occord.org> Sent:Tuesday, September 29, 2026 2:01 PM To:Public Comment Cc:Angeles Ochoa; Gustavo Castillo Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Public Comment: General Comments Attachments:OCCORD Letterhead (1).pdf You don't often get email from ipena@occord.org. Learn why this is important Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message. Dear City Clerk, Please accept the following public comment on behalf of Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) regarding General Comments. We respectfully request that this comment be distributed to the Mayor and City Council and included in the public record for today’s City Council meeting. Best, Ivon -- Ivon Peña ipena@occord.org https://www.occord.org/ 1505 E 17th St. Suite 122, Santa Ana, CA 92705 Executive Director 1 1505 E 17th St #122, Santa Ana, CA 92705 September 29, 2026 Anaheim City Council City Hall Council Chambers 200 S. Anaheim Blvd. Anaheim, CA 92805 RE: General Comments Good evening Mayor and Councilmembers. My name is Ivon Peña, and I am the Executive Director of Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD). OCCORD has organized alongside working-class, immigrant, and Latino families in Anaheim for the past 20+ years. I am here tonight on behalf of our organization and the communities we work with because we are deeply disturbed by the allegations that have come forward involving the Mayor. I want to be very clear: OCCORD believes in accountability, transparency, and due process. That is why we are calling for a transparent, independent, and credible process that establishes the facts and gives our community answers. However, calling for accountability at this moment does not mean abandoning due process. These are serious allegations, and regardless of what the process ultimately finds, the reported rhetoric is deeply painful. It has already caused harm and reopened wounds in a community that hears such rhetoric far too often.These allegations are especially painful in this moment, when immigrant and Latino communities are already navigating an increasingly hostile climate marked by immigration enforcement, fear and dehumanizing rhetoric. That is especially significant in Anaheim, where over 50% of residents are Latino, 53.2% to be exact. The families we organize alongside are carrying fear and uncertainty every single day. Immigrant families are being targeted, hunted, and ripped apart. Latino families are being attacked and dehumanized every single day. People are living in uncertainty–afraid for their families and their future. I think about our young people. I think about our families. I think about the young Latino kids growing up in Anaheim who are watching the adults in positions of power right now. What are we teaching them about what happens when allegations of racism are made inside their own City Hall? Do we confront it? Do we acknowledge the harm? Or do we stay silent and hope it goes away? That is why I have also been deeply disappointed by the silence from 1505 E 17th St #122, Santa Ana, CA 92705 members of this Council, particularly our Latino representatives. I am not asking anyone to prejudge the outcome of an investigation. I am asking you to acknowledge what your community is feeling. I am asking you to acknowledge that these allegations are serious. I am asking you to acknowledge the harm of this rhetoric in our community, and I am asking you to clearly say that racism and dehumanizing language have no place in Anaheim. Because silence, your silence, communicates something too. Our young people are watching you. Our families are watching you. Representation matters most in moments like this. And frankly, it is heartbreaking and deeply disappointing to see Anaheim once again dealing with questions about trust, accountability, and leadership at City Hall. It is so disappointing that our city is once again riddled with scandal. City Hall has already been through years of scandal, investigations, and promises that things would be different. How did we go from calling ourselves a ‘City of Kindness’ to a city where a former mayor is serving time for corruption and the current mayor is facing deeply troubling allegations? Our community deserves better than to keep asking whether they can trust their city government. So on behalf of OCCORD, we are calling for a transparent and credible process that allows the facts to come forward. We are calling on every member of this Council to acknowledge the impact this moment is having on the community you were elected to represent. And especially at a time when so many of our families are already under attack. Your leadership matters. Your words matter. And your silence sends a message too. Our community deserves better. And we expect more from this city's leadership. Thank you. Ivon Pena, Executive Director, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD)