The Irvine City Council unanimously agreed on Tuesday, June 9 to approve a motion that will designate at least $2 million to a rent relief program. The program will allocate the funds to students and renters in the city of Irvine impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The motion is a direct response to calls for assistance from University of California Irvine students and renters living within the city of Irvine.

The council voted to create two alternative rent relief assistance programs in the coming weeks. The two programs will target lease breaking and rent relief, with $1 million allocated for each program.

The decision comes after the city received “numerous requests, especially from UCI students who, because of COVID-19, are having financial difficulties with lease obligations and payments,” according to a memo from Irvine Mayor Christina Shea.

UC Irvine students held a drive-through protest by parking in front of Mayor Shea’s home on May 29.

The mayor posted a video of the incident on her Facebook page. The video has been viewed 75,000 times.

In the post, Shea called the protest, “one of the most disgraceful displays of free speech I have seen in our peaceful and harmonious community.”

The dual-tier system was suggested to the council by Councilmember Farrah N. Kahn, and would allow the council to see where the greatest needs are.

“If we have a two-tier system, the most immediate action that we can take is to help those pay off their fees related to breaking the lease, so they can go back home. I think that’s an immediate issue we need to face,” she said.

After the vote, Mayor Shea said she was happy to see more assistance on the way for renters and students in Irvine.

“Hopefully our students and others are happy that we’ve moved forward with some plan — it’s not perfect, but it’s certainly something to offer to our residents,” she said. “If these COVID monies come in, and we get a much larger distributions over time — I hear that the federal government is looking to send cities more money — we can certainly add to these programs if need be.”

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