A small church is appealing a massive fine of more than $300,000
City Fines Church $300,000 for Helping Homeless
October 1, 2024
Media Contact: Khira Martinez, (714) 951-6435
Fairfield, Calif. – A small church is appealing a massive fine of more than $300,000 which city officials in Northern California are insisting must be paid before the church can resume its longtime ministry to the homeless. Attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute, which is representing the church at no charge, are decrying the city’s tactics as politics at their worst.
“The more we delve into this disturbing situation, the more shocking it becomes,” said Brad Dacus, founder and president of PJI. “For more than a dozen years, this church had quietly and effectively served the needy. But when the pastor began speaking out on local issues, city officials retaliated in ways that are hurting those least able to advocate for themselves.”
Pastor Scott Mulvey came to City Church Fairfield in 2007. In the small congregation, located in a rough part of town, he saw an opportunity to serve. The church began to take seriously the age-old call of its faith to feed the hungry, care for the sick, clothe the naked, and offer hospitality to strangers. As the Bay Area spiraled into recession and California’s homeless population began to explode, CCF offered food to anyone in need, no questions asked. It offered space on its property for people living out of their vehicles to safely park and sleep overnight before heading to work during the day. Eventually, the church opened a free medical clinic, with volunteer doctors and nurses. And it gave homeless men and women a permanent way off the streets through a residential work training program.
For well over a decade, CCF garnered praise from the community. Once-homeless individuals who found refuge at the church have become professionals and even small business owners. The city itself partnered with the church for a while, providing tents for those staying on the property.
The city’s attitude, though, changed dramatically in 2022. That’s when residents fed up with the city’s response to the housing and homelessness crises urged the church’s pastor to run for City Council. After more than 15 years of ministry to the needy, the church suddenly found itself besieged with a barrage of enforcement actions. The city ordered the removal of military surplus tents and even red-tagged the tents it had given to the church. The city shuttered the free medical clinic. It ordered the dispersal of the men and women in the residential job training program. And it threatened that vehicles parked overnight on church property would be towed.
At one point, the city sent more than a dozen armed police to underscore its hostile intentions. Previously, the police had been dropping off recently incarcerated individuals at the church’s doorstep because it was a place of hope and help.
For the past two years, the church has battled the bureaucracy, made repairs and upgrades to its buildings, and met with city officials. The city now says it will conditionally approve resumption of some church outreaches—but only if the small church pays more than $300,000 in fines. The church is appealing the city’s latest demands to the Fairfield Planning Commission, which is slated to conduct a public hearing on October 9 at 6 p.m. The church has now enlisted PJI, which is representing the church at no charge.
PJI has successfully represented many other churches and ministries battling bureaucratic red tape over the past 27 years. PJI sent a legal demand letter to city officials last month detailing the constitutional and statutory violations the city is accruing. “While Fairfield plays petty politics, the most vulnerable suffer,” commented Matt McReynolds, PJI’s Deputy Chief Counsel who is leading the firm’s efforts on the church’s behalf. “Fairfield is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with California’s disastrous response to the housing and homelessness crises,” he further noted. “With winter now approaching, it’s time for the city to abandon these retaliatory, strong-arm tactics and reopen this life-saving refuge.”
Fairfield residents concerned about their city’s fines and restrictions on the church may attend the public hearing on Oct. 9 in the City Council chamber. Members of the media are also encouraged to attend.
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