1 Beavers, Esther
From:Karl Dumas
Sent:Saturday, April 4, 2026 4:04 PM
To:Moy, Catherine; Bertani, Pam; Williams, K. Patrice; Tonnesen, Scott; Carr, Douglas; Sandhu, Manveer; Panduro, Doriss; Rees, Karen L.; Dan Marshall; Gassaway, David Cc:Karl Dumas; Beavers, Esther
Subject:April 7, 2026 Council Agenda Item No.O.4, Rental Housing Safety Program Attachments:Response to Staff Report 4-3-26.pdf
Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Flagged
Mayor and Council
City Clerk
City Manager
Police Chief
This email and the attached letter response are in regards to Council Agenda Item No.O.4, Rental Housing Safety Program.
The Staff Report fails to provide the empirical evidence necessary to justify a city-wide, fee- based Rental Housing Safety Program. Implementing such a mandate is premature without foundational data, specifically regarding the percentage of substandard rental stock, complaint volumes, location, and the frequency of repeat violations, etc. A comparison of incidents for multifamily vs single- family, and rental vs owner occupied units is also needed.
Assembly Bill (AB) 548 is specific to multifamily not single-family rental homes. The report lacks a sample Health & Safety Code Inspection Checklist, leaving property owners without a clear standard of compliance or self-certification.
Furthermore, the report contains a significant factual error: US Census data reports show Fairfield’s housing stock consists of 40% rental units, not the 50% cited. It also incorrectly correlates the age of a building with health and safety hazards. In reality, the revitalization of Fairfield’s older housing has driven rent increases, and there is currently no evidence that substandard housing constitutes a systemic issue within the city.
This proposed program further exacerbates the financial strain on landlords and tenants, who are already navigating rising insurance premiums, general inflation, and the potential impact of the upcoming Measure P tax initiative.
Respectfully,
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2 Karl Dumas