Fairfield church fighting to reopen its popular homeless ministry hit with $310,000 fine by city
FAIRFIELD -- A Fairfield church hoping to reopen its popular homeless ministry that was mostly shuttered back in March is now fighting a $310,000 fine it has been ordered to pay to the city.
City Church Fairfield saw parts of its building that housed homeless services red-tagged by the city and deemed unsafe.
Officials cited water leaks, mold and a roof that needed repair. Though Mulvey claims the roof had already been fixed by the time it was tagged.
Since March, Pastor Scott Mulvey has denied that the need for repairs justified closing down the church's shelter, free medical clinic for the uninsured, their safe camping site for tents or cars in their parking lot, and their "life school" on site connecting those in need to vital services.
Mulvey said the impact on the homeless community he serves daily has been devastating.
"You've taken the only thing given to them and snatched it. What do you think that guy is going to do? He's going to go out and overdose, that's what he is going to do. There is no hope," Mulvey said through tears.
His church's mission for 17 years has been to help "the least of these," largely the unhoused and the recently incarcerated who are trying to transition from jail back into society.
"Here we are going to take care of you. We are going to get you on your feet moving forward into a better life," Mulvey said.
The only homeless outreach that City Church has been able to continue operating since March has been feeding the unhoused daily.
Mulvey said that in the meantime, he has fixed every issue the city required him to fix but now, the church will have to pay the massive $310,000 fine to the city to reopen the doors to its homeless outreach.
It is something Mulvey said the church cannot possibly pay.
"The fine is designed to make me go away," he said. "This is the fiercest attack I've ever had in my entire life. I've never been attacked like this."
The City of Fairfield's planning commission will hear the issue at their meeting on October 9.
Mulvey, and what he expects to be a packed room of supporters, will ask the planning commission to remove the fine as a condition for the ministry's reopening.
Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy told CBS13 in a statement:
"I and the city have bent over backwards to help City Church. Because a couple of us have worked besides him helping our homeless friends and we believe his work is important, staff and councilors want to get this settled. The city for six months stayed the fines to give them that time to resolve the issues. Sadly, that grace period passed without resolution."
Mulvey told me he did not know the fines levied against the church would double each month that they were not paid until they totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Nobody ever said, 'Pay us or this is what you will end up owing, $310,000.' I thought it was a mistake," Mulvey said.
Matthew McReynolds, an attorney with the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), thinks the fine and the treatment of the church is far beyond a "mistake."
"We think it's illegal," McReynolds said. "We've sent a letter to the city pointing out the reason why we think their actions are not just wrong but unconstitutional and illegal under federal law."
PJI specializes in cases involving religious freedom. McReynolds and the nonprofit law firm are helping City Church pro bono.
"Frankly, as many situations like this as we have been involved in, this is among the worst. It really grabbed our attention," McReynolds said. "A federal court in Oregon just earlier this year came down very harshly on a city there that was treating a church and its homeless outreach similarly to how City Church Fairfield has been treated."
Mulvey and McReynolds both know the planning commission cannot simply drop the $310,000 fine and pardon the church from paying it. What they are asking instead is that the commission removes it as a condition for the ministry's reopening.
If this happens, the church plans to reopen some of its homeless ministry as soon as this week while continuing to fight the fine.
"Please, do the best thing you can do for this community, and that is to let us open," Mulvey asked of the city.
The planning commission is expected to vote on Wednesday. If things do not turn in the church's favor, Mulvey and McReynolds said they will appeal it to the city council and ask that they drop the condition of the fine.
Their last resort, they say, will be suing the City of Fairfield.