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Carmesin. | Photo via FUSD.

Ferndale Unified School District Superintendent Danielle Carmesin operated a short-term rental property in city limits for roughly a year without obtaining the legally required business license and permit and without paying any of the required taxes, according to records obtained by the Outpost.

Furthermore, Carmesin, who also serves as Ferndale Elementary School’s principal/superintendent, appears to have misled city staff about immediately ceasing rental operations in early November after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from City Hall.

According to emails obtained through a California Public Records Act request, Ferndale city staff filled out a field observation report about the property on Nov. 10 of last year, noting that the house, which is located on the 900 block of Dewey Avenue, was available for booking on Airbnb.

“No business license or vacation rental permit on file,” the report says.

Ferndale adopted a short-term rental ordinance in 2017. The ordinance identifies which zones such rentals can operate in, limits the density of vacation rentals and spells out penalties for violations or complaints. It also notes that operators must obtain “a valid business licenses and pay all applicable taxes and fees.”

The city levies a 10 percent transient occupancy tax (TOT) on short-term rentals of five units or fewer, with revenues due monthly.

A letter to Carmesin and her husband Travis, dated Nov. 10 and signed by Ferndale Interim City Manager/City Clerk Kristine Hall, says, “It has come to the City’s attention that you are operating a Vacation Rental in the City Limits of Ferndale without obtaining the proper permits. Please cease your operation immediately.”

The letter goes on to say that the house in question cannot be permitted as a short-term rental because it sits within 600 feet of an existing vacation rental registered with the city. 

There is no documentation of a response from Carmesin in the emails obtained by the Outpost, but this past Monday, Feb. 2, Hall, the interim city manager, sent an email to Ferndale Code Compliance Officer Mike Stephen saying, “I received word today that the illegal Airbnb ran by the superintendent is still being advertised … .”

Stephen then notified Ferndale Police Chief Ron Sligh, telling him via email, “Chief, apparently Danielle has ignored the Letter sent to her by Kris as to cease & desist the [vacation rental] for her property, this now [makes] this a Code Compliance issue, Kris tried the nice way now its going to be official and mandated compliance.”

Sligh replied to Stephen and Hall shortly thereafter, sending them a link to the still-active Airbnb listing.

“I found it,” the chief says in the email. “It even has a picture of Danielle as the host.

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Shortly after noon yesterday, Carmesin emailed Hall. She explained that she and her husband, who now live in McKinleyville, offered up their Ferndale home as a short-term rental for approximately 11 months.

“Upon receiving notice from the City in November, we immediately ceased short-term rental operations,” Carmesin wrote. (More on that claim below.) She also explained that she and her husband have since lined up a long-term tenant for the house.

“Moving forward, we do not anticipate resuming short-term rental activity and will rent the property only for periods exceeding 30 days to remain in compliance with the City of Ferndale’s short-term rental ordinance,” her email says.

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Reached by phone yesterday afternoon, Hall confirmed that she’d been in contact with Carmesin and said staff was working with her to resolve the issue. Based on a preliminary look at Airbnb booking logs that Carmesin submitted, Hall said she’ll likely be charged roughly $1,250 in back taxes, plus a 25 percent late fee. The city will also likely require Carmesin to obtain an after-the-fact business license (cost: $65), even though she’ll be unable to operate a short-term rental business at the property going forward.

“It really won’t be valid,” Hall said of the license, “but if somebody else had sought to open [a short-term rental operation], they would have to get a license. So we’re trying to hold her to the same standard.”

The Outpost had received a tip about this unpermitted rental some weeks back, and we recalled seeing evidence that the property was rented out as recently as December. Hall said she, too, thought that might have happened, “but when I went back to look [at the listing] it had been removed.”

Shortly after speaking with Hall, we reached Carmesin on her cell phone. Asked to explain the situation, Carmesin said, “It’s a personal compliance issue that I have fixed with the city of Ferndale. They’ve been an excellent partner in assisting me with this.”

We asked a couple of follow-up questions — When did she start renting out the property? Why didn’t she obtain the necessary permit? — and each time she repeated her response.

“I think I’m just comfortable saying it’s a personal compliance issue that has been corrected.”

She expressed surprise when we told her that the city would likely require her to obtain a business permit but reiterated that she’s now managing the property in full compliance with the rules.

“When the city notified me in November, I ceased [short-term rental] operations,” she said.

We pointed out that the listing was still active as recently as Monday. “It was not booked though,” she said. “Because I have a long-term renter. … When the city reached out to me I [found] a long-term renter.”

After speaking with both Hall and Carmesin yesterday afternoon, the Outpost tracked down an old screenshot from the listing. It shows a review left by a tenant in December:

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Reviews on Airbnb can only be posted within 14 days of the stay, so this would would appear to contradict Carmesin’s assertion that she immediately ceased renting the property after receiving the cease-and-desist notice from city staff.

We texted the image to Carmesin and asked her to explain. 

“That person was the last one and we received the notice after the [person] booked,” she replied.

We reminded her that the city’s notice was dated Nov. 10. She texted back:

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Hall seemed satisfied, during our phone conversation, that everything will be resolved painlessly, and she said Carmesin’s experience could serve as a cautionary tale.

“Hopefully it will be a lesson to anybody else,” she said. “Just come to the city and ask and we’ll help ‘em.”