Stephanie Hellman
There are serious concerns about Stephanie Hellman's actions, including potential conflicts of interest, unregistered donations, and misuse of her position for personal gain. She votes based on her own personal morals, ignoring and berating the town residents wishes.
Click here for a video of Ms. Hellman stating that cost isn’t relevant for issues that she deems morally important. “We live in one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. I just, people walk around here with $200 sneakers, you know. I just reject the notion that this is about cost”
Click here for a video of Ms. Hellman stating she doesn’t vote for the white 90 percent majority. “I hear the white dominated population that is not okay with this change. I hear that. But you can’t put it up to a vote because that’s only listening to the 90 percent, right?”
Click for the potential conflict of interest timeline.
Championed Destructive Rent Control ordinances written by Special Interest Groups:
Stephanie Hellman engaged with outside interest groups for months in closed-door meetings, allowing a special interest group to draft the rent control ordinance including the onerous and financially devastating just cause ordinance. She disregarded the attorneys' advice to notify landlords and other stakeholders who would be negatively impacted by these changes, specifically the restrictions in the just cause ordinance. Additionally, she demonstrated a lack of empathy for small landlords affected by these policies. These rent control policies were created after advising town residents to build ADUs, which they then couldn’t rent out due to the just cause ordinance. These ordinances were overwhelmingly rejected by almost 70 percent of the residents in a community run ballot initiative.
Hellman Potential Conflict of Interest Movement Legal Nonprofit:
Hellman declared income from FSACC in 2023 but did not report any consulting income for FSACC in 2024, despite working for them in January 2024. Instead, she reported income from Movement Legal, a housing advocacy group. This raises concerns about whether this income was a way to avoid conflict-of-interest consulting for FSACC or a payment for her role in championing rent control ordinances as a town council member
Unregistered Donations:
Unregistered donations to Hellman PAC: Hellman set up a PAC in 2024 to defend herself against recall attempts. Donations came from the Marin Firefighters union and the North Bay Labor Council AFL-CIO COPE. These donations might be considered behested due to her role on the RVFD boards. Hellman donated $3,000 from these organizations to the Save Fairfax Rent Control PAC, which was set up by members of the DSA. The document raises concerns about the financial benefits Hellman might have gained from her votes
Lobbying and Misuse of Position:
TF Complaint-Exhibits to FPPC re Stephanie Hellman_1.22.25: This complaint alleges that Hellman violated the Political Reform Act by acting as a lobbyist for FSACC and not reporting or disclosing her role. She used her position to influence decisions in favor of FSACC, including interfering in RVFD inspections and presenting falsified safety documents to the Ross Valley School District. The complaint details various instances where Hellman used her position to benefit FSACC, despite having a financial interest
