Ferndale Unified Superintendent Operated Unpermitted Vacation Rental, Skipped Transient-Occupancy Taxes

Ferndale Unified School District Superintendent Danielle Carmesin operated a short-term rental inside Ferndale for roughly 11 months without obtaining the required business license, vacation-rental permit or paying transient-occupancy taxes, according to public records obtained by the Lost Coast Outpost.

A screenshot of a now-deleted Airbnb listing showed short-term stays were offered at a house on Dewey Avenue. The Outpost caption reads, “A photo from a now-deleted Airbnb listing that offered short-term stays at this home on Dewey Avenue. It’s owned by Ferndale Unified School District Superintendent Danielle Carmesin. | Screenshot.” City records include a Nov. 10 letter signed by Ferndale Interim City Manager/City Clerk Kristine Hall addressed to “Carmesin and her husband Travis” ordering the rental to stop.

“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 Nov. 10 letter states. The letter also explains the property “cannot be permitted as a short-term rental because it sits within 600 feet of an existing vacation rental registered with the city,” putting the house outside the city’s eligibility rules for new vacation rentals.

The Outpost reports Carmesin “appears to have misled city staff about immediately ceasing rental operations in early November after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from City Hall.” That allegation is presented as an appearance in the public record, not a legal finding. The city policy cited by the reporting notes that “The city levies a 10 percent transient occupancy tax (TOT) on short-term rentals of five units or fewer, with revenues due monthly.” Failure to pay TOT can reduce revenue available for municipal services that Ferndale residents rely on.

Carmesin is identified in the reporting as serving as Ferndale Elementary School’s principal and superintendent of the Ferndale Unified School District. The episode raises questions about rule compliance and equal enforcement for local hosts, as well as potential ethical concerns when a public-school leader is named in a municipal enforcement letter. No criminal charges, fines, or formal penalties are reported in the documents cited. The reporting does not include a quoted response from Carmesin or from Ferndale Unified School District.

For Ferndale residents, the case touches on two familiar local tensions: maintaining the small-town character of downtown neighborhoods and ensuring tourism-related revenue is collected and shared fairly. Key unanswered items remain: the rental’s precise start date and booking history, whether the city will pursue back TOT or administrative penalties, and any formal response from Carmesin or the school district. Expect to see follow-up in local records and at City Hall as residents and officials determine the next steps for enforcement and for clarifying how public employees should balance private business activities with civic roles.