In a special meeting Tuesday night, the Fairfield City Council voted against reimbursing former mayor Catherine “Cat” Moy for attorney fees accrued during a probe into her status as a Fairfield resident.
Moy resigned Tuesday morning, attributing her decision to the “emotional duress” she and her family have experienced during the investigation, which she claimed was political. Moy was appointed to the City Council in 2008 and was elected mayor in 2022. Her term was set to expire in November of this year.
The investigation was first called by Councilmember K. Patrice Williams in November 2025. An initial report from investigating attorney Gary Winuk presented to the council in March that only reviewed Moy’s submitted evidence concluded that she was a Fairfield resident.
Following deeper investigation, a second report presented by Winuk to the City Council revealed that Moy had withheld information about several other properties related to her.
From 2025 to present, Moy was bouncing around between homes and properties due to what she has stated were financial issues. One of those properties, which she called an “office,” is in Suisun City. In visits, investigators noted the “office” appear to be a “dwelling unit,” and saw Moy there on an unannounced visit while a manager at a separate property where Moy said she lived with her daughter said she did not live there.
A response to the second report sent to Winuk from Moy’s counsel, attorney Kristen Rogers, stated that Moy “has consistently maintained that Fairfield is her home, and under the law, her Fairfield domicile continues until it is shown that a new domicile has been acquired.”
Rogers alleged the investigation was incomplete and did not factor in financial hardships that had forced Moy and her family into a transient living situation in 2025. Rogers ended by stating that a vote to remove Moy from office amounted to “a transparent and cynical political stunt.”
“It’s not that hard to prove where you live,” Williams said in a phone call.
Williams called for what’s known as a “quo warranto” — a legal challenge into whether Moy was able to remain mayor if she did not technically live in Fairfield.
Williams said she was surprised at how long it took investigators to comb through Moy’s various properties.
“I thought it was going to be over by the end of that month,” she said.
This second report’s conclusion stated that the evidence gathered “is subject to interpretation,” and further action was for the council to decide.
Moy previously submitted a request to the city attorney to have her own legal fees reimbursed, but, according to Winuk, Moy never sent the dollar amount owed.
In an email, Moy wrote that the probe “always was and remains a setup.”
Dozens of Fairfield residents came out to the meeting Tuesday to speak, some in support of Moy, some satisfied with her resignation. The council voted 5-1 against reimbursing Moy for attorney fees, with Vice Mayor Pam Bertani the only dissenting vote, stating that she did not “have the full information.”
“[Moy is] the reason why we need these lawyer’s fees, so why would we pay them?” said Williams in the meeting.
Tuesday’s meeting was scheduled so councilmembers could vote to shut down or continue the investigation, which has cost the city $66,170, or pass it up to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office.
Before and after Moy’s resignation, city councilmembers maintained that the evidence showed Moy was not a Fairfield resident. Councilmember Doug Carr called the report “damning,” referring to inconclusive evidence brought in the second report on multiple residences tied to Moy.
“If you asked any of us where our residency is, it would take 30 minutes to prove,” said Carr.
Responding to Moy’s allegations that Williams ordered the probe as retaliation for Moy’s involvement against the venture capitalist-backed development California Forever in Solano County, Williams said, “I have no ties to California Forever. The only thing we voted on for California Forever is the shipbuilding proclamation last April, and we all voted ‘yes.’”