Richmond voters, here’s what you need to know about Measure Q, a bond to repair fire stations.
on October 31, 2026
Richmond firefighters are tasked with protecting people and property, but at the fire stations where they live while on duty, years of deferred maintenance have led to mold, leaky roofs, plumbing and electrical issues, and structural damage.
On Election Day, Richmond residents will vote on Measure Q, a general obligation bond that would raise property taxes to fund $120 million in repairs.
If passed, the measure authorizes the city to issue bonds, using the proceeds to repair, replace and reconstruct Richmond’s aging fire stations and emergency-response facilities.
The Richmond Fire Department serves more than 115,000 residents. In 2025, firefighters responded to roughly 40 incidents per day. Much of that work is done by the department’s seven fire stations, which serve as both emergency-response facilities and homes for firefighters while on duty.
Many of those stations are decades old, with seismic deficiencies, outdated bathrooms and living quarters, mold and asbestos.
“We will risk our life to save other people’s lives, and we sign up knowing this,” said Capt. Marcus Faumui, who joined the department in 2017. “Dealing with exhaust leaks, mold exposure, living in these tight quarters — these are things we didn’t sign up for.”
Faumui, president of Richmond Firefighters Local 188, says the current state of Richmond’s fire stations is making a profession that’s already dangerous even more hazardous to firefighters’ health. Every station in the city needs some form of repair, he said. Two of the city’s oldest stations, No. 66 (on Clinton Avenue in the North & East neighborhood) and No. 67 (on Cutting Boulevard, south of the Iron Triangle), were built around World War II, he noted, and likely need to be fully replaced.
Faumui added that even the city’s newest station, No, 63, has foundation issues that might require a full rebuild. Built during the 1990s, the station now has cracks in its foundation and walls and is so slanted, that Faumui says firefighters put blocks under their beds to make them even.
“When you go in there, you can literally put a ball on one end and it will roll to the other,” he said.
In July, Richmond City Council voted to include a general obligation bond on the November ballot to raise money needed to update the stations.
The money to pay back the bonds, plus interest accrued over a multi-decade timeline, is estimated to be just under $250 million, according to Richmond Finance Director Emily Combs. That sum would come out of taxpayers’ pockets in the form of an assessment-based property tax, which the city estimates will increase taxes by an average of $22.15 per $100,000 of assessed property value per year, until 2060. The owner of a single-family home assessed at $650,000, for example, would pay about $144 annually in taxes.
Marc Joffe, President of Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, authored the primary argument against the measure, alongside Richmond resident Denise Gianni.
“We’re not against having well-maintained fire stations,” said Joffe. But the association doesn’t believe a bond measure is the best approach for residents.
Joffe noted Richmond taxpayers already are burdened by voter-approved bond levies supporting schools, community colleges, a regional park and BART. In addition to raising taxes, Measure Q would cost taxpayers over twice the amount that will actually be spent on the stations, due to interest and financing costs. Joffe argues the money should come from another source.
“The cheapest and fairest way of financing the fire station improvements is to simply use the money the city has already received from Chevron,” said Joffe.
In August 2024, the oil and gas giant agreed to pay the city $550 million the course of 10 years. Two years of that settlement money would cover almost all of the estimated $120 million Richmond firefighters say they need in repairs. But the firefighters’ union says stations should serve residents for 30 years or more, and Measure Q’s dedicated long-term source of funding would spread the cost over the decades the facilities would be used.
Joffe argues $120 million from the Chevron settlement could be spent over the same time period.
“You can bank it where it will be earning interest, and then use it over time” Joffe said. “So I don’t find that to be a convincing argument at all.”
Faumui stressed the maintenance issues don’t just affect firefighters, but also may put the safety of residents at risk. Stations house the firefighters, engines, communications systems and rescue equipment needed to respond to 911 calls. Firefighters say their facilities no longer meet the needs of a modern emergency-response system, and operating out of old buildings hurts response times.
As an example, Faumui points to limitations at Station 67. Richmond has two fire trucks, which are larger than fire engines and are equipped with ladders that give firefighters aerial access to windows and roofs during emergencies. Faumui says one of those trucks should be housed at Station 67 because of its central location at Cutting Boulevard and 12th Street — but the truck doesn’t fit.
“Instead, that apparatus is now at the most southern end of the city,” said Faumui. What that translates to, he said, is a longer response time for the rest of the city.
One issue affecting every station is a faulty alerting system, Faumui added.
“Say, 2 in the morning, we get a call for a medical or fire emergency. Those tones might work, they might not,” Faumui said.
As a temporary fix, firefighters keep backup radios on at all times, even while sleepimg. Still, Faumui says calls that are missed by the alert system and rerouted through radios or station phone lines lead to longer response times.
Mayoral candidates favor Measure Q
If the measure passes, an oversight committee of Richmond residents would be appointed by the City Ccouncil to monitor expenditures.
The measure has a long list of endorsements, including from the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, Contra Costa Labor Council, and the Contra Costa Building & Construction Trades Council.
City Councilmember Claudia Jimenez, who is running for mayor, said she supports the measure because the Chevron settlement is needed for other expenses.
“Our capital improvement plan is $1 billion,” Jiménez said. “So even when we have the $550 million, it won’t be enough to do all the things that we need.”
Her opponent, Ahmad Anderson, said, “We don’t want to be that city where the president of the firefighters says to the City Council, ‘If someone calls 911 from the station, who’s going to come save us?’”
The measure needs support from two-thirds of voters to pass. At a City Council meeting in July, then-City Manager Shasa Curl said if it fails, the city’s backup plan is to ask the council to appropriate Chevron settlement funds for the repairs. The city has yet to decide where to allocate those funds, and there is no guarantee the fire stations would be included.
Faumui said he’s hopeful the city won’t need a back-up plan.
“These are pretty harsh conditions we’re working in,” Faumui said. “I think the community knows they’re going to have to fix them some way or another.”
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