El Cerrito now has nine potential candidates for two seats on the City Council
Sonatina is listed on the El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll website as a member of its coordinating committee. It describes her as a mother and volunteer. Her bio says, “my vision for multimodal El Cerrito and Richmond Annex is a version where all age groups and ability levels are welcome and safe to use the streets and sidewalks without fear of serious injury/death.”
Wysinger was elected to the council in 2022. Her bio on the city website describes her as a lifelong Contra Costa resident, author, music junkie, 49er fanatic, vinyl collector, and foodie.
Other candidates include the second incumbent, Gabe Quinto, as well as Rahul Iyer, Mary Ann Jawili, Micheal McDougall, Wally Nowinski, Megan Steffen, and Kimberly White.
Steffen is a mother, researcher at a large tech company, and served on a committee of the Oakland Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, and participated in citizen oversight on the Oakland Police Commission and Public Ethics Commission.
McDougall builds software, managed an Apple engineering team, is treasurer of a dance nonprofit, and vice chair of El Cerrito’s Financial Advisory Board, working on fiscal planning and finance.
Jawili is identified online as a software engineer and cycling advocate.
Iyer, in a May 2026 post, said most of his professional career has “focused on large-scale challenges: energy systems, climate and industrial innovation.”
In a social media post, Nowinski said he works in marketing at a clean energy company and has long been active in Democratic Party politics.
White has served on the city’s Financial Advisory Board since 2022 and runs her own firm advising public sector leaders.
Quinto has been on the City Council since 2014 and is president of the League of California Cities.