El Cerrito Wire

Three City Council candidates responded to El Cerrito Wire’s invitation to complete a questionnaire about issues in El Cerrito. Wally Nowinski, Forrest Lanning, and Kimberly White responded to questions about priorities, finances, capital improvement projects, balancing the needs of users of different types of transit, the council’s relationship with the city manager and with boards and commissions, and communicating with residents. The candidates’ responses are posted on the El Cerrito Wire Elections page where they will remain at least through election day, Nov. 3, 2026. Contact information is included at the end of each Q&A.  Candidates were given two weeks to respond and told that late questionnaires would not be accepted. That rule is to ensure no candidates read anyone else’s published response before they prepare their own. Six candidates are vying for two four-year terms. In addition to those who returned the questionnaire, the other candidates are Mary Ann “MJ” Jawi...

In announcing the arrest of one of the suspects in an Aug. 23 fatal shooting, El Cerrito police said they were able to identify the vehicle they believe was used by the three suspects with the help of other jurisdictions and their Flock and Vigilant cameras. The Flock cameras in El Cerrito, including ones near where the shooting took place, had only recently been removed. A Nixle announcement said El Cerrito detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Jacari Talifero Gibson,18, from Richmond, Aug. 24 and working with Richmond police took him into custody and searched his home. El Cerrito police are still looking for two suspects, one they believe shot the 21-year-old victim and the other they believe drove the vehicle used by the suspects to flee the scene. That vehicle, a 2017 Nissan Maxima, was located the evening of Aug. 24, 2026 by Vallejo police officers, the El Cerrito department reported. Police suspect Gibson of being the lookout in the killing in the shopping center parking lot ...

The West Contra Costa Unified School District will hear a report on the first day of school when it meets Aug. 26, 2026. Staff will also report on efforts to implement its anti-slur initiative. “The presentation will highlight district wide expectations for preventing and responding to racial slurs, including consistent reporting, investigation, accountability, student and family support, and developmentally appropriate interventions,” according to the agenda. The meeting will be held at DeJean Middle School, 3400 Madonald Ave., Richmond. The public session begins at 6:30 pm Agenda Directions for joining by Zoom and for making comments in person or by Zoom are at the top of the agenda. For links to past education articles, recordings of meetings, PowerSchool, ParentSquare, school websites, lunch menus, after-school care, Q&A with our incoming board member, and more, see school news Photo: El Cerrito High School

From KTVU: Aug. 23 fatal shooting in El Cerrito revives Flock debate   From El Cerrito Police: Arrest in Aug. 23 homicide “Investigators collaborated with regional jurisdictions to identify a license plate for the suspect vehicle, thanks to Flock Safety and Vigilant ALPR cameras.”   At the Aug. 18 El Cerrito City Council meeting, City Manager Karen Pinkos announced that Flock’s failure to remove its cameras from the city by that date as it had promised would be treated as a code violation. In response to a request from El Cerrito Wire for more information, assistant to the city manager Will Provost sent the following on Aug. 21:  “Yesterday, on August 20, 2026, the City of El Cerrito issued a Compliance Order to Flock Group, Inc. pursuant to El Cerrito Municipal Code sections 1.14.040 and 13.12.050(A)-(B), providing formal notice of the City’s revocation of encroachment permits that were previously issued, and notice that Flock must discontinue all activity previously aut...

  By Betty Buginas I don’t know if most El Cerrito residents know the term, but we live in a news desert. We don’t have paid journalists who provide daily reporting on El Cerrito, and this is becoming the norm not the exception. As Rebuild Local News puts it, “Local news is collapsing – threatening the civic well-being of American towns and cities.” Unfortunately, it is not being overly dramatic. El Cerrito Mayor Gabe Quinto, who is seeking reelection to the City Council, recently said people should only get their news from the city, not blogs or Nextdoor. Nextdoor, he said, should only be used for reuniting lost dogs and giving away no-longer-needed strollers. He angrily attacked fellow council member William Ktsanes because Quinto believes Ktsanes “owns one of the blogs.” Other remarks were presumably aimed at another candidate, Kimberly White, who Quinto believes should not have opinions different from his because he appointed her to the Financial Advisory Board. He uses ...

Reminder that today (Aug. 21, 2026)  is the last day to comment on the draft of the El Cerrito Local Road Safety Plan, which seeks to reduce the number of crashes, particularly fatal ones.  Possible strategies include: - Use quick-build, economical approaches and exemption to the city’s parking removal appeal process; - Enforce a 25-mile per hour maximum speed citywide; -Add speed humps and the wider, flatter speed tables; -Expand bike lanes by removing parking; -Add mid-block crosswalks, and flashing beacons at crosswalks; -Encouage class 1, 2, and 3 e-bikes and other legal mobility devices on all bikeways, while addressing reckless riding; and, -Bus-only lanes on San Pablo Avenue If you are having trouble posting your comments directly to the document, look for the two speech bubble icons on the right of the screen. You can also email your comments to pworks@elcerrito.gov  https://elcerritowire.blogspot.com/2026/08/comment-online-on-draft-plan-for.html

Candidate interviews with the El Cerrito Democratic Club and Democratic Party of Contra Costa County are now linked from the El Cerrito Wire Elections page . There is also a statement from Forrest Lanning explaining why he did not participate. See also Livable El Cerrito coverage Image screenshot from YouTube

Despite assurances from Flock that it would remove its cameras from El Cerrito by Aug. 18, Police Chief Paul Keith told the City Council that night that 30 of the 40 cameras remain in place. Nine of the cameras have been vandalized, he said. His department has responded by launching a criminal investigation, while City Manager Karen Pinkos said the city would treat the cameras remaining in place as a code violation. “We’ve been assured the cameras are no longer recording. Our officers no longer have access to the cameras and officers in our neighboring jurisdictions do not either,” Keith said. “For all intents and purposes, they’re just a piece of inactive technology that still belongs to a company. So please don’t vandalize the cameras.” Pinkos followed Keith’s comments by saying, “Believe me we are just as frustrated as everyone else . . . but we want to do this the right way.” Pinkos said she has instructed the code enforcement staff to prepare violation letters.  “Perhaps if us...

Only one candidate filed for each of the open seats on the West Contra Costa Unified School District, which means the school board races will not be on the ballot, with the potential loss of the rich discussion of education issues that comes with campaigning. El Cerrito Wire prepared a questionnaire for board candidates before the races were locked in, asking the candidates for their thoughts on the hot issues in the school district - declining enrollment, the budget, use of technology, safety, curriculum, communication with families, and gathering input.  Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy, who retains his seat representing Area 4, and Caitlin Garibaldi, who will assume the seat representing Area 5, graciously agreed to complete the questionnaires anyway. Read their thoughtful answers here: Q and A with Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy , who will continue to represent El Sobrante, parts of Richmond and San Pablo, and a sliver of Pinole. Q and A with Caitlin Garibaldi , who will represent Area 5, which re...

Message posted on Facebook by Caitlin Garibaldi, who will become the WCCUSD school board member for Area 5, which includes El Cerrito, Kensington, and part of Richmond. Garibaldi was the only person who filed to run for the seat. I am so excited to be joining the WCCUSD Board of Education as Trustee for Area 5! I want to take a moment to thank my opponent, Kristin Sangren, for ultimately deciding to pull out of the race and entrust me with this position. We spoke at length before she withdrew, and I know she did not make that decision lightly. The issues we discussed we were very much aligned on, and I’m happy to have found an ally that’s committed to helping promote change both here in the district, and on a larger scale. One of the issues we both feel strongly about is really pushing to significantly reduce our reliance on tech in schools, and I can’t wait to talk to her more about how we may be able to work together toward that.  Since I won’t be on the ballot I won’t be running...

Employment agreements for the police chief and fire chief are on the agenda for the Aug. 18, 2026 El Cerrito City Council meeting. The meeting begins at 6 pm, preceded by a 5 pm special meeting to interview applicants for the Design Review Board and Citizen Streets Oversight Committee. Agenda Instructions for joining the meeting by Zoom and for public comments are at the top of the agenda. Photo of the Public Safety building as seen through the window of City Hall.

School opens in the West Contra Costa Unified School District Tuesday, Aug. 18, a minimum day. Use the El Cerrito Wire SCHOOLS link toward the top of the page to find school news and information quickly. At the top of the page, a link takes you to the lastest school news published by El Cerrito Wire. There are also links to: - The district calendar - ParentSquare - PowerSchool - Clever - The website, lunch menu, and library for Fairmont, Harding, Kensington, Madera, Mira Vista, Korematsu, and El Cerrito High, as well as band, PTSA, and sports on MaxPrep for the high school. - The school district website homepage, school board agendas, videos of past meetings, school board contacts (El Cerrito and Kensington are in Area 5), volunteering, enrolling and transferring - Childcare and after-school enrichment classes - California state standards that outline what your student should learn at each grade level

The California Secretary of State’s office conducted a drawing Aug. 13 of all the letters in the alphabet. The order in which the letters were drawn is used to determine the order that names will appear on ballots for races big and small throughout the state. If the first letter of a candidate‘s last name was drawn earlier than the first letter of another candidate’s last name, they will appear on the ballot ahead of them.  If the first letter is the same, as in White and Wysinger, then the order between those two names is determined by the second letter, also using the randomized alphabet. See the image for the order in which the letters were drawn to create what the state calls a “randomized alphabet.” Based on the drawing, El Cerrito City Council candidates will appear on the ballot in the following order: Kimberly White, Carolyn Wysinger, Mary Ann Jawili, Forrest Lanning, Wally Nowinski, Gabe Quinto. Wherever possible, El Cerrito Wire will use the reverse of that order to count...

UPDATE FROM RICHMONDSIDE: Kennedy High deemed safe to reopen After hearing a report Aug. 12 on the reduction in staffing for lunchtime supervision at elementary schools,  West Contra Costa Unified School District board members acknowledged that the situation will be challenging. But the item was on the agenda for discussion only and with the district’s tight finances, there was little talk of devoting additional funds to yard supervision. The district-funded yard supervision planned for this coming school year is half of what it was last school year. Prior to COVID, the district provided 1 hour of yard supervision per 100 students. After COVID, that was increased to 1½ hours. Last year it was 2 hours, and the plan for 2026-27 is for it to go back to the pre-COVID allocation of 1 hour of yard supervision per 100 students. Trustee Leslie Reckler said that just because that level of staffing was used for many years before COVID “doesn’t make it the right ratio.” Yard supervisors...