Q&A with El Cerrito City Council candidates Wally Nowinski, Forrest Lanning, and Kimberly White

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” Jawili and incumbents Gabe Quinto and Carolyn Wysinger.

This is the last election in which voters will select council members citywide. Beginning in 2028, the city will be divided into five districts with each district electing its own council member.

Read the candidates' responses on the El Cerrito Wire Elections Page, which also has a link to the endorsement interviews conducted jointly by two Democratic groups and other election news.

Photos, from left, Wally Nowinski, Forrest Lanning, and Kimberly White