El Cerrito City Council candidates talk finances, Flock, Richmond Street, Senior Center, and more at Sept. 30 forum

From left, El Cerrito City Council Member William Ktsanes speaking, seated candidates Carolyn Wysinger, Gabe Quinto, Kimberly White, Wally Nowinski, Mary Ann “MJ” Jawili, and Forrest Lanning at the Sept. 30 forum

At a Sept. 30 forum, the six candidates for El Cerrito City Council answered questions about some of El Cerrito’s hottest topics - city finances, capital needs such as a senior center, Flock, and transportation. The questions posed were a composite of questions submitted by the community.

Incumbents Gabe Quinto and Carolyn Wysinger and challengers Wally Nowinski, Forrest Lanning, Mary Ann “MJ” Jawili, and Kimberly White are vying for two four-year terms on the Nov. 3 ballot.

FINANCES

As noted in the question asked by moderator Lakisha Mitchell-Keith, El Cerrito has had many years of budget deficits, with unfunded pension liabilities growing to nearly a hundred million dollars. Candidates were asked if they believe El Cerrito is at risk of financial problems similar to those highlighted by the California auditor in 2021 when the city ranked 7th from the bottom in fiscal health among California’s nearly 500 incorporated cities.

“Yes,” said Nowinski. “I am very worried that we could be headed back to a problematic place.” Nowinski said council members need to ask more questions to make sure we are accounting for all the expenses coming down the road and not just rubber stamp the budget presented by the city manager. 

White, who is on the city’s Financial Advisory Board, said El Cerrito currently spends about $3 million a year more than it brings in. “That’s the same practice that lead to us being designated high-risk,” she said.  “Everything we know about should be baked into the budget. A fire truck is not a surprise… it is not a surprise that we had two significant salary increases come back.”

“We need to spend within our means,” said Lanning, who noted that in his work he has a budget he needs to stick to. He said the city should do proper forecasting of costs and only use reserve funds for true emergencies. 

“We do not overspend like the last councils that we’ve had with our former city manager,” said Quinto, who has served on the council for 12 years. “We have a great city manager and staff. We are living within our means, and if we can’t afford it, we’re not going to do it,” he said. Quinto said difficult times are ahead for cities, but he does not want any new taxes. “We cannot afford a new building at this time.”

“I think that El Cerrito is doing better with its finances,” said Jawili. Cutting services and staff would bring instability, she said. The city should do more to help residents understand what is happening with our finances, she said. 

Wysinger agreed with a comment from Lanning, saying the city should avoid maintenance deferral that would prove costly down the road. She, and some other candidates, also talked about doing more to increase revenue. She complimented the city’s financial team, but said some revenue streams are volatile and that’s why they sometimes have to dip into the reserve funds.

CAPITAL PROJECTS/SENIOR SERVICES

Candidates were asked what capital projects - such as repair or replacement of the public safety building, community center, and library and re-establishing a senior center - were most important. A separate question focused specifically on senior services.

Jawili said as she has been talking to people, the library and a senior center come up frequently. She said the focus should be on what people want from these spaces and suggested instead of a facility solely for seniors the city establish multi-generational spaces.

Lanning said safety should be considered first, and beyond that, we need to listen to the community. Residents need accurate estimates of costs and timelines for projects, he said.

Wysinger said the public safety building is the number one priority, and said she liked Jawili’s idea of having multi-generational spaces. She added to this later in response to a question specifically about senior services, saying she does support the idea of eventually having a dedicated senior center, but she understands the financial challenges.

Quinto said the city does a poll every year to check in with residents.

Of the failed Measure C, he said, “Council and staff had nothing to do with that... I would have done things differently.” He added, “You don’t want a new library. I hear you.” We need a number of new things, he said, and each would require a ballot measure.

White and Nowinski’s responses were similar to one another, saying the council needs to listen to what the community wants. Nowinski said for years the city has told us that the library is the top priority and that a senior center is not a priority. He said the city’s polls haven’t been useful because they were so poorly written. He said he believes if the city listens to the community’s priorities voters would be willing to support a tax.

On the senior services question, Lanning said a dedicated facility might be possible down the road. In the meantime, the city might use a facility it already has and is staffing to offer more dedicated time and services for seniors.

Nowinski said he has talked to people who relied on the city’s senior center. We should work toward a dedicated center, he said, and in the meantime use available space. He said if the council can afford to commit $80,000 to rush the Measure C election to June instead of November and spend thousands on flawed polls, it can find money for more senior services.

White said she would also support a dedicated senior center.

“Albany has a dedicated senior center,  they have a library that they can be proud of, they have children’s programs, and they have a wonderful downtown. What you may not know is that El Cerrito spends 20% more per person than Albany does… So we too can have a dedicated senior center. We can have children’s programs.  We can start working on our economic development for downtown.”

Quinto said he is the only senior on the council, and that he has advocated for senior services for years and will continue to work for all seniors. He noted that the city does provide senior services at some facilities in town.

TRANSPORTATION

In response to a question about transportation, several candidates discussed the city’s decision to remove 50 percent of parking on an eight-block stretch of Richmond Street to allow for a protected bike lane.

Jawili said we need to make it safe and easy for people to get around the city, whether they are walking, biking, driving, or taking transit so that they can get to places where they can be together as a community.

Jawili said she has been listening to people about Richmond Street, where she lives. One reason they are upset about losing street parking, she said, is because it’s unsafe to back out of driveways. By slowing down traffic on Richmond, she said, residents will then be able to back out safely.

Lanning said the Richmond Street project doesn’t make sense since it is too narrow and busy and is just two blocks from the Ohlone Greenway. He suggested making the Ohlone Greenway street crossings safer, perhaps working on an east/west protected bike lane or bike avenue similar to those in Berkeley. He also noted that people living in the hills can’t walk everywhere and need to be able to drive to places like BART and the supermarket.

Nowinski said we need to look for collaborative solutions and not take the “steamroll” approach taken with the Richmond Street modifications, that we should focus on improving the Ohlone Greenway, and that council should stay involved and not delegate policy to city staff particularly on controversial projects. He also said it doesn’t make sense that people have had to continue paying for parking permits around BART for years when there is plenty of parking available.

White said with decisions like Richmond Street, where the money was originally slated for an east/west route, the people impacted need to be involved before a decision is made. She also questioned why resources are being diverted to studying parking in the Plaza area when parking is not a problem there right now. 

Wysinger said fast EV bikes are not safe on the Ohlone Greenway so they need other routes to get across the city. She said she sympathizes with the challenges of owning a car, with parking hard to come by in the Mayfair building where she lives. She said it’s important to make sure everybody has a way to get across the city safely, and unfortunately change is not always comfortable.

Quinto said we have a new generation of families moving here but also longtime residents who are seniors that we need to accommodate. He said we need to work with all partners, and that’s how we were able to get funding for San Pablo improvements and the complete streets of Del Norte, which he said is making one of the busiest parts of town safer. He also said there is more regulation on the way to reduce EV bikes injuries. 

FLOCK

When the City Council voted 3-2 to remove Flock cameras from the city, the two incumbents running -  Wysinger and Quinto - were the two votes to retain the cameras.

Jawili firmly said she would not vote to reinstall Flock, that it goes against our constitutional rights, and that there are other ways to fight crime while building community such as strengthening programs like Neighborhood Watch.

“We’re giving up our information, we’re giving up our privacy for this veil of safety, and all so we don’t have to talk to each other,” she said.

Lanning similarly said the system is flawed and being abused and there are other ways to make the community safer such as through the Community Emergency Response Teams. While the teams are set up to respond in times of disaster, they do help residents get to know their neighbors well, he said.

Wysinger said she voted the way she did because she had family and friends who lost their lives in Richmond and El Cerrito, but said there is no reason to bring back Flock cameras. Instead, she said, she hopes the city will find technology with an ethical way to give police officers the tools they need to solve crimes.

Quinto said surveillance is a part of our lives - our phones, bridge toll records, and  BART tickets - and there have been crimes recently in El Cerrito that could have been solved using Flock. He said El Cerrito has already decided on Flock, but more checks and balances are needed before any city decides to continue with it.

White said she is not a fan of Flock because of information sharing and how long the data is stored. She said the city should listen to the community before making decisions on another system.

“Flock surveillance is a toxic company,” said Nowinski. “ I don’t think we should work with them and I don’t think we can trust their data safeguards.” If any new system is proposed, he said, there should be discussion around it because residents have very real concerns.

Forum recording, a bit glitchy due to technical problems at the forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcbA9xazYY0

For more on the election see https://elcerritowire.blogspot.com/p/nov-3-2026-el-cerrito-city-council-and.html