El Cerrito City Council candidates share ideas on fire safety, Hillside Natural Area, and traffic safety at Oct. 8 forum
All six candidates for the El Cerrito City Council met at a forum at the Veterans Hall Oct. 8, 2026 hosted by El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll, El Cerrito Trail Trekkers, and the El Cerrito FireSafe Council.
Topics included:
- Renewal and extension of the city’s Red Flag Parking Pilot Program, which prohibits parking on one side of certain streets on extreme fire danger days;
- Maintaining the firebreak along the Hillside Natural Area;
- Making San Pablo Avenue safer;
- Managing traffic around schools at drop off to make it safer for children;
- Ways the city can be more supportive of volunteer efforts of groups such as the Trail Trekkers; and,
- Planting trees to replace the eucalyptus being removed from the Quarry Hill area of the Hillside Natural Area.
The questions, which were given to the candidates a week ahead of time, did not produce any strongly contrasting viewpoints, but did offer an opportunity for the candidates to share ideas on topics that hadn’t previously been given much attention during the campaign.
Incumbents Gabe Quinto and Carolyn Wysinger and challengers Wally Nowinski, Forest Lanning, Mary Ann "MJ" Jawili, and Kimberly White are vying for two, four-year seats on the El Cerrito City Council in the last election in which candidates will be elected citywide.
Recording of the forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa0cIKHuGmo
Red Flag Parking Pilot Program https://www.elcerrito.gov/405/Red-Flag-Warning
Quarry Hill Fire Fuel Reduction https://www.elcerrito.gov/1790/Hillside-Natural-Area-Project
El Cerrito FireSafe Council https://ecfsc.webflow.io/
El Cerrito Trail Trekkers https://www.ectrailtrekkers.org/
El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll https://www.ecrawalkroll.org/