El Cerrito Wire

Update:  Map selected Image: Two possible maps for dividing El Cerrito into council districts from Redistricting Partners. The El Cerrito City Council continued discussion June 16 of how to break El Cerrito into five districts for future council elections. Starting in 2028, residents in each district will elect someone from that district to represent them on the council. The council chose two maps to bring forward with the intent of adopting one of them at a public hearing July 7. COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST - RENTERS AND FIRE DANGER  The city has been looking at a number of maps submitted by the public and produced by a consultant. A key requirement for creating the map is to group together people with some interest in common. In particular, the council talked about grouping together renters into two districts, generally in the area of San Pablo Avenue. The city is looking at two rather than one renter-heavy district because one isn’t enough to encompass the high concentration of...

The El Cerrito City Council approved a budget for the coming fiscal year at its June 16 meeting on a 4-1 vote. Councilman William Ktsanes voted against the approval, saying while staff called the budget balanced it only appears balanced if you exclude a $1 million expenditure for a fire engine. Ktsanes said he would also have liked to see the city set aside some money toward needs such as a new or renovated library, new public safety building, community center improvements, and a new senior center. Setting aside some money for those things, he said, is important before asking voters to approve a bond measure to pay for the remainder of the cost. The June 16 approval came at the conclusion of a months-long budget process that included discussion at several meetings and was necessary to meet a June 30 deadline. The council has also been discussing the budget for the following fiscal year, 2027-28, but the approval vote is only for 2026-27. The city was facing a shortfall of $1.7 million ...

  By Betty Buginas Seventy percent of El Cerrito voters voted “no” on Measure C, which was backed by four of the five City Council members. Not everyone who voted “no” had the same reasons, but two messages are clear. We want the city to spend our money carefully, and we don’t like the idea of having a library at the Plaza BART station. It simply will not serve everyone in the city. We often don’t feel listened to, and we need to see that you heard us this time. Plaza library spending moratorium The City Council should impose a moratorium on spending money and staff time on a library at Plaza BART. The city poured a lot of time and money into that plan before the voters ever had a say. You were elected to represent us. You need to pass our message on to city staff that this is not what we want. Look at the big picture A small group pushed conversation toward fantasizing about a dream library. Now it’s time for a grown-up discussion that focuses on all the city’s needs, including: ...

Students line the hall at Madera Elementary School on the last day of school June 12 to bid farewell to retiring principal David Ranch.  Erica Ehmann, the vice principal at Montalvin K-8, will be the new principal of Madera.

  Update:  El Cerrito district maps narrowed to two by City Council Update: El Cerrito City Council adopts budget The El Cerrito City Council is scheduled to adopt budgets for 2026-27 and 2027-28 when it meets June 16. The regular meeting begins at 6 PM, following a 5 PM special meeting that will mainly be a closed session. See images (from the council packet) for information on major factors influencing the budget and changes in this year’s budget, including cuts.   Council agenda and staff reports    The budget is item 9A. Earlier in the meeting (agenda item 7C, part of the consent calendar, which is normally adopted without discussion) the council is scheduled to receive a recommendation from the Financial Advisory Board. A Message from board chairman David Carvel included in the meeting packet reads in part, “There was a lot of debate about whether to recommend approval of the budget. Ultimately, no consensus could be reached on recommending or not recommen...

  El Cerrito ends use of Flock cameras Nixle post from El Cerrito Police Department: El Cerrito Ends Use of License Plate Reader Cameras On May 5, 2026, the El Cerrito City Council voted 3-2 not to renew the Flock Safety License Plate Reader contract. Pursuant to the City Council’s decision, on Saturday, June 6, 2026, all 40 Flock Safety License Plate readers in El Cerrito were shut down. Technicians from Flock Safety will be removing the cameras from the city in the coming weeks. The three-year contract with Flock Safety coincided with a period of significant crime reduction in El Cerrito. During that period (2022-2025): Robberies fell 20%, to the second lowest level in 40 years. Burglaries fell 41%, to the lowest level in 40 years. Vehicle theft fell 52%, to the lowest level in 40 years. License plate reading cameras played a large role in making these outstanding outcomes possible. The city does not have plans to replace the system and officers no longer have access to this powe...

With most of the ballots counted, Contra Costa County Elections’ numbers show the turnout in El Cerrito was 62%, much stronger than the county turnout of 44%. The turnout in the nine precincts in El Cerrito in which votes were cast varied widely, from 49% to 71%, but all were higher than the county average. See the first image for a chart of the turnout in each precinct.  The first column is the number of people who voted from that precinct, and the second column is the number of people registered in that precinct. The image shows the data as of June 10. See the second image for  a map showing the precincts. As of June 10,The county data shows 11,079 ballots cast in El Cerrito out of 17,859 registered. 70% of the votes cast on Measure C were no votes, with 30% voting yes. As of June tenth, 10,611 votes were cast on the measure with 7,397 no and 3,214 yes. (Some El Cerrito voters apparently completed ballots, but did not vote on the measure.) The county is estimating 2...

Note the chart shows a drop in the observed homeless in El Cerrito [press release]            Contra Costa Homeless Count Shows Small Increase, Remains Below 2024 Levels  Contra Costa County's annual survey documenting people experiencing homelessness found a modest increase in 2026 compared to 2025, though the overall count remained lower than 2024 levels, according to data released by Contra Costa Health's Health, Housing and Homeless Services Division (H3). H3, with 188 volunteers, conducted the Point-in-Time Count across the county on January 29, documenting at that moment people living outdoors, in vehicles, emergency shelters and transitional housing programs. The data help determine federal and state funding allocations, inform local planning efforts and help Contra Costa Health (CCH) and community partners better understand trends and service needs. Findings show that 2,260 people were documented during the 24-hour period, compared to 2,118 peo...

Update:  El Cerrito district maps narrowed to two by City Council Reminder: June 9 the El Cerrito City Council will hold a public hearing on how to split the city into five districts for council elections. The meeting begins at 6:15 PM in the council chambers. The new system will not be in place for the election for two seats in November. But beginning in November 2028 one council member would be elected from each district by the voters in that district. The image shows three possible ways El Cerrito could be divided into districts, from the June 9 council packet. These maps were prepared by a professional. Other maps were submitted by community members. Both the community and professional maps are included in the slideshow that will be presented to the council and are on the city webpage about district-based elections. According to the staff report, the city began transitioning to district elections “in response to the March 17, 2026 letter received from Rexroad Law allegin...