At El Cerrito candidates’ forum, six vying for City Council talk about the budget, renovations and safe streets

The six candidates vying for two open seats on the El Cerrito City Council faced off Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Association hall, where much of the discussion focused on the city budget. 

Before an audience of about 100 people, the candidates responded to questions submitted by residents and posed by a moderator with the West Contra Costa County League of Women Voters. They sat before walls covered in plastic sheets because the building is under renovation.

Mayor Gabe Quinto, the only candidate who was on the council when El Cerrito underwent a state audit from October 2020 to March 2021 for its “high risk” budget management, said that if reelected, he would continue working toward better budget management. The city came off the high risk list in December 2024. 

“We are a very pragmatic council, we do not overspend like the last City Council,” said Quinto, who has served for 12 years. 

Carolyn Wysinger, who has served one term that included a year as mayor, would prioritize renovations to the city’s public safety building, which houses its police and fire departments. 

“These are things that are not going to go away if we make small changes in budgets,” Wysinger said.

Candidate Kimberly White, a financial adviser, said the city budget relies too much on reserve funds and needs to be better balanced. 

“Everything we know about should be baked into the budget,” White added. 

White is running in a joint campaign with Wally Nowinski, a clean energy marketer. They had railed against Measure C, a proposed parcel tax to build a new library that failed in the June primary. 

With 70% of the voters rejecting the measure, Quinto said, “You don’t want a new library. I hear you.”

Candidate Mary Ann “MJ” Jawili, an accessibility project manager, said she supported Measure C and also the citizen-led “Flock Out of El Cerrito” campaign, which advocated for decommissioning Flock automated license-plate-reader cameras. In May, the council voted not to renew Flock’s contract, with Quinto and Wysinger voting in favor of keeping it.

“I think there’s a better way for us to be safe that also builds community,” Jawili said.

Candidate Forrest Lanning, an earthquake resilience engineer, also registered his opposition to Flock cameras. Lanning said he would work to strengthen the city’s infrastructure to prepare for natural disasters. 

“I want to make El Cerrito not only more usable but also more resilient,” he said.

Jawili wants the city to build an intergenerational community center to meet the need for gathering spaces that has grown more acute since the El Cerrito’s senior center closed in March 2020.

Resident Dan Schulman said Jawili’s suggestion about a space where people can hang out “resonated with me a lot.”

The audience remained polite through most of the forum, but booed and hissed when moderator Lakisha Mitchell-Keith brought up the $11 million Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project, which the council passed last year. It will add protected bike lanes and remove parking spots along Richmond Street, from Fairmount Avenue to Elm Street. 

At the forum, Lanning, Nowinski and White said they opposed the project, which is expected to break ground this fall. 

Resident Katie Murphy was among the few in the audience who supports the project. 

“I’m looking for people who are taking a new active approach to transportation solutions,” Murphy said. After the forum, she still was undecided about who will get her vote.

Next Thursday, the El Cerrito Fire Safe Council, El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll and  El Cerrito Trail Trekkers will host a candidate forum at 5:30 p.m. at Veteran’s Memorial Association hall.

Election day is Nov. 3.

(All photos by Jaime Geary)

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