[00:03] Speaker 1: Recording in progress.
[00:08] Speaker 2: The time is now 6:01pm and the regular city council meeting of El Cerrito City council is called to order. Will the clerk please call the roll?
[00:19] Speaker 3: Mayor Weisinger.
[00:20] Speaker 2: Present.
[00:20] Speaker 3: Mayor Pro Temto. Councilmember Katsanes.
[00:24] Speaker 1: Here.
[00:24] Speaker 3: Council member Salt. Moteama.
[00:27] Speaker 4: Here.
[00:27] Speaker 3: Council member Saltzman.
[00:28] Speaker 1: Here.
[00:29] Speaker 3: We have a quorum.
[00:30] Speaker 2: The first item on the agenda is consideration under AB 2449. City Clerk. Do we have any requests?
[00:37] Speaker 3: We do not.
[00:38] Speaker 2: Okay. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance or a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The next item on the agenda is teleconference and public comment instructions.
[01:05] Speaker 3: Thank you, mayor. This hybrid meeting provides an option to participate in person or via zoom for closed captions. Meetings of the city council are subject to the Brown act and are held for the purpose of conducting city business. The brown act also ensures the public's right to be heard. And while city council is not able to respond to comments directly, your comments will be heard prior to council taking action. For members of the public who wish to provide oral testimony, the mayor will announce the time for public comment on each applicable item. Public comments will be taken in person only, and a request to speak can be submitted to the city clerk by completing a speaker card. The council's adopted rules of order and procedure specify that public speakers address the city council in an orderly and respectful manner. Proceed their comments with their name and city of residence, and be respectful of time limits. Thank you, mayor. That concludes my announcements.
[01:52] Speaker 2: Thank you so much. The next item on the agenda is council staff communications. City manager, do we have any staff communications?
[01:59] Speaker 5: Thank you, your honor. My name is Karen Pincus. I'm the city manager. It's wonderful to see everyone here tonight at our last meeting of the year. So I want to thank all of our council members. I want to thank our community, I want to thank our city staff for a wonderful 2025 and looking so much forward to 2026. I just wanted to remind everyone that our winter break sched for city hall will begin on Friday. City hall will be closed Friday, December 19th through Friday, January 2nd and will reopen on Monday, January 5th, 2026. There will are some other limited hours for other city buildings throughout the city, so please go to our website@el cerrito.gov and check on our calendar. And with that, madam mayor, thank you so much.
[02:45] Speaker 2: All right, are there any announcements from the council members. I'll start here at the end with Council member Salzman.
[02:51] Speaker 1: I just wanted to thank our staff for their tremendous work leading up to and throughout the teacher strike that happened in our school district, which was very challenging as a parent. It was very challenging, and it was challenging for the city because the city runs aftercare on school sites, and so couldn't do that. Even though you all tried to figure out a way to keep aftercare going. But the communication with the parents was excellent, and. And I thought you went above and beyond by finding alternative work assignments for aftercare employees who wanted them to make sure they stayed employed, even if we didn't know how long the strike would go on. And that just shows how much you care about the workers here. And I know that made them feel very valued. I, as a parent, really value these folks. They're so important to our community. So just thank you for that.
[03:43] Speaker 2: All right. Any other staff? Yeah, I'm sorry. Council announcements. All right, so mayoral announcements for the fourth quarter, 2025, covering October to December. I recognize El Cerrito centenarian Teresa Perela, who was Also El Cerritos 2017 Wall of Fame inductee who will turn 109. On December 4th. I issued a mayoral proclamation in recognition of the 72nd. Sorry, 77th annual or anniversary of St. Peter's CME Church. And tonight I have several mayoral proclamations that I would like to present. So I'm going to start with the first proclamation, whose honoree is not here, but it did kind of lead to one of our. One of my other proclamations to Billy Nichols, who is a longtime Elsa reading, a longtime African American El Cerritan. I actually promised her that I would give her a male proclamation. You're going to hear me say this a lot tonight, but she is one of the African American members who's been here in El Cerrito for a long, long time. And as you know, we've only had three black mayors here. And so it was very important for me to recognize longtime black El Cerritans. And so I will be issuing this to Ms. Billy Nichols and her son Kevin. I'm very honored to issue this to her. You can go ahead and clap for Billy Nichols if you know her. The second is to Pastor Marvin K. White. Pastor Marvin White, if you do not know, is the pastor of Gly Memorial Church. And although Gly Memorial Church is in San Francisco, it's been very instrumental in creating a welcoming and safe environment for LGBTQIA for folks. Of course, this is an LGBTQIA majority council. So it created the conditions and the circumstances that allowed for us to sit here. And also, Pastor White has been very, very welcoming to me, himself, and the Gly Memorial Church family. You know, they get a lot of elected officials who come through those doors, but they really appreciated the way that I navigated and really supported community. Always came to visit them, always came to give a welcoming word. And I was surprised. And Karen says this all the time, how many people that live in El Cerrito go to Glide? So I do have a proclamation here for Pastor White. His assistant pastor, minister Mona Webb, is here in the audience. Mona, if you can raise your hand, she's here to accept in his. All right, proclamation number three. This is a proclamation that is very important to me, and I will be very honest. It was inspired by my promise to Ms. Billy Nichols to make a proclamation. I said if I was going to make a proclamation for a long time. Black Elsa reading. I had to give one to Granny. We know her as Granny, but Iris Morris, and I want to tell you why.
[06:42] Speaker 6: Woo.
[06:46] Speaker 2: I did not write a long speech, but Granny is the yes. That is very like my grandmother. Granny Morris raised four generations now I believe, of Morrises here in El Cerrito. Has been here since 1968. And when I told Granny that I wanted to run for El Cerrito city council, she said, well, you know, I never paid attention to the El Cerrito city council. She'd been here since 68, y'.
[07:09] Speaker 1: All.
[07:09] Speaker 2: She said, I never paid attention. She said, I never had a reason to pay attention to who was on city council. So it was a proud moment for me to give to become a reason for Granny to pay attention. And she does tell me that she has potholes, Yvette. And people speeding down the front of her house on Arlington. So she's very active and engaged. Granny, I love you very much. I want to read this out loud so people can understand further why, why I made the reclamation. And, Eric, if one of you all want to walk Granny up here, I don't want her sitting in the back while I'm reading this. Go ahead and give her another hand, y'.
[07:42] Speaker 1: All.
[07:54] Speaker 2: So whereas Mrs. Iris Christine Morris was born on December 25, 1934, and has lived a life defined by service, resilience, education, and deep commitment to family and community. And whereas Mrs. Morris graduated from El Cerrito High School, I hope you see a theme here in 1952 embodying gaucho pride and establishing lifelong roots in the city of El Cerrito and whereas, in 1969, Mrs. Morris made El Cerrito her permanent home, where she and her beloved husband, Mr. Jimmy Morris, raised their family and. And built a life grounded in love, stability and community values. And whereas. Mrs. Morris pursued higher education at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a bachelor's of arts degree in 1977 and a master's degree in social work in 1980, reflecting her commitment to education and public service. And whereas, in 1989, Mrs. Morris obtained her clinical social work license and devoted her professional career to supporting individuals and families, including honorable service with the United States Department of Veterans affairs until her retirement in 1997. And. Whereas. After her retirement, Mrs. Morris continued to serve others through her work until 2024, demonstrating extraordinary dedication to her profession and to the well being of community. Whereas. Mrs. Morris is the proud mother of three children and grandmother of eight grandchildren and. And great grandmother of 14 great grandchildren. And together with her beloved husband, Mr. Jimmy Morris, created a lasting family legacy rooted in care and perseverance and service. And whereas. Mrs. Morris is affectionately known to her grandchildren, their friends, and many in the El Cerrito community and Richmond community, including Mayor Carolyn Weisinger, as Granny, a name that reflects her role as a trusted guide, steady presence and source of wisdom across generations. Now, therefore, I, Carolyn Weisinger, Mayor of the city of El Cerrito, do hereby proclaim recognition and appreciation of Mrs. Iris Christine Morris for her lifelong contributions and enduring legacy to. Thank you so much. Granny. Don't go. Wait, don't go yet. I'm going to invite all the grandchildren and children up to the front and we're going to take a picture with her. It. Thank you. All right. For our final presentation proclamation, I don't know if we have enough room, but we're going to invite the El Cerrito Gaucho cheerleaders and the El Cerrito Gaucho football team. Okay. So I think we should have maybe the cheerleaders on the side and in the middle aisle. Cheerleaders, you might want to take the side in the middle aisle so we can get as many of the players in here as possible. Oh, that's even better. Oh, this is going to be fun.
[12:57] Speaker 1: Yeah. Will.
[12:57] Speaker 2: Got it. They got it. Oh, wow, that's. Oh, okay. I gotta take a picture of this.
[13:18] Speaker 3: Okay.
[13:18] Speaker 2: Because I don't want you all to stand too long, but I mean, you worked really hard. You good at running and standing. I know you can do it. You stand on that sideline. This is a very, very important presentation to Me because I came to El Cerrito High School in the spring of Dottie Davis. When was spring of 1993. Yeah, I'm date checking you too. In the spring of 1993. I hated football because my mama used to make me watch football all the time. But then I got me a little boyfriend on the freshman football. This is very too much information. And ever since then, I became incredibly invested in El Cerrito Gauchos. I was a cheerleader, actually, I was the mascot. Don't ask questions. I was the leadership director. I was a senior class president. If any of you know Coach Adai, I don't know how many of you would be old enough to have known when Coach Adai was with the team. His son is my nephew. He knows that I have two El Cerrito Gaucho jerseys. And when you put me in that ground, put me in my El Cerrito Gaucho jersey because I bleed green and white. This is a beloved and very important institution to me. And it is so I say God ordained that in this year, when I am the mayor, the most school spirit that you will ever meet, that you all would make it to the state championship.
[14:42] Speaker 1: I.
[14:49] Speaker 2: Could not be more proud of all of you. I know how hard it is to be a student athlete. I know what this team has gone through since last year. Coach, what happened to you all. To turn it all the way around to state is an amazing feat. I want to inspire all of you that are going on. You are going to be representing this great school and great city. Many of you will go on to D1 schools, maybe go on to HBCU schools, wherever it is that you go. But you will forever be a gaucho, as you can see, with me and my gaucho Green as well. And I know that you all will do great things. I want to name the speak the name of some folks. Wait a minute. If I can bring it up here. Because we do have a proud tradition, as you all know, that you are now a part of El Cerrito Gaucho alumni who have gone on to grow to do great things. And I want to name the names of some of them. Aaron Banks, who many of you all know. Jerry Bell, Cornell Green. Camille Loud. Jamir Miller. Harvey Salem. Todd Spencer. Terrell Roberts, may he rest in peace. And your coach or one of your coaches, Mr. Lamont Thompson. And also my good friend, I mean you again, you with coach Donnie, that's my friend since second grade. So I knew you would do great things. But all of the accomplishments that all of those teams had, as great as they were, you all are the first to make it to state and I hope that you all make it as far as all of them. I want to give also, Mayor Pro Tem, I know this is my proclamation, but I know that you are also a proud gaucho. If you would like to say anything to the team as well.
[16:32] Speaker 7: Well, as an old gaucho, I congratulate this team. You make our city and west county proud. So I want to say Congratulations, class of 79, we had Dr. Carson that was on the football team, but I remember Harvey Salem as one of my classmates as well. But we had all through the years, great football players, great athletes, women and men in all of the sports. So again, congratulations. We're so proud of you. And my sister was a cheerleader as well. And I know Carolyn Coleman, the CEO of Cal Cities, was a cheerleader and she's here in our audience as well. So we have. And Karen Pincos was a cheerleader as well. Who knew? So, again, congratulations to the team. It's a group effort and we're so proud of you. West Contra Costa, El Cerrito, you put our mark here on the city. So again, thank you for your leadership and thank you. You deserve that. What a great looking statue. Congratulations.
[17:45] Speaker 2: Before I ask you, before I ask you for any comments that you may have, Coach, I just want to also say that you all come from a family tree.
[17:52] Speaker 1: The.
[17:52] Speaker 2: The Frank Milo family tree, the George Austin family tree, do great things. But finally, the most important reason why this was important to me as the third black mayor of this city is because I was once like you, a young black brown youth here in El Cerrito who didn't always feel like you were supported in the city. Hopefully this has been different for you now, but in our day, back in 1995, I remember that it was a welcoming city, but you always knew that some folks may have had a little bit of the. And one of the reasons that I want to be the mayor of this city, the people that I was thinking of when I decided to run, was for all of you to make it safe for simple things like going to football games, going to footlocker, to be safe without being profiled, that was very important to me. So the fact that we have created a safe environment for you all to do the things that you did. Once again, I'm very, very proud of you. I want to invite coach Tim Johnson, who has done an amazing job with this team this year. Holly, do we have A handheld mic for him. You a little nervous? You're a little nervous?
[19:04] Speaker 7: Okay.
[19:05] Speaker 8: First of all, I want to thank everybody for being here today. I'm so proud of this team. I'm proud of this school, proud of this community. I'm proud of everybody that had a hand in helping us and just helping us get opportunity to be successful this year. I want to present this office with this photo. Hopefully you guys can find somewhere, somewhere nice to put it at. As state champions. The first state champions. Hopefully we making this city proud. You know what I mean? Making this community proud. So appreciate everybody. I mean, I also appreciate all my players and all their families. We did it.
[19:52] Speaker 2: Holly. You can take that, but I might have to steal that from my house. All right, so I'm going to come down and I believe. I want that trophy, too. I believe that there are so many players and cheerleaders here that we are going to go out to the hallway and do it on the steps. Okay? Should we take a recess to do this? We can make it work. You know, my booty won't go.
[20:19] Speaker 9: I'm sorry.
[20:20] Speaker 2: Look, let me turn my mic off.
[20:22] Speaker 8: I'll try turn the mic off.
[20:24] Speaker 10: I just stand with the coach. Do you guys want to meet him?
[20:30] Speaker 8: We're just gonna have to squeeze in.
[20:32] Speaker 2: There, but this is a nice shot.
[20:36] Speaker 7: Here.
[20:39] Speaker 8: Why you make that?
[20:47] Speaker 2: Oh, I was thinking just like this.
[20:49] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[21:04] Speaker 2: Come back here, Rebecca. Now they got me going the other way.
[21:06] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[21:07] Speaker 2: I want so, coach, you come to the front with me. We going to go back.
[21:09] Speaker 8: Go this way.
[21:10] Speaker 4: Y.
[21:10] Speaker 7: All right.
[21:12] Speaker 2: Y' all better not be talking about.
[21:13] Speaker 9: Me in class.
[21:15] Speaker 8: Following you. I got to follow the man. I'm following the man. I'm following me.
[21:21] Speaker 10: And.
[21:22] Speaker 7: And.
[21:27] Speaker 2: Okay. I could have got it assigned jersey. It's all right. I'm gonna come steal one.
[21:43] Speaker 8: First row, we need y' all to kneel down. First row, I need y' all to kneel down.
[21:47] Speaker 3: Yes.
[21:47] Speaker 1: Okay.
[21:48] Speaker 9: I'm a gaucho.
[21:49] Speaker 8: I need y' all to kneel down.
[21:51] Speaker 9: Okay. All right.
[21:54] Speaker 8: First row, we said. And kneel down. We want to see everybody in the back.
[21:58] Speaker 9: We could do it all.
[21:59] Speaker 10: Go to the back.
[22:00] Speaker 8: Let's go. Stand up if you're gonna be behind.
[22:46] Speaker 9: You coming up here.
[22:49] Speaker 2: Can you still see?
[23:31] Speaker 9: I don't know.
[23:43] Speaker 2: Look how.
[23:50] Speaker 7: All right.
[24:51] Speaker 1: Let's go.
[24:52] Speaker 8: Hey, before y' all leave, I need to talk to y'. All. Before y' all leave, I need to talk to you.
[24:57] Speaker 9: Good.
[25:32] Speaker 2: When I say go, say go, gauchos. Go. Go, gauchos. I got through that, I'm still. I don't know if I was gonna get there.
[25:48] Speaker 7: It was so.
[25:50] Speaker 2: I didn't write no speech. I just spoke from the heart. If we can have all the council up to the dais, we are still in session. So if we can have the rest of the council up to the daisy, we can do the easy parts while people are dispersing. The next item on the agenda is oral communications from the public. Now is the time for members of the public who wish to provide public comments regarding matters not on the agenda, consent items and presentation items. Request to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing a speaker card. Public comments will be taken in person only. Please remember to identify yourself in your city of residence at the beginning of your comments. City Clerk, please proceed.
[27:01] Speaker 3: Thank you, Mayor. We just have one request to speak tonight. Janet Byron.
[27:12] Speaker 4: Hello, City Council. My name is Janet Byron. I'm an El Cerrito resident and I'm on the El Cerrito Richmond Annex Walk and Roll Coordinating Committee. Over the past month or so, three serious car pedestrian collisions have occurred in El Cerrito, two of which resulted in fatalities, speed kills, and cars and trucks are simply driving too fast on city streets, especially on San Pablo Avenue. I live on San Pablo and need to cross it often, and I find it increasingly terrifying. While standing on corners waiting for the light to change. I routinely witnessed cars barreling through red lights and pedestrian activated beacons, even when the walk sign is on.
[28:00] Speaker 2: Can you pause for her time, Holly? Chief, if we can go ahead and unfortunately close the door to the lobby, that would be appreciated.
[28:10] Speaker 4: Maybe start over, we can do that.
[28:13] Speaker 2: That's fine, Holly. If we can restart her time, ma'.
[28:16] Speaker 1: Am.
[28:18] Speaker 4: Thanks.
[28:21] Speaker 3: Everyone's just so excited. Okay, you can go ahead and begin. I think it's good.
[28:32] Speaker 4: Okay. Hello again, my name is Janet Byron. I'm an El Cerrito resident and I'm on the coordinating committee of El Cerrito Richmond Annex. Walk and roll. Over the past month or so, three serious car pedestrian collisions have occurred in El Cerrito, two of which resulted in fatalities. And there were other accidents that were less serious, speed kills. And cars and trucks are simply driving too fast on city streets, especially on San Pablo Avenue. I live on San Pablo and need to cross it often, and I find it increasingly terrifying. While standing on corners waiting for the light to change, I routinely witness cars barreling through red lights and pedestrian activated beacons, even when the walk sign is on. San Pablo Avenue is the closest thing we have to a main street in El Cerrito and it is ostensibly a place of commerce. But while people are being killed and injured while crossing the street, cars are also damaging local businesses. Banter Wine had to delay its opening by more than a year. The massage parlor next door was hit and never reopened. The smoke shop next to the Indian grocery was hit twice. The driver of a parked car hit the wrong pedal and drove into Copy Central, stopping a few feet away from an employee. Regardless of what Caltrans says, San Pablo Avenue is not a Highway. Interstate 80 to the west is a highway. Yet 60 years after I80 opened, we are still being told that nothing can be done to slow down traffic on San Pablo. It's a state highway. I'm happy to learn that Caltrans is going to install more flashing beacons and pedestrian refuges on San Pablo as part of the repaving project next year. But I'm sorry, based on the driver behavior I have, I witness every day that won't happen soon enough and will not prevent speeding behavior. What can be done now to slow down cars on San Pablo and in the coming weeks and months? I personally have never seen police enforcing speed limits on San Pablo. How about lowering the speed limit to 25 and adding speeding and red light cameras that automatically give people tickets? How about giving pedestrians and children on their way to school more time to cross at all the intersections, Adding pedestrian scrambles at major intersections and eliminating rights on red. I implore the City Council to come up with short term solutions for speeding on San Pablo and implement them in partnership with Caltrans without delay. And we will be hosting a vigil for Donna Revecho, the woman who died at Sao Paulo in waldo on Monday, December 22nd at 2:00pm thank you.
[31:32] Speaker 3: Thank you, Mayor. That concludes our request to speak.
[31:35] Speaker 2: Thank you so much. The next item on the agenda is adoption of the consent calendar, which includes the following approval of minutes transportation impact fee annual report for fiscal year 2425 and approve the 2026 regular meeting schedule for City Council. Does anyone want to pull anything or have any questions?
[31:59] Speaker 1: I have a question about item B.
[32:01] Speaker 2: Okay. Any others? No? All right, go ahead with your question.
[32:08] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, as it's shown in this report, we're not getting a lot of transportation impact fees. There's only one in this past year. And of course earlier this year, we exempted multiple projects from this fee partially because we're seeing that especially multifamily development can't pay these fees and still make a project pencil. So I wanted to ask if staff would be Able to come back next year with a report on the fee since we've had it, what fees we've got in. And also a discussion about do we need to change the fees? Do we need to lower the fees? I don't want to keep doing one off exemptions. I think we need to figure this policy out so we can get housing moving forward in El Cerrito.
[32:58] Speaker 2: Good evening, Mayor, council members.
[32:59] Speaker 6: Yvette Ortiz, the city's public works director.
[33:02] Speaker 2: Yes, the transportation impact fee was established in 2019. And the first two years, we actually.
[33:08] Speaker 6: Did collect significant amount of money because there was a lot of development.
[33:12] Speaker 2: Last year was the slowest year.
[33:14] Speaker 6: Legally, we are required to update the.
[33:17] Speaker 2: Transportation impact fee study, and we are planning on doing that in calendar year 26. So you should be seeing something soon thereafter which will look at all the.
[33:26] Speaker 6: Fees, all the recent state legislation, and.
[33:29] Speaker 2: Updating projects and the fee amounts. And so you'll be seeing that.
[33:34] Speaker 1: Great. Thank you.
[33:36] Speaker 2: All right, so do I have a motion to approve the consent? I'll move.
[33:39] Speaker 7: I'll second.
[33:40] Speaker 2: All right. So moved by council member Motoyama. Seconded by mayor pro tem. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? So the consent calendar is moved. The next item on the agenda is policy matters. And the biggest policy matter tonight is the city reorganization. So let's see. I want to make sure I'm doing this right. Council member Holly. I'll go ahead and ask the council. Oh, thank you so much. And this is why Lisa Moteyama has been sitting next to me this whole time. If it's okay with you all, though, does anyone have any remarks before I give my remarks? Any remarks before I give? Okay. All right. Well, I did write a bunch of remarks because y' all know that I like to talk. Wait, hold on. All right.
[34:38] Speaker 1: So.
[34:41] Speaker 2: As we said in the beginning, in these. If you were not here, the state of the city. I just want to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to be the mayor of this city. Like I expressed when I. When the football team was here. You know, I came into El Cerrito as a child of the south side of Richmond. I've told this story before. My mom worked in the Plaza. I grew up as a child in the Plaza. And I didn't even know at that time that El Cerrito was a city. It was a place where the BART station was. I didn't understand that El Cerrito Plaza meant that El Cerrito was a city. And it is a city that is very near and dear to my heart for all the reasons that I expressed when the football team was here. As a gaucho, I do want to again give gratitude to my colleagues on the council, to our city staff who keep our city running every single day, and to the members who show up. The council members, community members who show up and send emails, who stop me in Safeway or Trader Joe's or when I'm trying to get my back adjusted at the chiropractor and remind me why this work matters. Serving as your mayor for the past year has been one of the deepest honors of my life. And I mean that truly, not just a written part of a speech. When I stepped into this role, I knew the title would be mayor. But the real job description is something we write together, week by week, meeting by meeting, crisis by crisis, and celebration by celebration. Tonight I want to briefly reflect on three things this mayoral year has taught me about governing in community and about leading through challenge, and about joy and justice as serious work. First, this year affirms something that I've always believed Local government is a team sport. Nothing that happened during my mayoral year was mine alone. Every proclamation we issued, every policy we advanced, and even tough votes that we took together as a team were a result of collaboration between council members, staffs, our boards and commissions, our regional partners, and importantly, you, the residents of El Cerrito. I've watched neighbors show up not just to oppose something, but to help shape it. I've seen people approach the podium nervous and leave empowered. I've seen our staff work long hours to translate community feedback into policies that are thoughtful and workable and rooted in our values. This year reminded me that my role as mayor was not just to be the loudest one in the room, but it was the whole space so more voices could be heard. Sometimes that means slowing things down to ensure inclusion. Sometimes it means moving us forward, even when consensus is hard and when some folks may not feel as heard as we would like them to. But always the goal is the same, to make sure that people felt that they were part of our city and part of our government, not just members visitors to it. Secondly, this May year has been very humbling in the way that only challenges can be. Local government does not govern. In theory, we lead in real time, with real budgets, real constraints, and real people who feel the impact of our decisions immediately in their neighborhoods and in their businesses and in their community in general. There were moments this year that required us to sit with difficult trade offs. Many, many difficult trade offs. Moments where urgency and care were both required moments where leadership meant explaining not just what we were doing, but why we would do it and what would be the cost. In those moments, I return again and again to these questions. Does this decision move us towards equity? Are we being honest with our community about the trade offs? And will I be proud of this choice ten years from now, even if it's unpopular today? Not every decision was easy. Not every outcome pleased everyone. But I can say with confidence that we approach this work with integrity, transparency and a deep sense of responsibility to the people of El Cerrito and third and this is my favorite this year has taught me that joy is not a distraction from justice. It is one of its most essential tools. Some of the most meaningful moments of my mayoral year didn't happen in the chamber. They happened in human exchanges that reminded me who leadership is truly for. I think about my littlest supporter, Brooks, who at just five years old, still just shy of kindergarten, insisted that he and his mommy go out canvassing for me in the rain. He didn't understand campaign strategy or city governance, but he understood something important, showing up for something that you or someone that you believe in. Today, Brooks is 7 or 8 years old, and for him, having a black lesbian as his mayor isn't remarkable. It's just normal. It's simply the world as he knows it. And that reminds me of children like my nephew, who started life only ever knowing a black man as president of the United States. That kind of normalization matters. It quietly reshapes the children, what children believe is possible about leadership, about belonging, about themselves. I also think about the young couple that I met just this past weekend at the Sundar shoddy holiday display. They told me they had only lived in El Cerrito for two years, but they brag about our city all the time. They said they tell their friends how proud they are to live here and that seeing me serve as mayor made them even prouder to call El Cerrito home. Those moments remind me that representation isn't abstract. It's personal. It shows up in how people feel about their city, how connected they feel to their neighbors and how deeply they choose to invest in community life. As a black lesbian serving as mayor, I've tried to govern with an ethic that centers care, equity and joy, but also our core values. The joy in our celebrations, the justice in our policies and humanity and how we treat others. Because when people feel seen by their city, they show up for it. And that is how strong communities are built. I want to take this time to offer some specific thanks to people. Again, to my colleagues on the council, thank you for your partnership, your pushback, your shared commitment to El Cerrito. Thank you for allowing my chaos sometimes. Thank you for allowing me to be loud. Thank you for helping me to achieve what I always wanted to do, which was make El Cerrito more visible. We don't always agree, but we've governed with respect and with common purpose to our city staff. You are the backbone of this city. You turn policy into practice and vision into service. Your dedication, professionalism, and care do not go unnoticed. You all, again, even more than the council, have dealt with my chaos. I want to thank you specifically, Karen, for being a great city manager. Because as I always say, representative politics is easy, but you have to be willing to learn. And you have taught me a lot, and you will continue to teach me a lot, but you have taught me a lot as a mayor. So thank you to our community members, advocates and leaders, thank you for holding us accountable and giving us grace. Our process isn't perfect, but it's powerful because people care enough to engage. To my family, my friends, my loved ones, the people, the loved ones in this work. I want to name my fellow council member in Emeryville, Courtney Welch. I want to name my boss, Malia Cohen. I want to name all my fellow sister elected leaders. Yes, we do talk to each other. When we get irritated with stuff, we become each other's container. We become the ones that tell each other to continue to walk with grace. So I want to thank them, thank my family and my loved ones. Thank you for supporting me through long nights, early morning, and the emotional weight that comes with public service. You are my grounding and my joy. Looking ahead as this mayoral year comes to close, I want to say that the work does not end with the passing of the gavel. I want to also say that I didn't write in this, but I remember that I wanted to say something. Someone asked me the other day, I was speaking at Equality California, and I said, I'm passing the gavel now, but I said, I'm passing it to another gay, and he's gonna pass it to another gay, and he's gonna pass it to another gay after that. So El Cerrito will be the gayest city in California for at least the next three years. Our shared goals, building a more equitable, safe, joyful, and sustainable El Cerrito belongs to all of us. I look forward to continuing to serve on this council, to supporting our next mayor, and to staying focused on the long Term work of strengthening the city we love. And as always, some of you all may know my personal benediction. Then I heard the voice of the Lord say, whom shall I send and who will go for us? And I said, here I am, Lord. Send me. Thank you, El Serita. There's something in blue for Mayor Pro temple. Okay, I'll stand up.
[43:52] Speaker 7: These are for you. Congratulations. So I want to present this plaque. You did a fantastic year as mayor. We congratulate you. Thank you for representing us locally, regionally and across the country. You did a fantastic job. We are proud of you.
[44:10] Speaker 2: Thank you. Okay, and now with that, I now declare the offices of mayor and Mayor pro tem vacant. City Clerk, please proceed.
[44:29] Speaker 3: Thank you. At this time, nominations for mayor can be made. Nominations do not require a second. Are there any nominations for the office of mayor?
[44:37] Speaker 2: Yes. I would like to nominate Gabe Quinto as mayor of El Cerrito.
[44:42] Speaker 3: Thank you. Are there any other nominations? Hearing no other nominations, Is there a motion to close the nomination period and select Council Member Quinto as the mayor?
[44:51] Speaker 1: So moved.
[44:52] Speaker 7: Second.
[44:54] Speaker 3: All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Congratulations, Mayor Kinto. At this time, I would like to invite Attorney General Rob Bonta up to our lectern here. He will be delivering the oath of office for Mayor Kinter.
[45:20] Speaker 10: Well, thank you. Good evening, everybody. Rob Bonta, California Attorney General. An honor to be here in the chambers with all of you. Let me first say thank you to the mayor and our council members for your service. Serving at the local level is so important. I know it's tough out there. The job is difficult. The environment is toxic. And it is more important, as ever, that good folks with good values who want to make their community better lead. So I want to say thank you for your leadership. I had the opportunity to start my career in elected public service on a city council in the East Bay. And I'm grateful for all that you do. I also want to lend my support and congratulations to the El Cerrito High School football team. What a wonderful and appropriate recognition and celebration of their accomplishment. And, of course, we're here to recognize Mayor Gabe Quinto for his continued leadership and his service to the city of El Cerrito. I want to first say thank you, Gabe, for your longtime friendship. I appreciate you very much. I'm grateful that you asked me to have this honor of being able to swear you in. I want to say also thank you on behalf of the great city of El Cerrito for your ongoing service to the community. You've always Led with equity and transparency, thoughtful governance, and it's all made a difference. I've had the privilege of meeting leaders and communities all across this great state, from the four corners of this state and whether it be the northernmost corners of the state to the southern border and everywhere in between. And time and time again, I realized there's no place like the East Bay. It's special here. And there's a deep sense of purpose here, of believing that we need to make government work for the people, that we need to build and earn that trust, and that we should always strive to do better, to be better for our neighbors, and that there's so much at stake. And that spirit is reflected right here in El Cerrito. And it's embodied in the leadership of soon to be Mayor Gabe Quinto, who has been such a strong and respected voice for the city. Mayor Quinto's commitment to public service has made El Cerrito better strengthened El Cerrito. He understands that cities thrive when people are heard, when decisions are grounded in data, facts, values, and when government is accessible and accountable. And under his leadership, El Cerrito has continued to prioritize sustainability, inclusivity, responsible growth, ensuring that the city remains a place where people want to live, work, and raise their families. Mayor Quinto also knows that no city succeeds alone, that real progress requires teamwork across state and federal partners, constitutional officers, county leaders. And he's exceptional at building those relationships, at calling on those relationships as appropriate. And I've seen it firsthand. Mario Quinto is the kind of leader who will pick up the phone and say, we have a problem here. We have an issue here. How can we work on it together? How can we talk it through? And that instinct to collaborate, to partner, to problem solve, and to turn it into meaningful action is what effective leadership looks like. So it's also no surprise that as the saying goes, the cream rises to the top. And Mayor Quinto has served as the president of Cal Cities. It reflects his trust, the trust that his peers place in him, the respect they have for him, and the leadership role he's taken in making not just this city, but all cities stronger and better across the state of California. And at the heart of all that leadership is a clear belief that local government must serve everyone, has to serve everyone, especially those who have too often and for too long been left out or left behind. And that focus has helped move El Cerrito forward and position the city for a very strong future. So it's with my gratitude. It's my honor to. With Gratefulness for your leadership, your partnership again, your friendship, and your continued commitment to the people of this great city. That I have the honor to celebrate you and your work today. And that is enough from me. Let's get on to Mayor Quinto and his swearing in. Would you please join me to take your oath of office?
[49:30] Speaker 3: I apologize.
[49:31] Speaker 2: One of the mics is not working.
[49:32] Speaker 7: Okay. All right.
[49:39] Speaker 10: Raise your right hand, please. I, state your name.
[49:42] Speaker 7: I, Gabriel Kinter.
[49:44] Speaker 10: Do solemnly swear or affirm.
[49:46] Speaker 7: Do solemnly swear.
[49:48] Speaker 10: That I will support and defend.
[49:50] Speaker 7: That I will support and defend The.
[49:52] Speaker 10: Constitution of the United States.
[49:54] Speaker 7: The Constitution of the United States.
[49:56] Speaker 10: And the Constitution of the State of California.
[49:58] Speaker 7: And the Constitution of the State of California.
[50:01] Speaker 10: Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
[50:04] Speaker 7: Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
[50:06] Speaker 10: That I will bear true faith and allegiance.
[50:09] Speaker 7: And that I will bear full faith and allegiance.
[50:13] Speaker 10: True faith and allegiance. Let's get it right. So it's official. To the Constitution of the United States.
[50:20] Speaker 7: To the Constitution of the United States.
[50:22] Speaker 10: And the Constitution of the State of California.
[50:25] Speaker 7: And the Constitution of the State of California.
[50:27] Speaker 10: That I take this obligation freely. That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation.
[50:33] Speaker 7: Without any mental reservation.
[50:36] Speaker 10: Or purpose of evasion.
[50:37] Speaker 7: Or purpose of evasion.
[50:39] Speaker 10: And that I will well and faithfully discharge.
[50:42] Speaker 7: And that I will well and faithfully.
[50:43] Speaker 10: Discharge the duties upon which I'm about to enter.
[50:47] Speaker 7: The duties in which I am about to enter.
[50:49] Speaker 10: Congratulations.
[50:51] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[50:51] Speaker 1: Thank you for.
[50:51] Speaker 7: Your service.
[51:16] Speaker 2: Is short. Just move some of this stuff. This is a lot of stuff. Oh, you need script.
[52:06] Speaker 1: There you go.
[52:08] Speaker 10: And.
[52:24] Speaker 7: This is the time when I get to speak. I just want to say thank you to my brother, my good friend, Gabe.
[52:32] Speaker 3: Can you get closer to the mic? We can't hear you.
[52:36] Speaker 7: I just want to say again, thank you to Attorney General Rob Bonta. And I want to say it was you that was the first to endorse me when no one else would. So you answered the phone when I called. And forever grateful to your leadership. And you've taught me to always build the bench. And that's what you and I have been doing for all the communities here in California. And I see some great leaders here on the local level that are with us today, with my colleagues here on the El Cerrito Council, and also to my longtime colleague, starting with the Sierra Club, Igor Tregub, who is now Berkeley council member, and with also Terry Taplin, council Member Taplin, who represents my old neighborhood, where all the Filipinos lived back in the day in West Berkeley. So, again, thank you for joining us. I'm Here with my longtime partner, dear friends and former El Cerrito mayors and council members, here with Cal City CEO Executive Director Carolyn Coleman. With my classmate John Gioia, we have this is family. This is the El Cerrito west county family and the East Bay family. And as president of the League of California Cities, we are going to meet in Igor Tragub's district of downtown Berkeley. We don't have a hotel that can carry all of us in El Cerrito, but we are going to meet at the Marriott. And so my staff here in El Cerrito and our newest board member for Cal City, City Manager Karen Pincus, will be joining Carolyn Coleman at our board meeting at Berkeley in February. I just want to say how grateful I am to this council. I want to thank my colleague again, Carolyn Coleman, for, I mean, Carolyn Weisinger, for an outstanding job as mayor this year. She has done the homework. She took all of the trainings with Equality California and Victory. And I remember her in the audience back in 2017, 2018, and you said, I want to do what you're doing. And look what we see now. So it's about truly building this bench for the city of El Cerrito. When I leave the council, we're going to be in good hands with the next group of elected officials, and I'm confident of that. El Cerrito is known for having they do all the work, just like Walnut Creek and Contra Costa. It's Walnut Creek and now El Cerrito that we are part of, the regional boards and state boards for the state of California. I want to congratulate council member Lisa Motoyama, who represents Contra Costa and El Cerrito in all of Bay Area in the ABAC Executive Committee. And I look forward to having a future vice mayor, mayor pro tem, who will head up transportation for west county and Contra Costa. This is a group effort. So I'm looking at both of you and I see great things ahead. You'll be taking over some of my seats, and I'm really excited for the both of you to step up and do this in a huge way, doing the work. And that's what we do. That's what we're known for. And we do this in a way where we agree to disagree. We're five different elected officials, and I'm grateful to that. I want to let the residents know of El Cerrito what my priorities are for the city of El Cerrito. And one of it is public safety. That will always be a priority in this city. And that is my word. We're grateful to the police and fire departments and our first responders for the work that they do to protect all of us. We'll continue to invest in public safety to ensure that our residents feel safe and around their homes. And we work together to prevent crime and that we're preparing for emergencies and disasters. We have a lot of work to do with fire safety, including receiving grants to assist with vegetation management in our hillside natural area. And I look forward to continuing to work with our residents to make sure El Cerrito is a fire safe community for our police. I'm grateful that they are patrolling our city and helping out in the surrounding towns. More of that and then some. We are a pro public safety city and we will always continue to do that. People spend a lot of money. We have a new generation of residents. They're the lucky ones that can afford to move here. But what they expect from this city is to provide public safety, fire and police. So these new families who are paying top taxes for these expensive homes, they expect public safety for all of us. So look forward to that. We're going to continue to support transit oriented development and housing for all. Grateful to BART who took my idea of adding affordable housing at our Plaza BART station and the possibility of adding a library. I'm looking at Dave Weinstein. You need to have. Thank you for having all those cocktail parties and having eclectic people join you. And I got that idea from the gentleman that headed up modernizing San Francisco City Hall. So Patrick has done a great job added air conditioning to that City hall and it was his idea. So I'm forever grateful to these ideas that I learned from your parties that you have all the time. So more of that and then some. We're making streets safer for all users. Unfortunately, we've had a couple of deaths recently. A senior who crossed the street. The same intersection of Waldo and San Pablo that I used to cross daily as a kid growing up here. And so we're going to continue to prioritize safety improvement citywide, especially on San Pablo Avenue, East Shore and Richmond Street. We will also work with Caltrans to update safety on San Pablo Avenue. Excited about the Richmond Street Complete Streets project as well. Which we will make the street safer for everyone who travels along that corridor. Especially the middle school kids who will ride their bike and cross the street there every day. I can't wait to be at the ribbon cutting for the completion of the Del Norte Complete streets improvement early next year. My neighborhood had the brunt of all the traffic Delays. It takes a while to get through to the BART station. I want to thank our residents for being patient with us and with Caltrans. We're almost there, so just a few more weeks and we'll get there. And I want to say that we will be investing in community assets and technology. The city's financial position is stable and strong. This is not by accident, but it's the result of a lot of hard work by the City Council, city staff and the community over the past five years. We are committed to maintaining our financial stability and closely monitoring our budget and resources. For the upcoming biennial budget. We will begin to discuss priorities and work plans for the upcoming City council retreat on January 10th. And we will focus on evaluating our community assets, starting with a comprehensive update of the City Capital Improvement Program. This work and the prioritization of projects will help us plan for maintaining critical city facilities like our swim center, ensuring the facilities are safe, accessible and welcoming to all. I want to make sure that folks know about our upgrading of the AV system here at City hall in the City Chambers, which also serves at the city's Emergency Operations center. And that will begin in January of 2026. We will be continuing to improve our technology citywide to provide better services for the public, especially in our police and fire departments, to provide better public safety and in all of our other departments to better have better customer service. I want to say once again, thank you to my colleagues who had the faith in me. I'd also like to thank my family, especially Glenn. We moved here in 2001 when we could not afford to purchase anything in Noe Valley where we were renting. It's been a sacrifice to move into this tiny bungalow, but it's been. I'm grateful to you and what we were able to build in El Cerrito. Now we have one of the highest demographics when it comes to mixed couples, straight and gay, and I'm just so proud of that. We are a welcoming city and we will continue to be a welcoming city. On my street alone. We have so many new families and these families want the same things that I was able to used when I was growing up here in El Cerrito. Like a new 21st century public library and with half truths and stuff that you see on blogs. I have one thing to say. Let the real truth come out starting in 2026 and you will see this library come up and it will be an open discussion with everyone to participate. This is one of the things that continues to inspire me. The library is where I was as a latchkey child where I learned and I stayed there till 3:30 in the afternoon. So my mom who worked at Kaiser Oakland, she would pick me up at the library and we would head home together. So John Joyer knows that because he grew up in this library as well. So great things ahead. And one thing I want to make sure that everyone knows is that we will continue to be providing housing for all and that includes low income housing, the missing middle. And we have a need for luxury housing as well. I'm looking at Rod Mercado and he knows a lot of people would love to live here but we don't have enough housing. So housing in all levels is needed. And I look forward to showing Carolyn Coleman and attorney A.G. rabanta our groundbreaking and ribbon cutting of our new affordable housing project right next to the Mayfair at the Del Norte station. And we will see more of that in the future. And I'm just so excited about that. So one of the other things I want to know is the priorities that we have with the League of California cities and 476 cities currently are members of that, including all of our large cities. And we'll get the one that is no longer with us. I'm sure they will join us soon. Our priorities for this year is to protect and enhance local revenues and expand economic development tools. We are going to Number two is to straighten partnerships, strengthen partnerships with the state to improve public safety. Number three is to secure investments to prevent and reduce homelessness and increase the supply of affordable housing. Number four, strengthen climate change resiliency and disaster preparedness and how small cities get this done. We collaborate with our partners in the county level and I look forward to collaborating with you, Supervisor John Doya and the rest of the Board of the County Supervisors group and to work with your executive committee with csac. I look forward as president to work with Susan Ellenberg from Santa Clara county, who's a new CSAC president. And we have to work together. I know Carolyn Coleman and I are heading to Washington in the month of January, late January. Hopefully we can prevent another federal work stoppage that hurts everyone and it has hurt a lot of our residents here in El Cerrito and West Contra Costa. And that includes the neediest of our population, especially our communities of color. So we are all on board to work regionally together with Cal Cities, National League of Cities, CSAC and all of the organizations we work with. We take the lead. We're the greenest city in Contra Costa County. I'm proud to have been the vice Chair. Chair of MCE Clean Energy. We will continue to lead on that despite what the Trump administration is doing in these takeaways that they're currently after. So I'm grateful to the Attorney General for all of his work and the 50 things that you are suing the federal government on. Thank you for representing all of California. That is part of what I have to say. But this is truly a group effort and I have to look at what is in store next. Yeah, I'm going to start reading the script again. Okay, so next we're going to choose our new mayor pro town vice mayor. I will now open nominations for mayor pro Tem. Are there any other nominate. Are there any nominations? I wish to nominate Councilmember Rebecca Salzman as our next Mayor Pro tem.
[67:48] Speaker 2: Second. Second.
[67:53] Speaker 7: Okay. I now hearing. Are there any other nominations? Hearing no more nominations. Is there a motion to close the nomination period and select council member Rebecca Saltzman as Mayor Potem? Do I have a second? We have a motion. All in favor say aye.
[68:18] Speaker 2: Aye.
[68:19] Speaker 7: Any nays? Abstention. Motion carries. Council member Rebecca Saltzman has been selected as Mayor Potem. It's my honor to give this to you. And this is a group effort. It takes two, so it takes your life as well. And Glenn can talk to your. You have been part of this as long as I have as your 12 years embarked and so looking for great things ahead and look forward to collaborating with you. Thank you. Okay, do we have any remarks from our new mayor pro tem?
[69:19] Speaker 1: Yes. First, thank you all. I'm honored to to be elected as the mayor pro tem. And it's not just my wife Caitlyn, who will be sharing me, it's my daughter as well, Zinnia, who will who also is in on this. And I appreciate very much that they allow me to continue to do this. I was reflecting today that I've now been representing EL CERRITO For 13 years, as you mentioned, 12 years on the BART board and now a year on the city council. And it's just such a fantastic city. And I feel privileged to get to live here and to get to raise my family here and to be part of this really phenomenal community. This is by far the smallest place town I've ever lived in. I grew up in LA and have lived in Berkeley and Oakland. And it's just been amazing how quickly you get to know pretty much everyone here and how friendly the community is, how people support each other. I really saw that through the strike, especially as parents were all supporting each other. Taking care of each other's kids and really coming together and seeing the community support the teachers was really important. But just briefly, and it's. It's very much in line with what our mayor just touched upon. You know, next year I'm going to continue to work on what I've been working on in my year on the city Council, and many of these things I've been working on for the past 13 years. I really want to kick start our housing. We have some great affordable housing developments being built, including the one finally has broken ground at El Cerrito Plaza BART that I've worked on for nearly a decade. And now we need to get the market rate housing moving too. So I'm excited we've taken action this year, but I want to see us do more and make sure more and more people have the privilege of living in this wonderful city. Attached to that. I also want to make sure we keep our folks housed and continue to invest in the wonderful program, really that started under the leadership of council member Motoyama to make sure that when people are on the verge of becoming homeless, we have some financial resources for them. And then of course, the outreach program to the unhoused community to make sure we're supporting everybody here, whether they're housed or not. I also want to continue to focus on making our streets safer. We've made some real progress this year, and unfortunately, there's still a ways to go. It's just really tragic that we've had two fatalities in the last month from people who are just trying to cross the street. And that should be something anybody can do safely, any time of day. And we really need to work to make our streets safer for everybody, whether they're walking, biking, driving in a wheelchair on a scooter. Doesn't matter how they're getting around or what age they are. We want to make it safe for everybody. And then I want to continue to work on what the council before I got here and the management has done, which is strengthen our financial position. You all got us out of a very challenging crisis. We're in a better place. And now we're kind of at the next stage where we can begin to plan more proactively for, for some of these capital investments that would have been nice if we could have done over the past several years, but there was the financial crisis. So I think we need to kind of meet that moment at this point, figure out what our priorities are. Not just with the pool, which we're moving forward on, but with parks with capital Investments for fire resiliency, which I know we're getting grants on and hopefully we can get more. But that's how we're going to continue to make sure that this is a city where people were. 90% of the people are happy with how everything's going here as we continue to invest in what we have and continue to welcome more people in. Exciting to take this next step and look forward to next year. Thank you.
[73:31] Speaker 7: Would any of my colleagues like to comment? Okay, next we will go to public comment. Now is the time for members of the public who wish to provide public comments regarding this item. Request to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing a speaker card. Public comments will be taken in person only. Please remember to identify yourself and your city of residence at the beginning of your comments. City Clerk, please proceed.
[74:00] Speaker 3: Thank you, Mayor. I'll call. Our first speaker is Greg Lyman, followed by John Joyet.
[74:09] Speaker 7: Gabe, congratulations. You know, we've started working together back in 2014 and you continue to grow as a leader. So I really appreciate where you are and where you're going and I'm looking forward to working with you. I'm excited, actually, that you're going to be mayor for 2026. You will have the reins as we move the library issue forward. Rebecca, congratulations. Welcome to leadership and I really looking forward to both of you. I know you will approach the new library with an open mind and strong desire for a new modern library. I look forward to collaborating with both you as we move this important capital infrastructure forward. So thank you and congratulations. Thank you.
[75:11] Speaker 9: Good evening, Mayor Quinto again and council members. It's good to be here. It was great to see the El Cerrito High football team. As a gaucho myself, way back a long time ago, I track and cross country were a large part of my high school career. And I know how sports is so important. So it's great that you honored them and the cheerleaders, that was great. I just forgot to wear my green. And to former Mayor Weisinger, congratulations on a successful year and to help not just break a barrier in El Cerrito, but to do the work. And you're, I know, a role model for so many and that's so important and in this world. Before I talk about you, Gabe, and congratulations, Rebecca, for being elected mayor pro tem and look forward and your continued transportation leadership. I think you bring so much to the council with your transportation background. Look forward to working with you on WCTAC and of course to Lisa and William and having your energy and finance and housing backgrounds is great. Looking forward to continued partnership. And to Mayor Quinto, I will say it is an extra responsibility to serve as mayor while you're also serving as the president of the Cal Cities. Having been the president of the state association of Counties and traveled around the state, I know how much the commitment that is. Carolyn knows this. And so I think residents don't realize, I don't want to say this, that when you serve and all of you serve in regional roles. Right. And other roles, people don't understand often and appreciate how much work that takes. And it's important work because it adds to the value of the work you do here in El Cerrito. People just see you here and the work and it's like, what have you done for me lately? Which is, of course, the most important thing about what you do in El Cerrito. But when you're fulfilling these other roles, you're also playing a very important leadership role. And so I know, Gabe, with that effort, you're going to be balancing a lot more. And it's important that I think the public recognizes that and looking forward to continuing our partnership. I think the county and the city have had many good partnerships over the years. Looking forward, of course, to the library. I think that is so important to build a new library. And I know the city has worked hard to do it in a financially prudent way. You know, continuing your leadership on housing, affordable housing. I know we've provided some funding into some of those housing projects, working on wildfire issues together, and we are providing some funding to help clear the wildland interface and working with. With your chief, the work on. On improving the EMS system. We're going out for a contract on continuing EMS surveys, services, addressing homelessness. I think because of a lot of joint efforts, the point in time count show that there was a decrease in homelessness. Still a lot of work to be done today at the Board of Supervisors. We just allocated nearly $3 million more in emergency rental assistance to help keep people on board and prevent them from. From being homeless. So just look forward to those partnerships to continue. Congratulations for another term as mayor and to all of you and for all of your commitment. And I know the work we'll continue to do together. So thanks.
[78:44] Speaker 3: Thank you. And we have one more speaker, Carolyn Coleman.
[78:51] Speaker 6: Because I've just missed speaking at city council meetings.
[78:56] Speaker 1: Good evening.
[78:56] Speaker 6: For those who I have not met, Carolyn Coleman, executive director of the League of California Cities. And first, I just wanted to say to you, President Mayor Quinto, your business card just got a little bit larger. But congratulations. We are so incredibly proud of you. And I bring that from all the leaders at the League of California Cities. So I look forward to, I won't say sharing you with the city of El Cerrito because El Cerrito always comes first to the folks who serve at the state level. But I'm so proud to be here with you tonight and to be a part of this moment. And I believe there are some flowers down here from your League of California Cities family. And so we wanted to say thank you to you, former mayor. Once a mayor, always a mayor is what is what they tell me. Thank you for your leadership at the city level, at the state level as well as the national level. And I am so excited tonight. I can't wait to take my selfie with you. We always take one together, no matter what city we find ourselves in. And to the mayor pro tem, congratulations to you and I'm looking forward to seeing all the great things that you are doing. What an incredible team you have here in the city of El Cerrito. This is my second visit to your city and in the span of about 4 or 5 months, there are 483 cities in California. I think I've been here more than I've been in any other city. Don't tell the others that. I also want to say to those in El Cerrito what a remarkable, remarkable leader you have in Karen Pinkos. And we're looking forward to getting an opportunity to work a little more closely with her as well. Gabe, you talk a lot about building a bench in your work at Cal Cities, and I've seen this on display here this evening. Carolyn, you opened your remarks with a comment about this work matters. And I truly, truly believe the work at the local level matters. Yes, your residents see you everywhere you go, in the grocery stores, at church, just stop at a stoplight and they can access you. And that's what makes it so important. And that's why there's so much trust in the local level of government. So I'm excited for what this team is going to do in the coming year. There's so much exciting going on in El Cerrito. I'll be back in February to check on your progress. Gabe corrects me and says we're meeting in Berkeley. I said, I keep telling people we're meeting El Cerrito and I'm going to stick to my story about that. But again, so proud of you and so proud that I had the chance to Be here tonight with you. Congratulations.
[81:45] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[81:45] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[81:51] Speaker 3: Mayor. That concludes our request to speak.
[81:53] Speaker 7: Thank you very much. Okay, next we'll go to City Council local and regional liaison assignments. Council members.
[82:08] Speaker 2: Yes. My last official meeting as mayor was with the Contra Costa Mayors Conference. We had a great holiday retreat or great holiday event and I was able to speak with some of our outgoing mayors as well as our incoming mayors and they said, Carolyn, we to intend intend to still see you here at the Mayor's Conference because so much of our regional work gets done there. So I am committed to still joining you at the Mayor's Conference every month. Thank you.
[82:37] Speaker 1: Been a busy past couple of weeks. On December 6th I went to the El Cerrito Pancake Breakfast and the Mayor was there as well. It was a lot of fun as always. On the 9th I went to to County Supervisor John Joya's holiday open house was which is a ton of fun and very well attended. On the 10th I attended the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting and on the 11th I attended the California League of Cities East Bay Division meeting along with our our new Mayor. And let's see. And then on the 12th I attended the WIC TAC board meeting on behalf of the city. Nothing huge to report from that meeting.
[83:27] Speaker 7: Yes, William, sure. Thank you. I attended both the Planning Commission meeting as well as the Urban Forest Committee and I don't remember the exact dates. December 7th I attended the Makers Fair right outside here in front of City hall. And on December 13th the highlight of my week was the rise and Fall of local newspapers presentation also in Hana Gardens. It was fascinating and that's it for me.
[83:57] Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor.
[83:59] Speaker 1: I attended the Mayor's conference as well and I also attended the ABAC Housing Committee meeting on the 9th just as.
[84:10] Speaker 7: A heads up to staff.
[84:11] Speaker 1: The Priority Development Area grants will be coming out soon so I hope that.
[84:16] Speaker 7: We will be prepared to apply.
[84:19] Speaker 2: Thank you.
[84:22] Speaker 7: I wanted to report that I did attend the Executive Committee meeting of MCE Clean Energy and I attended. A meeting last week at Supervisor John Joyer's office and that is John and I are members of the Bay Area Air District. We had a permitting meeting and so we will work more on dealing with heat pumps and the future of heat pumps coming up in January. So look forward to working with my colleague John Gioia and the Bay Area Air District team. As president of the League of California Cities I flew down and met Carolyn. We met at the California Club which is in downtown Los Angeles where Cal Cities had their LA Division holiday party with contract cities as well as independent cities. It was great to be at that building. My old office had a view of that building. And at one time, people that look like you and me and Karen Pincus were not allowed in that building. So that was my second time to be in that building. And I'm just so proud to be a part of Cal Cities and to enter that building with Executive Director Carolyn Coleman, because this shows how far we have gone. My senior partner was not allowed in that building, and as a Japanese American, and Mayor Tom Bradley, who was his best friend, was not allowed in that building either. So we've gone so far. We don't want to go back to those days ever again. So we're moving forward, but we always have to remember the past.
[86:20] Speaker 9: So.
[86:21] Speaker 1: So.
[86:22] Speaker 2: And I just wanted to circle back to one thing that I said in my remarks, because I spoke about my littlest supporter, Brooks. I told his mom that I would mention him tonight in my remarks. He wasn't here to hear it, but I hope that you all get to go back and watch the playback. And look how much taller he's gotten since we were out walking the streets in 2022. I'm happy to see you, Brooklyn.
[86:49] Speaker 7: So what a great evening. I can't talk anymore, but. So I'm going to adjourn this regular City Council meeting. The time now is 7:25. Please stay and join us in the lobby for cake and refreshments. The next regularly scheduled City council meeting is Tuesday, January 20th at 6pm thank you very much.
[87:23] Speaker 2: All right, Mayor.