As residents of El Cerrito, it’s important that we take a hard look at our city’s fiscal health and understand the broader context within which we’re operating. The recent ranking by the California State Auditor places El Cerrito in a precarious financial position—13th most likely city in California to face bankruptcy. But what does this really mean, and how does it compare to our neighbors in Hercules?
California State Auditor’s Rankings: El Cerrito vs. Hercules
Hercules, like El Cerrito, has faced significant financial challenges in the past. The State Auditor once ranked Hercules as one of California’s most fiscally distressed cities. While the city has since improved its standing, El Cerrito has not followed suit. According to the California State Auditor’s financial health index, Hercules now ranks much healthier, scoring 51.89. In stark contrast, El Cerrito’s health index stands at 9.25, making it one of the lowest in the state. These scores reflect the cities’ ability to manage liabilities, revenue, and overall fiscal health.
The key issues in Hercules revolved around excessive debt, unfunded liabilities, and mismanagement of public resources—strikingly similar to the situation El Cerrito faces today. However, Hercules has made strides to address its fiscal imbalance by restructuring debt, reducing expenditures, and reevaluating its staffing needs.
El Cerrito, on the other hand, has continued down a path of fiscal irresponsibility. With over $85 million in unfunded pension liabilities and a workforce that’s disproportionately large for a city of 25,000 residents, it’s time to assess how we can right-size our operations.
Staffing Size and Contract Support: Key Factors in Fiscal Responsibility
One of the most significant differences between Hercules and El Cerrito is staffing size and the reliance on outside contractors. Hercules has taken aggressive steps to reduce staffing, consolidate departments, and outsource non-essential services. These decisions have not been easy, but they were necessary to avoid further financial deterioration.
In contrast, El Cerrito not only maintains high staffing levels but also heavily relies on contract support, which increases our operational costs even further. The city continues to employ one of the largest fire departments for a city its size, with four battalion chiefs, and an overstaffed police department, despite high crime rates. Adding to the strain, the city frequently brings in outside contractors and consultants to do “staff” work, further driving up costs, rather than addressing the inefficiencies in its existing workforce.
While Hercules has cut back on staff and reduced its dependency on external contracts, El Cerrito has expanded, adding new positions even as our financial woes deepen and excessively relying on contractors to fill roles that should be handled by full-time staff. This growth, paired with our dependence on expensive outside help, is not sustainable for a city of our size, particularly given our lack of diversified revenue streams and our chronic dependence on reserves to balance the budget.
Right-Sizing El Cerrito
Right-sizing doesn’t mean cutting essential services; it means allocating resources effectively and efficiently. We are not asking for layoffs of union staff. We are, however, suggesting structural changes and reductions to management ranks and a reconsideration of the heavy reliance on costly contract support. By reducing unnecessary management layers and bringing certain functions in-house to reduce reliance on contractors, El Cerrito can avoid a fiscal collapse similar to what Hercules once faced. Here are a few steps we should consider:
1. Conduct a Staffing and Contracting Audit: Evaluate the need for all positions, particularly in top management and high-paying administrative roles, and assess how much reliance there is on external contracts. Other cities our size operate with far leaner leadership teams and less dependency on outside support.
2. Restructure the Fire Department: El Cerrito hasn’t faced a major fire in years, yet we maintain an outsized fire department. We should explore shared services with neighboring cities and reduce unnecessary management roles.
3. Reduce Reliance on Contract Support: Outsourcing should be strategic and limited to non-core services. El Cerrito needs to evaluate areas where contractors can be replaced with full-time staff or where services can be delivered more efficiently in-house.
Hercules’ turnaround is a testament to the difficult decisions required to secure long-term financial health. El Cerrito now faces a similar crossroads, and without a decisive approach to right-size staffing, reduce contract dependency, and control expenditures, we risk following the path of financial ruin. We must urge our City Council to take the necessary steps now—before it’s too late.
Let’s not wait until El Cerrito reaches a point of no return. It’s time for our city to make the tough decisions that will secure a stable and prosperous future.
Contact Information
To voice your concerns and encourage our city leaders to make responsible decisions, you can contact the El Cerrito City Manager and City Council at the following:
Karen Pinkos: citymanager@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us Phone: (510) 215-4300
El Cerrito City Council:
• Mayor Tessa Rudnick: trudnick@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Wysinger: cwysinger@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilmember Paul Fadelli: pfadelli@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilmember Gabriel Quinto: gquinto@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilmember Lisa Motoyama: lmotoyama@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
Let’s stand together as a community and demand the changes we need to secure El Cerrito’s financial future.
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 