On Tuesday, December 3, the El Cerrito City Council, is poised to approve a new five-year contract for City Manager Karen Pinkos, elevating her salary to $261,384—despite the city’s ongoing financial challenges. Since 2019, El Cerrito has been under scrutiny from the state auditor due to significant fiscal concerns, including persistent budget deficits and insufficient progress in addressing these issues.
The proposed contract is controversial not only for its financial implications but also because it lacks performance standards for Ms. Pinkos and her direct reports. While city leaders commend Ms. Pinkos for doing an “excellent job,” residents question how such assessments are made without clear, measurable performance criteria. It’s unclear how her contributions are evaluated without these benchmarks or whether they justify the salary increase.
Other city employees are also slated for significant pay increases, despite El Cerrito’s already inflated payroll driven by oversized departments. Critics argue that the city has failed to address structural inefficiencies, and these proposed salary hikes will only add to the financial strain.
Notably, the City Council appears to be expediting this long-term contract before newly elected council members are seated, effectively locking in major changes that future leadership—and the city’s residents—will have to manage. This move has drawn criticism for sidelining community input and transparency during a critical transition period for the city.
The Financial Advisory Board (FAB), responsible for oversight, does not appear to have reviewed the pay adjustments or their potential impact on the city’s fragile budget. This lack of transparency raises further questions about fiscal accountability and the city’s priorities.
El Cerrito’s financial challenges are further underscored by its ranking as the 13th most likely city in California to face bankruptcy, according to the California State Auditor.
El Cerrito Responsible Government
This designation highlights chronic overspending, poor budgeting practices, and insufficient efforts to address financial challenges.
Residents are left questioning why significant salary increases are being prioritized at a time when deficits remain large, state auditor concerns from 2019 remain unaddressed, and a comprehensive financial recovery plan has yet to be implemented.
The full staff report and contract details are available on the city’s portal: View Report.
Without performance standards, departmental restructuring, or implementing a financial recovery plan, many residents are left questioning the priorities of city leadership.
Contact the El Cerrito City Council:
- Mayor Tessa Rudnick
Email: trudnick@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
Phone: (510) 215-4300 - Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Wysinger
Email: cwysinger@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us - Councilmember Paul Fadelli
Email: pfadelli@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us - Councilmember Lisa Motoyama
Email: lmotoyama@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us - Councilmember Gabe Quinto
Email: gquinto@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
#ElCerrito #CityManagerContract #FiscalResponsibility #TransparencyNow #StateAudit #PublicAccountability #NoRushedDecisions #NewCouncilNewChoices #ElCerritoResidentsDeserveBetter #25kResidents
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El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 
I tried to send a response to the comment you sent me about why you no longer publish “members” names, but I see that that response is not in today’s mailing along with my request to be removed from your mailing list and your reply. It is possible that my comment didn’t make it through to you because I tried to use the “comment” button instead of just replying to the email, as I had done previously and am doing now. Here is that response to your response again, as close as I can remember, because I think you should publish it, too: My reason for asking to unsubscribe was because I cannot determine the source of your publication. Your rationale for not identifying at least writers and contributors in your publication has to do with safety, yet not only do you publish the names of people who comment, you publish their email address, too, and in fact require both to be able to comment! So how is it reasonable that you put us at risk of exposure when you won’t put yourself at that same risk? There is a reason that reporters and writers all over the world routinely provide at least their name, even in countries where jail or death is a risk for speaking out. If they did not do so, it would be difficult to take their words seriously. Standing behind what you publicly claim or assert seems axiomatic to me, a requirement attesting to the validity of what you have written.
In any case, now you have published my name and my email to the public. To make my point even stronger, here is my address: 608 Everett Street, El Cerrito. Publish that as well, why don’t you? I’m not afraid to stand behind my comment. Thank you for removing me from your mailing list.B.J. Thorsnes
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BJ names and email addresses are not shared publicly by ECCRG. You have been unsubscribed, and it’s okay to hold a different perspective. We appreciate your feedback, but on this occasion, we must respectfully agree to disagree.
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Are you being obtuse purposely? I have an email you sent to a friend who forwarded it to me, and you included my FIRST email to you requesting to be removed from your email list, and my name and email is clearly showing! Do I need to post the emails I sent you and you sent me AND the one that you sent to the public on Nextdoor, or do you want to be fair? You should print the email I last sent you, and you should own that you in fact DO publish the names and emails of people who comment. I get it that you won’t publish your OWN names or those of your members, whether writers or not, but you DO in fact publish the names and emails of people who post comments, which you readily invite and which requires both a name and an email to post. I think the fact that you don’t publish your own names as reporters is cowardly and it is the reason I can’t take what you say seriously, but it is your site, so you get to do what you want. But you should NOT lie! I got the email from a friend BECAUSE you included my email address on my comment!!! It is there! For the public to see! So why don’t you post all of what I have said, this comment and the one just before, with my address, and own up to the truth? Whew! Whoever you are running this site, you are not even honest, let alone fair, unless it suits you. MY NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS IS OUT THERE, AND YOU POSTED IT, SO DON’T SAY THAT YOU DIDN’T! Or maybe you need to check your software . . .
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When someone leaves a comment on a blog post hosted on a WordPress site, the comment becomes public once it is approved or automatically published. This is a standard feature of WordPress, which is one of the most widely used website platforms. The ECCRG did not design the software—this functionality is common across nearly all blogging platforms and is not unique to ECCRG.
When a person comments, they voluntarily share the information they include in their comment. It becomes visible to anyone visiting the blog, not because ECCRG made it that way, but because blog comments are intended to foster public discussion, which is a default feature of WordPress and similar platforms.
This practice is very different from situations where a council member (or any individual) explicitly shares another person’s private information—such as a name and physical address—on a social media platform like Facebook. Sharing personal information without consent can cross ethical or legal boundaries, whereas blog comments are public because the commenter chose to submit them in that public forum.
There will be no further engagement on this matter because no one on this committee is obtuse or appearing to be obtuse. This is the end of our discussion.
All the best to you.
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