Tuesday’s City Council meeting was another reminder of why El Cerrito residents struggle to trust city leadership. What was presented as a straightforward discussion about the pool quickly turned into something else entirely.
Item 9B, titled “Swim Center Lap Pool Renovation Options,” bundled in an entirely separate need — the fire truck replacement. That wasn’t mentioned in the title, and neither the public nor the Council was given advance notice that this significant expenditure would be folded into the same presentation.
The discussion was already contentious, but not because of the pool itself — rather, because of the city’s use of reserves. Residents have long been frustrated that El Cerrito continues to draw down its limited reserves while insisting it’s on stable financial footing. The pool already has its own dedicated tax, yet the city now plans to use even more reserves to cover repair costs.
To make matters worse, Finance Manager Claire Coleman indicated that the General Fund meets the City’s 17% fund balance goal, but that figure is misleading. It only appears to meet the target because she combined the emergency reserve with unrestricted funds—even though the emergency reserve is legally and fiscally intended for true emergencies, not general spending. Presenting the numbers this way paints an overly optimistic picture of the city’s financial health.
For a city that claims to prioritize transparency, this kind of last-minute bundling feels like a bait-and-switch. It would have been easy to tell the public — and the Council — that the presentation would include a fire department vehicle purchase alongside the pool renovation. Instead, that revelation came mid-meeting, without a clear distinction between what was for information and what might require action.
This is dysfunction at its highest. The Council and the public deserve clarity, not surprises.
The agenda illustrates the problem:
- Item 9A: A proposed increase in pay for El Cerrito firefighters
- Item 9B: Ostensibly about pool renovation, yet also addressing unrelated capital needs
Each of these items carries significant fiscal implications, yet none provides a clear long-term strategy. Staff even acknowledged that several of the proposed options would push reserves below the City’s minimum target — right around the time the proposed library might break ground.
And while the staff report lists the pool and fire truck among the city’s “essential needs,” a replacement library to substitute an already functional one doesn’t appear anywhere on that list.
Residents deserve better than this level of confusion and misdirection. Transparency isn’t optional — it’s the foundation of good governance. When the City hides major expenditures behind misleading agenda titles, it reinforces the very mistrust that leaders claim to want to overcome.
It’s time for the City to stop playing hide-and-seek with its finances and start communicating honestly.
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 