El Cerrito could have a modern library. But the Plaza library proposal is not the responsible path to get there. After months of shifting numbers, incomplete statements, and conflicting assumptions, one thing has become clear. This project is not financially sound, not transparent, and not in the long-term interest of residents. Voters should reject it.
Supporters of the measure are now saying the City would receive a 99-year lease for the Plaza site. Even with that detail included, the fundamental issue remains: El Cerrito would spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to construct a public building on land the City will never own. Ownership matters. It determines long-term control, cost, and community value. A lease—regardless of length—cannot provide the same protection or security as building on public land that the community already owns.
The financial inconsistency is impossible to ignore. The pro-Plaza campaign advertises a $28 million library but simultaneously claims the City will receive $2.7 million per year from Plaza redevelopment. Over 30 years, that revenue totals more than $81 million. If the project truly costs only $28 million, why is the city asking homeowners to pay triple the cost? The numbers simply do not add up.
Residents must also understand that the City Council has the authority to raise the parcel tax rate by up to 5 percent every single year. That means homeowners and renters could face escalating taxes year after year, with no guarantee of cost containment or long-term stability at the Plaza location.
Meanwhile, the City already owns a viable, centrally located site at Stockton Avenue. Rebuilding the library is a practical, cost-effective alternative that has been largely excluded from public discussion. A modernized facility at the existing site would cost less, even after accounting for design, construction, and temporary relocation. A short-term temporary library—estimated at $500,000 to $750,000—would ensure uninterrupted service. And at the end of the process, El Cerrito would have a library it wholly owns, on land it fully controls.
The Plaza proposal asks residents to shoulder a significant tax burden, accept unclear long-term risk, and invest in a building located on private property. That is neither transparent governance nor sound financial planning.
This measure is not the best path for El Cerrito. It prioritizes a location the City does not own, relies on inconsistent math, and exposes residents to rising taxes for decades. We can support a new library without accepting a flawed plan that fails to protect the community’s financial future.
For these reasons, residents should vote No.
You can read the pro-Plaza group’s statements here:
https://c4psl.org/
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 
this is the way it works the parcel tax passes the City of El Cerrito Municipal Bond Authority issues a bond for $28,000,000 City Bond Authority receives $28,000, 000 from the Bond investors who are lending the Authority $28,000,000 secured by property taxes and amortized by $2,700,000 in property taxes collected from the County Assessor and passed to the EC Municipal Bond Authority and paid to the bond investors every 6 months until it is paid off in 30 years the bond IS NOT a debt obligation of the City and no entity other than property taxpayers can make loan repayments. Not the City and not the Developer the $28,000,000 is a grant by the City to the Developer who will include that money in the equity account for the partnership that owns C West apartment building that equity plus the equity the Developer raises from its investors will be more than adequate to leverage the 6 floors of apartments (the easiest thing to leverage because apartments are reliable cash flow generators that lenders will take as very fungible collateral.
On Fri, Dec 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM El Cerrito Committee for Responsib
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