At the El Cerrito City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, regional and state elected officials joined Gabe Quinto as he was selected as mayor for next year. Attorney General Rob Bonta administered the oath, underscoring Quinto’s rising profile and the political attention El Cerrito continues to draw.
But as the congratulations rolled in, it became clear the night wasn’t just about leadership. It was also about messaging—specifically, the library tax measure expected to qualify for the 2026 ballot.
Former Mayor Greg Lyman, who serves as treasurer of the Committee for a Plaza Station Library, congratulated Quinto and Councilmember Rebecca Saltzman and said he looked forward to their support to move the library forward. County Supervisor John Gioia echoed the praise, noting he hopes voters recognize Quinto has taken on extra responsibility and extra work by serving as president of Cal Cities and as El Cerrito mayor. Gioia added that he is looking forward to the library.
Quinto also mentioned the library proposal several times—both directly and through personal story—reinforcing what many residents should pay attention to now: the library tax campaign is already underway in tone, alliances, and public narrative.
The City has repeatedly positioned itself as impartial and not involved in the library initiative. Residents should hold that claim up against what they’re seeing in real time: a ballot measure being normalized through official platforms, celebrated through coordinated remarks, and framed as inevitable. Impartiality isn’t a label—it’s a standard of conduct, and the public deserves clarity about where City Hall actually stands.
Why residents should not accept the framing
Supporters keep presenting this as a library measure. That framing is emotionally effective—but it is incomplete.
This is not simply a vote to build a library. It is permission for the City of El Cerrito to levy a long-term parcel tax and then decide how to deploy that revenue within a broader development strategy—even if a library is delayed, reshaped, or never built as residents imagine it today.
If you’re a voter, that distinction matters. Because once a tax is approved, the city has the revenue stream. The public is left negotiating details after the fact—often when leverage is gone and the we already passed it argument becomes the default response to legitimate questions.
The Plaza Station Library connection is the point
The library concept being promoted is not happening in a vacuum. It is tied to the Plaza Station development vision. That is why the same voices keep repeating the same phrase: move the library forward.
That language sounds like progress. But residents should ask: forward into what, exactly? A tax measure can move forward faster than a building. A narrative can move forward faster than accountability.
When civic leaders speak as if the library is inevitable, they compress uncertainty into certainty. That’s how communities end up paying now for promises that may not materialize for years—if at all.
The latchkey story: heartfelt, real—and out of date as a policy argument
Quinto shared a personal memory that landed with many people:
Let the real truth come out starting in 2026, Quinto said. The library is where I was as a latchkey child until 3:30 every day when my mom could pick me up.
Many of us recognize that era. For kids growing up in the 50s and 60s, the library truly was a safe landing place after school—an informal community hub in a different time.
But El Cerrito is not living in that time anymore.
But the term latchkey itself is a reminder: the social and family structures that made libraries the default after-school shelter have shifted. Today, kids’ afternoons are shaped by aftercare programs, transportation realities, digital life, school policies, safety expectations, and entirely different community patterns. A story from the 1960s can be meaningful without being a blueprint for fiscal policy in 2025.
Nostalgia is not a plan. And personal memories—no matter how sincere—should never replace a clear explanation of outcomes, timelines, cost controls, and accountability.
What residents should demand before 2026
If city leaders and outside electeds want voters to approve a new long-term tax, residents deserve more than applause lines and soft endorsements. Before any ballot is finalized, El Cerrito should be pressed to provide:
- A clear timeline that matches real-world project sequencing, not best-case projections
- A plain explanation of what is guaranteed if the tax passes—and what is not
- Transparent cost estimates, escalation risks, and what happens if funds fall short
- Accountability mechanisms with real enforcement, not just symbolic oversight language
- A clear description of how the tax revenue could be used if the library is delayed or the development changes
The bottom line
Tuesday night made something clear: the 2026 library tax measure is being positioned as a feel-good inevitability, reinforced by political validation and familiar storytelling.
But residents should not confuse a ceremonial moment with a sound financial plan.
El Cerrito voters deserve straight answers, not just inspiring memories. What worked in the 50s and 60s no longer serves us well in 2025—and the city should not ask residents to fund the future using arguments anchored in the past.
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 