Influenced by a concerned citizen
The El Cerrito City Council did itself no favors by extending City Manager Karen Pinkos’ contract through 2029.
At some point, residents have to ask a difficult but necessary question: if the city continues to struggle with financial instability, delayed projects, deteriorating infrastructure, service concerns, and repeated requests for higher taxes, why would extending the same leadership team for another four years suddenly produce a different outcome?
The current City Council clearly loves Karen Pinkos. Four out of five councilmembers supported extending her contract. That is their prerogative.
But residents should understand what that vote means.
It means the Council is fully owning the results of the past several years:
• The ongoing financial instability
• The service delivery concerns
• The stalled promises
• The lack of operational transparency
• The repeated tax requests
• The growing disconnect between spending and outcomes
And now, they are doubling down.
According to the amended employment agreement, Karen Pinkos’ contract now extends through December 31, 2029. Her salary reached $21,782 per month beginning January 1, 2025, with another 4% increase scheduled for July 2025. The agreement also allows for up to 5% annual performance increases beginning in 2026 and includes a severance provision equal to 12 months of base salary if terminated without cause.
Meanwhile, residents are being told the city cannot adequately fund core priorities without additional taxes.
Residents still do not have the senior center they were promised. Instead, the city leased those buildings to the Kensington Police Department in what increasingly appears to be a long-term arrangement because the city needed the cash flow.
Residents are being asked to approve a major new library tax while existing city facilities, roads, and services remain subjects of concern.
And residents are starting to notice the disconnect between staffing growth, compensation growth, and actual results.
Take a look at the Fire Department structure and compensation levels. Residents have raised legitimate questions about the number of battalion chiefs relative to the size of the city and what those positions are costing taxpayers. Those conversations are not anti-worker. They are questions about management priorities, organizational structure, and financial stewardship.
The problem is not that city employees should not be paid fairly. They should.
The problem is that residents are paying more and more while repeatedly being told they cannot expect the level of service, infrastructure, and project delivery that comparable communities manage to provide.
That frustration is one reason the No on C movement has gained traction.
Many residents who previously stayed quiet are beginning to wake up and smell the coffee. They are asking harder questions about governance, accountability, operational efficiency, and whether El Cerrito’s leadership structure is truly serving the long-term interests of the community.
A few dedicated citizens, along with groups like the El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government, have been doing this work for years digging through documents, reviewing budgets, analyzing contracts, and asking the difficult questions many elected officials would rather avoid.
Every community needs residents willing to do that work.
None of this means people do not love El Cerrito.
Quite the opposite.
Many of the residents speaking up care deeply about this city and want the very best for their neighbors. They want a city government that matches the intelligence, engagement, and expectations of the community it serves.
But extending the same leadership team through 2029 while expecting dramatically different outcomes is a gamble residents are no longer willing to accept.
If the Council believes the current direction is working, voters may ultimately decide whether they agree when voting in November.
Relevant documents:
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 
I’m so flattered th
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many of us are flattened. But we can’t continue this way. We have to mobilize to make some meaningful changes and improvements in our city.
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