The last edition spotlighted the Need for Guard Rails. This edition highlights DEEP DENIAL: More than Guard Rails Needed. El Cerrito Council members have already missed and plan to miss future opportunities to address community challenges because they opted for an abbreviated summer schedule. According to the National League of Cities, local legislators and councilmembersContinue reading “Deep Denial; More Guard Rails Needed”
Category Archives: State Audit
Time For The Guard Rails
The last blog focused on Deceit: How City Leadership Has Repeatedly Misled the Community. Today’s blog is titled Time For The Guardrails! The competing goals are playing themselves out as the volunteer three-member Financial Advisory Board tries to implement a policy for the General Reserve Fund for the City. What are these goals? Obviously, theContinue reading “Time For The Guard Rails”
MORE TAXPAYER MONEY, PLEASE
The last blog focused on the unbalanced budget and the eminent use of general fund reserves to balance the budget. This episode spotlights on MORE TAXPAYER MONEY, PLEASE. When finding a solution to the operating crisis facing El Cerrito, the only plan coming from City leaders is more taxes. That’s not a plan, but unlimitedContinue reading “MORE TAXPAYER MONEY, PLEASE”
Low Voter Turnout
Low voter turnout has allowed Gabe Quinto to keep his seat on the Council. As readers of this blog will likely surmise, this author is not pleased. Akin to a few other Contra Costa County results like the Sherriff’s and County Assessor’s races, El Cerrito lacks accountability, transparency and humanity in El Cerrito. Even so,Continue reading “Low Voter Turnout”
El Cerrito Election Links
There is still time to vote! Do you need to cram to catch up on the issues? If so, this post is for you! You can find many of the essential links here. Enjoy! Web pages Vanessa Warheit’s web page Vanessa Warheit’s YouTube Channel Carolyn Wysinger’s web page Gabe Quinto’s web page Disclosures El CerritoContinue reading “El Cerrito Election Links“
Conflict of Interest
In this town, things are getting worse. They have scheduled an event titled “Lunch with El Cerrito’s Mayor and City Manager,” where members of the public join them to have a conversation with Mayor Gabe Quinto and City Manager Karen Pinkos on the latest happenings in the City of El Cerrito, and what’s next forContinue reading “Conflict of Interest”
Press Release Gone Bad
Last week, the Council Members posted on social media. Then the City of El Cerrito issued a press release claiming victory over the financial crisis. Still, the State Auditor and the East Bay Times disagreed. On October 24, 2022, the East Bay Times article here said, “While this is the first year the cityContinue reading “Press Release Gone Bad”
Will El Cerrito ever address the state auditor recommendations?
After passing a budget with no real cuts (except to seniors) in June the City Council will only meet once a month in July, August, and September (as per usual) because there is not hurry when you are on the verge of bankruptcy. While Albany City Staff are preparing recommendations on how to spend theContinue reading “Will El Cerrito ever address the state auditor recommendations?”
CA State Auditor to complete a full audit on El Cerrito
In October 2019 the State Auditor made a list of cities in CA that were most at risk of bankruptcy and El Cerrito was #7. They then met with city staff and council members and decided to recommend a full audit of the city, something that some council members and staff opposed. At a hearingContinue reading “CA State Auditor to complete a full audit on El Cerrito”