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Where They Stand on Senior Issues
1. The senior center
The city closed the senior center in 2020.
El Cerrito's senior center operated for decades in a school district building on Stockton Avenue. When the district took the building back in July 2018, the city moved it into two portables on San Pablo Avenue and renamed it the Midtown Activity Center. It closed in March 2020 and never reopened.
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City of El Cerrito, Recreation Programs Assessment (2018 relocation to Midtown)
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ECCRG, "Why El Cerrito Doesn't Have a Senior Center" (March 2020 closure)
2. Measure V (2018)
Mayor Gabriel Quinto signed the argument for Measure V. It told voters a yes vote would support senior services.
Measure V, a tax on every home sale, passed November 6, 2018 with 54.5% of the vote. The official Argument in Favor lists Gabriel Quinto, El Cerrito Mayor as its first signer and tells voters a yes vote supports "youth and senior services." Two years later the senior center closed.
3. Quinto and Wysinger on a senior center
Quinto: no dedicated center. Wysinger: won't fund it.
El Cerrito City Council, June 17, 2025.
Gabriel Quinto: "We already have a senior center... We are not going to do a dedicated senior center, period."
June 17, 2025 City Council Meeting Recording. Timestamp: 2:29:35
Carolyn Wysinger: "We can't fund niche things. And I don't want people in our senior community thinking I am calling them niche, but at the same time we can't fund a project that only serves a specific group."
June 17, 2025 City Council Meeting Recording. Timestamp: 2:40:37
4. Measure C (2026)
Quinto, Wysinger and Jawili all endorsed Measure C.
Measure C was a 30-year library parcel tax on the June 2, 2026 ballot. Quinto, Wysinger and Jawili endorsed it. Voters rejected it roughly 70 to 30.
5. The misleading senior exemption
Supporters misled seniors about a tax exemption. We spoke up. Quinto, Wysinger and Jawili were silent.
Measure C promised seniors an exemption, but only for seniors enrolled in one of two state programs. One, the Gonsalves-Deukmejian-Petris property tax assistance program, has not been funded by the state since 2008. The other, Property Tax Postponement, is a loan with an income cap, a 40% equity requirement and a lien on the home. El Cerrito has used the same language before and no senior has ever qualified.
The No on C campaign made this case in the official ballot argument against Measure C.
6. Mary Ann Jawili
Jawili opposes a dedicated senior center.
Interview with Ira Sharenow, September 11, 2026.
7. Richmond Street parking
Quinto and Wysinger voted for the Richmond Street project. Jawili supports it.
On July 15, 2025 the City Council approved the Richmond Street redesign, removing about half of on-street parking along the northern blocks. Wysinger spoke in support. Residents told the council it would move disabled parking to side streets, a hardship for seniors. Jawili backed the project in her interview with Ira Sharenow.
