2 Enter Council Race

The City Council race is on.

Wally Nowinski and Kimberly White, two leaders of the ‘No on Measure C’ campaign, filed candidate statements Tuesday with the City Clerk declaring they intend to run for the City Council in November.

“We’re going to try to run together as a ticket since there are two open seats and we have a broadly similar list of issues,” Nowinski and White told Livable El Cerrito.

“I think there is a lot of discontent with the status quo in El Cerrito,” Nowinski continued. “I think there is a tremendous opportunity to do better whether it’s economic development or quality of life.”

White agreed, saying the results showed that a lot of people were paying attention and many had been dissatisfied for some time.

“There were a lot of people who had issues about how the city spent money but until Measure C there was no cohesive effort to channel that energy into effective opposition,” White said.

They both said the success of the No on Measure C campaign encouraged them to run for the City Council.

A decisive 70% of El Cerrito residents voted ‘no’ on the library tax measure – a margin that surprised many people, including Nowinski.

“The Measure C campaign was such a vote of no confidence in city government,” Nowinski said. “They want a government that listens first instead of a government that makes plans first and asks for feedback only after they’ve made up their minds.”

Neighbors for a Better El Cerrito, the campaign committee for ‘No on C,’ will not continue to be a legal entity and will not endorse City Council candidates, they said.

Nowinski added with a smile, “It’s not the legal entity, it’s the friends you make along the way.”

Nowinski is a marketing executive with political campaign experience who moved to El Cerrito in 2023. He and his wife have a two-month-old baby.

White is a 20-year resident who retired from BART and is managing director of her own company. She has served on the city’s Financial Advisory Board (FAB) for five years.

Both say they love the community and welcome the chance to make it better.

They intend to launch their campaign website Thursday at <2votes4changeec.com>.

Livable El Cerrito took a break from vacation to post this breaking news.