Let’s Move Forward
- Livable El Cerrito
- Mar 2
- 3 min read
OPINION
By Lisa Motoyama
Lisa Motoyama has served on the El Cerrito City Council since 2020. Her career has been in affordable housing development and advocacy.
I believe the library tax initiative deserves voters’ support. Let me tell you why.
First, I would like to lay out some facts with citations.
El Cerrito has been working on a new library for a long time, with multiple outreach meetings.
The original library needs assessment was completed in 2006 with an update in 2014.
Including the library as part of the El Cerrito Plaza TOD has been discussed since 2016, included in the BART request for proposals in 2019 and was included in the selected developer team’s response in 2020. Here is timeline of the meetings on this: www.elcerrito.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19100/EC-Plaza-TOD-Background
El Cerrito will own the library.
As explained by the city attorney at the special council meeting on February 19, 2026, the ownership is through air rights. The land will continue to be owned by BART. The affordable housing developer will have a $1/year lease of the land from BART for 99 years. The housing developer will lease the land associated with the library for $0/year for 99 years. This arrangement will be formalized by signed leases that will remain valid even if BART goes bankrupt. Also, since the income to the developer from the library is $0/year, the cost of the lease is not subsidizing the operations of the affordable housing. https://elcerritoca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/995/files/agenda/3110
The library initiative is a citizen’s initiative.
Because it is a citizen’s initiative, city staff and council cannot change the wording of the initiative or pull the initiative based on California election code. The only decision of the council was what date the initiative would be voted on. https://www.elcerrito.gov/217/Elections. However, council can, and I will make sure we do create a reasonable senior exemption.
The cost for the library keeps changing and will continue to change until the construction contract is signed.
Construction costs change constantly. Any estimate will use the assumptions of the moment and any estimate is just that. Griffin Structures, a firm that does cost estimating, has put together the estimated costs of five scenarios: updating the existing library, expanding the existing library, a El Cerrito Plaza TOD library, a stand-alone library, and a library in a vacant commercial space. https://elcerritoca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/601/files/attachment/5395
Why I Want A New Library at El Cerrito Plaza
Second, I would like to give you my opinion about a new library. I want a library at the corner of Liberty and Fairmount Ave. in the El Cerrito Plaza TOD because this development is underway, the site costs the city nothing and it will reinforce and support the BART station, the housing to be built, and the retail in the Plaza. Just down the hill from Harding Elementary School and El Cerrito High School, it will be a place that many students can easily reach. The El Cerrito Plaza BART station site is an opportunity that has been years in the making. If we miss the window to include the library as part of this project because we have no funding, then we will be hard pressed to find another site that will offer as much as this one, especially with the proposed new plaza open space adjacent.
We need a new and larger library because libraries are now more than places to get books. They are meeting spaces, study spaces, maker spaces, a resource center, and a refuge for the very hot and very cold days to come from climate change. This new space will be built to code for seismic safety and energy efficiency, as well as accessibility. We must build it now so that we have it when we need it. We can’t allow extended closures due to heat to continue and make working conditions impossible like we had last summer at our current library. We can’t keep limiting our library collections due to lack of space.
We deserve a new library that will meet the needs of today and the future. To get it, we have to invest in it through taxes to fund it.
To view the city’s Impact Report on the Library Tax Initiative:
This is the confirmation that the State Auditor has removed our high risk rating.
Dear City Council,
El Cerrito is not a destination by any means. So Stop trying to make it one. The Bart TOD Plaza will not create a "Downtown" vibe. El Cerrito is a sleepy bedroom community of legacy, multi-generaltional families within a diverse community. One that we that we want keep small and quaint. Instead of Taxing your constituents (again!), why have you not applied for Grants and other available funding? The Carnegie Foundation just awarded Walnut Creek, Antioch and Concord funds for their library.
The Kensington Library is closing in the Fall of 2026 for a year for upgrades, renovation and modernization. Perhaps one of two of you should go to their town hall meeting on Tuesday, March 24th…
Miss Motoyama, your comments (‘laying out the facts’) indicate that the tax initiative is supporting a new library at the Plaza BART station. Then may I ask why the new Library Task Force is directed to study various sites and feasabilities? Please explain to confused voters, thank you!
Greg Lyman is leading the effort in support of the library tax initative, is he not? His post here does not mention the initiative false claims about a senior exemption and points to more outdated information. The initiative includes language claiming that seniors will get an exemption through 2 program, problem is that one program is not funded and has ever been, and the other is not an exemption but a lien on one's property. Also, he doesn't mention that we can barely support library operations now so why would we agree to increase our already high tax burden and give the council 90 million dollars plus to build a grossly oversized, poorly located library? There has been no h…
Lisa's article does not include other useful information about the value of new modern libraries, for example, an increase of $10,000 in property value. Here are the specific sources and types of reports where these claims are documented:
Learning Programs & Reading Scores: Information on library programs increasing literacy can be found in research from the Urban Libraries Council and the Public Library Association (PLA), which show that summer reading programs and early literacy initiatives directly impact educational outcomes.
Closing the Opportunity Gap: Documentation regarding libraries providing services (like Lunch at the Library, resume assistance, and tax help) to bridge equity gaps is available via the California State Library and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Bridging the…
The Library Tax initiative is deeply troubling, and while I appreciate the opinion piece, it does nothing to change my NO vote. I agree that EC needs an improved library but property owners do not need another tax or for the city to enter foolish and fiscally unsound agreements.
EC will not own the proposal BART library, a lease is not ownership.
There is no end to the tax in time or costs, property owners will pay forever for a BART library.
Seniors in particular will feel this the most - a promise for a Senior exemption from a city council that thinks the initiative and BART library is a good idea isn't worth much.
The current library is a…