Two Sides of ‘C’

From left: Wally Nowinski, Greg Lyman, William Ktsanes

Campaign leaders on both sides of the Measure C library tax measure tried Tuesday to win over voters and gain the endorsement of the El Cerrito Democratic Club (ECDC).

Greg Lyman and Wally Nowinski spoke to a live audience of about 80 people during an ECDC program organized and moderated by City Council member William Ktsanes. The program, which was open to the public, was also accessible on Zoom.

ECDC Endorsement Vote

Members of ECDC have until 6 p.m. Saturday, May 2 to vote on whether the club should endorse Measure C. The options will include “Yes on C,” “No on C,” and “no position.” An endorsement requires 60% approval from voting members. Results will be announced shortly after the voting deadline, according to the ECDC newsletter.

Voter Information Guide Has Been Mailed

Although the statewide primary election date is June 2, mail-in ballots to all registered voters will be sent out next week, according to Contra Costa County Elections officials.

The Contra Costa County Voter Information Guide, which contains the full text of the initiative and arguments for and against the measure, was already in the mail by April 28.

The Campaign Leaders

At Tuesday’s event, Lyman represented the ‘Yes on C’ campaign. Nowinski spoke for the ‘No on C’ campaign.

Greg Lyman

Lyman, the principal author of the library tax initiative that is now Measure C on the June 2 ballot, was a City Council member from 2008 to 2020 and has been active on ECDC’s board of directors for two decades. He was treasurer of the Committee for a Plaza Station Library, which was registered with the Fair Political Practices Commission in 2023 to “support a ballot measure to fund a library at Plaza Station,” according to FPPC statements.

Wally Nowinski

Nowinski and his wife moved to El Cerrito and bought a home in 2023. They are expecting their first child in early May. Nowinski works for a green energy company. Before moving to California, he was politically active in Democratic political campaigns and ran an anti-Trump PAC in 2024. He got interested in the library issue when he took part in a city-commissioned survey about the library conducted in May 2025.

Moderator William Ktsanes

Council member Ktsanes, who is also Executive Vice President of ECDC, invited residents to submit questions in advance and received dozens of them, he said. Ktsanes tried to group similar questions and pose some that would address major concerns.

Plaza Location Is City’s Current Choice

A key question is library location and how that should affect one’s vote.

Lyman argues that any resident who wants a new or renovated library should vote ‘yes’ on Measure C so there will be funding to plan, design, and build. He notes that the initiative does not state a mandatory location and says the decision is up to the City Council. Without the tax money, Lyman says, the city won’t be able to afford even to renovate the current library.

Nowinski argues that any resident who wants the city to consider library locations other than the planned El Cerrito Plaza BART development should vote ‘no’ on C. Otherwise, he says, the city will promptly use the money to pursue its long-desired plan for a library at El Cerrito Plaza.

Ktsanes also weighed in, noting that the city’s strategic plan calls for building a library at El Cerrito Plaza. Ktsanes said he was told that the city could only consider other locations if it first votes to remove the Plaza library from the strategic plan. At a recent City Council meeting, Ktsanes made a motion to remove the Plaza library commitment, but the motion failed for lack of a second.

Proposed Plan for Plaza Library

A majority of City Council members have stated since at least 2019 that a new library should be part of the 743-apartment housing development the city has approved for what are now parking lots at El Cerrito Plaza Station. The current library proposal is for a 20,000-square-foot library on the ground floor of an affordable housing building at Fairmount Avenue and Liberty Street. It would be in one of six apartment buildings planned for the site. The first building is under construction. The other five are not yet funded.

‘A Library That Hums With Life’

Lyman said Tuesday that the language in Measure C does not require that a new library be built at a specific site. However, he has said that the three-times-larger space has the potential to meet the needs of a diverse community better than the current 6,500 square foot library.

Lyman said Tuesday: “I want a library that hums with life: with a job seeker preparing for an interview after applying online; with a remote worker stepping into a quiet room for an important call; with toddlers laughing through story time; with seniors engaging in learning; and with teens finding a safe, focused place to study. Where I see neighbors learning English out loud without fear, and where entrepreneurs sketch out ideas that turn into real ventures. This is what a modern library makes possible.”

Current Library Is One Shared Space

Lyman continued, “Today, our library is one, small, shared space trying to serve a diverse community. I think we can all agree, after 77 years, it no longer serves the way we live, work, or learn.”

Lyman said if Measure C passes, the money could be used to renovate or rebuild at the current library site. “Our library is outdated, undersized…and does not meet current seismic and accessibility standards.”

Nowinski said that if Measure C passes, there is no chance the council will seriously consider improving the current library at 6510 Stockton Ave. He said the city council’s stated intent is to move forward with the El Cerrito Plaza library – not to consider the potential of the existing site or any other options. Four of five council members have stated their support for a library in the Plaza BART Transit Oriented Development (TOD).

“People Love Our Current Library”

“People in our group use libraries all the time,” Nowinski said. “They love our current library and they don’t want to see the city’s plan to move it to the BART TOD happen,” he said. “So step one, we vote no. We send the city back to the drawing board. Since Day 1, this is about the BART TOD plan, it’s not about the library.”

He added: “There may be a need for a tax to build a library. We need a better plan.”

Nowinski said he believes Measure C supporters recognize that many people don’t like the BART location, so they emphasize that the tax measure would allow funding a different library choice.

Dramatic Change in Construction Cost Estimates

When the Plaza Library plan was first proposed, city officials and staff characterized it as a “bargain” compared to other options. The city estimated its cost at $21 million in 2023 and Lyman used that “guestimate” when he launched the library tax signature gathering campaign in May 2025. In January 2026, the construction cost was estimated by the city’s consultant Griffin Structures at $37 million – a 75% increase.

Griffin’s estimates of other library options were $10 million to renovate the existing 6,500-square-foot library, $29 million to rebuild and expand the existing library to 13,500 square feet, $43 million to build a new stand-alone library on a new site, and $29 million to renovate an existing building into a library. The last two options assume a library size of 20,000 square feet.

Lyman said the rapid increase in construction costs should convince people to approve a library tax now so the work can get started sooner.

Nowinski says the 75% increase between May 2025 and January 2026 does not inspire confidence in promises made about costs and financing, which opponents say could bring the cost to around $100,000,000.

Complicated Funding for Affordable Housing

Committing to place the city library in a yet-to-be-funded affordable housing building at Plaza BART makes the city’s library vulnerable to the success or failure of complicated efforts to secure state and federal funding, Nowinski said.

If the city moves forward with the Plaza library site, Nowinski said, he would expect a new library to open in about 10 years.

Lyman said he believes a Plaza library could open in four years.

Grant Funding for a Library

Lyman said passing Measure C could allow the city to apply for grants to help fund a new library, because matching funds are sometimes required to secure grants.

Nowinski said a better approach would have been to apply for grants before asking voters to approve a parcel tax. He said other cities, like Richmond, applied for and received grants to help fund their libraries while El Cerrito did not apply.

Is Library Deal A “Subsidy” for BART Developer?

“I think it is accurate to call it a subsidy,” Nowinski said. The proposed deal would give the developer a 99-year pre-paid lease with the city as its ground floor tenant. The city would pay the building developer to build the ground floor of the apartment building, which is the most costly floor in a podium-style building.

Lyman said, “It’s not a subsidy because it’s a fee for real services.” He said it would be more profitable for the developer to put in a small café and additional parking spaces that could be rented to tenants than to have the city library on the building’s ground floor.

Is Proposed Library Tax Enough to Cover Costs? (Question for Greg)

Ktsanes: With many residents understandably concerned about the rising cost, this question is about the implications of the increase. My understanding is that Measure C allows for the property tax revenue to go towards three broad costs. The first is the physical construction of the library. The second are costs incurred by the city related to the project, such as consultants’ fees, planning and parking studies, legal fees, surveys, etc. The third are day-to-day library operating costs for the first ten years. Estimates I’ve seen for operating costs are somewhere between $500,000 and $750,000 per year.

Given the upper limits on the tax, is there a possibility that the construction costs rise so much that there is little or no tax revenue remaining to fund operating costs for the first ten years?

Lyman said if voters authorize the proposed tax of 17 cents per square foot of improved property, 17 cents would be enough to pay for either the Plaza Station library or expanding the Stockton Avenue library to 13,500 square feet. He said his calculations show that after annual debt service payments of $2.4 million, there would be $700,000 left.

Ktsanes: Regardless of whether there is or isn’t enough money for the first 10 years, what happens when the tax revenue is prohibited from going towards operating costs?

As for concern about a “funding cliff” in ten years, Lyman said the city’s general fund budget will be tight in the next 10 years because it will need to pay a greater amount of unfunded pension liability during the period. However, by 2040 – assuming the library was completed in 2030 – the city should have more general fund money available because payments for unfunded pension liability will ease up.

The Phrase “A Forever Tax”

Ktsanes: On lawn signs and various flyers for the “No on Measure C” campaign, the proposed library tax is referred to as a “forever tax.” Per the wording of the ballot measure, it is a tax that expires after the bonds are paid off in 30 years. While 30 years plus a few years for planning and construction is a long time–and for many of us in this room, “forever” in our lifetime, some have questioned the honesty of calling it a “forever tax.” Would you like to explain why that wording is used?

Nowinski said the proposed tax would cover only the first decade of operating costs, and that “sets the city up for a budget deficit after 10 years.” The city’s estimates show that at that point there will be about a need to fund $797,000 in operating costs, he said.

“Where will that come from? Either the general fund or we increase taxes again.”

The Phrase “Our Library Could Close” (Question for Greg)

Ktsanes: On a flyer recently mailed to El Cerrito residents there is a red box that states “A NO vote puts our library at risk. Without this funding we can't build a new library or fund the $10 million necessary to repair the current library. Our library could be closed." I received several emails questioning the honesty of this statement and whether the city council and county would even allow El Cerrito to close its library. Would you like to explain the “Our library could be closed” statement?

Lyman said if Measure C does not pass, the city will not have the funds needed to repair the library. “The city is risk averse. Are they willing to let our youngest residents be in a building that is not safe in an earthquake?” The city could decide to close the library, he said.

Nowinski said, “This is a false choice. We have a library we love and the county will continue paying for operations there. The way to move forward is to say no and get a clean start.”

Access and Parking

One key factor in the Griffin Structures library estimates is parking. For the current Stockton Avenue library site Griffin estimated the cost of adding a parking structure at $6.4 million. The Plaza library location would have no dedicated parking and no cost for parking was included.

The Plaza site would be accessible by BART and bus and walkable for those who live nearby. Although the developer will eventually remove all 750 Plaza BART parking spaces and add 743 apartments, Lyman said the library will be accessible to drivers. He said the developer will build a total of 411 spaces on the site, including 266 for tenants to rent and 145 in a future BART parking garage that could be used by library patrons in the evenings and on weekends when commuters don’t need them. Lyman added that the city owns the streets in the area and can make street parking available through a “parking management plan” that is being developed. The parking plan has not been made public.

Nowinski said as the area gets developed it will get harder to park. BART is not designed to take residents from their homes to the local library, he said. The Plaza location is at the edge of El Cerrito closest to Albany, he said, making the location more walkable for Albany residents than for many El Cerrito residents.

Library Ownership (Question for Wally)

Ktsanes: The library at the BART station would be built on land the developer has leased from BART. The developer would own the building but not the land. The city would lease the ground floor but not own the building. This is a common ownership structure that allows the public entity – in this case BART – to maintain some oversight and control. How do you view the proposal for a 99-year lease at $1 per year?

Nowinski opposes it. “If I own a condominium I can sell it,” Nowinski said. “We can’t sell the prepaid lease in the bottom of a BART development. Our current library has been here for 75 years. I’m glad we own it. Maybe we can use it for another 75.”

Need for Extra Library Staff (Question for Greg)

Ktsanes: One argument against upgrading the current library into a larger two-story library is that it would not be workable because two stories require extra staffing. Would extra staffing also be required if the 6,500 square foot current library is replaced by a three-times-larger, 20,000-square-foot single-floor library at BART? If so, who would pay for the extra staff? Do you know what dictates site staffing requirements?

Lyman said: The county librarian has a policy for staffing levels “based on the configuration of the library.” He said a two-story library would require more staff per square foot than a one-story library but he did not know what staff would be needed for a one-story, 20,000 square foot library.

“They won’t tell us what the staffing levels are in the future because they don’t know what our library will look like,” he said.

Lyman added that the county library is looking at the future potential to provide up to 56 hours of staffing at all county libraries, rather than the current 40 hours. This might start in about 10 years, he said.

In Conclusion

Lyman urged listeners to vote ‘yes’ on Measure C.

“Are we willing to pay for something that benefits the whole community even if it doesn’t affect you personally?” Lyman asked. “We need to invest in our city and our future. We need to trust each other so when this is over we can come together … to build the safe modern library we deserve and need.”

Nowinski asked listeners to vote ‘no’ on Measure C.

“We’re all neighbors,”. Nowinski said. “We’re all Democrats and I have no personal opposition to anyone. My takeaway continues to be, I think a lot of people in El Cerrito have concerns about the city’s plan to put a library at Plaza BART. I’m concerned about the total cost and how it may escalate … and about the fiscal cliff of a $797,000 deficit after year ten.”

Speaking to ECDC members, Nowinski urged voting 'no' on C or 'no position.'