El Cerrito City Councilmember Carolyn Wysinger, a Black lesbian, made history Tuesday when her colleagues voted for her to be the East Bay town's mayor for 2025, believed to be a first in California. The council also celebrated having a supermajority of LGBTQ membership by seating new members Rebecca Saltzman and William Ktsanes, who join Wysinger and longtime Councilmember Gabe Quinto as out members.
Saltzman is a lesbian mom and former longtime elected BART board member. Ktsanes is a single gay dad who is a University of San Francisco adjunct professor in the School of Management's Master of Science in Financial Analysis program. Both won election in November, along with Councilmember Lisa Motoyama, a straight ally who began her second term.
The atmosphere was festive as the members recited their oaths of office, which took place after the council bid farewell to Tessa Rudnick, who had served as mayor this year, and Paul Fadelli. Each opted not to seek reelection.
State Controller Malia Cohen, for whom Wysinger works, swore her in.
"I'm excited to lead a supermajority LGBTQ City Council," Wysinger said in her remarks. "The gay agenda is alive and well in El Cerrito."
Wysinger is a former president of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, and is cycling off the board this year. While she noted her mayoral post is ceremonial – the position rotates among councilmembers – she said that it is only the beginning and hopes to be a role model to other Black lesbians seeking public office.
During her comments, Wysinger noted there have been only a couple of Black women on the City Council who served as mayor, the first in 2007 and the second in 2019. "There have still been no Black men on the council," she said.
She also talked about the "unspoken socioeconomic divide" that is San Pablo Avenue in the city she has long called home. People still think of El Cerrito, located north of Berkeley in western Contra Costa County, as a "bedroom community," she said.
"I say, not for much longer. The population will grow and with it, our diversity," Wysinger said.
El Cerrito experienced a fiscal crisis in 2021, which several councilmembers mentioned. Fadelli said that the city responded to a state auditor's recommendations that year and "tried to keep our spirit up." The financial turnaround has left the city in a stable position now, and Wysinger said that was a priority for the coming year, along with youth and families.
Wysinger said that a short time ago, a friend mentioned to her that she was "so angry" when she came out years ago. That led Wysinger to look at her bio, in which she described herself as "fierce."
"I do get angry at disrespect," she said at the meeting. "I get very angry at racism and homophobia."
Following her remarks, the council voted for Quinto to serve as mayor pro tem, setting him up to become mayor in 2026. (He previously served in the role in 2018 and 2022.) Quinto's initial win in 2014 marked the first time someone known to be living with HIV was elected to public office in the Bay Area.
Saltzman was sworn in by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski, who herself made history in 2010 when she became the first transgender person elected to a trial court judgeship. (Kolakowski is the wife of Bay Area Reporter news editor Cynthia Laird.)
"I'm so thrilled to be here," Saltzman said during her remarks. "I thank the voters."
She said that over her tenure on the BART board, she has worked with El Cerrito on many projects. The city has two BART stations, with the first phase of construction on more than 740 housing units at the El Cerrito Plaza BART Station set to begin in 2025 .
Ktsanes was sworn in by Betsy Bashor, a friend and campaign volunteer. He also thanked El Cerrito residents "for entrusting me with this responsibility."
"I look forward to working collaboratively with residents, the council, and staff," he said.
Motoyama took the oath of office from City Clerk Holly M. Charléty.
"Thank you to my colleagues, former colleagues, and future colleagues," she said. "I thank voters and look forward to working really hard the next four years."
Rudnick and Fadelli, as well as Motoyama, Saltzman, Ktsanes, and Wysinger, were praised by elected officials who attended the meeting, including new state Senator Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley); Harpreet S. Sandhu, a former Richmond city councilmember who now works for Congressmember John Garamendi (D-Fairfield); and Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who said that Wysinger's ascension to mayor is important for two reasons.
"First, it's a testament to overcoming ... racism and obstacles," Gioia said. "The second thing is it's symbolic to your commitment for equity across all populations, not just African American and LGBTQ, but to those with special needs and Latinos."
During public comment that took place at the top of the meeting, before the outgoing councilmembers spoke and the new ones were sworn in, several people in support of Palestinians in Gaza spoke, asking the council to adopt a resolution in support of a ceasefire in the ongoing Hamas-Israel war. A group had been outside City Hall prior to the meeting holding a peaceful rally.
But after Rudnick ended public comment after 30 minutes, which she set beforehand, supporters of Palestine, who had been outside the council chambers because that room was at capacity, started shouting loudly and disrupting the speakers. After three warnings from city officials, police were asked to escort the demonstrators outside, where they continued to protest for a while.
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