Quinto says he is happy to represent the growing diversity of El Cerrito and the San Francisco area.
“We’ve always had a Filipino community here in El Cerrito, not as large as Daly City or Hercules but a small core group of people,” said Mayor Gabriel Quinto. “And being the first Filipino-American and the first LGBT mayor, it’s quite an honor.”
Quinto is from El Cerrito, having graduated from El Cerrito high school in 1979, and elected into council in December 2014.
He is involved in many areas of political and community work such as grassroots environmental organizations, API and LGBT caucuses, and served as an Obama delegate in 2012.
Mayor Auinto says his main priority is to address the affordable housing issue that El Cerrito is not immune to in the Bay Area.
Quinto was sworn in by Contra Costa’s superior court judge, Benjamin Reyes, who is the first Fil-Am judge to serve on the Contra Costa county bench and the second Fil-Am judge to serve in the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties.
Daly City’s first Filipina-American Mayor Juslyn Manalo attended the ceremony along with fellow Fil-Ams– vice mayor Ray Buenaventura and Councilman Glenn Sylvester.
Quinto says he expects more Fil-Am to take political positions.
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