Mayor Gabriel "Gabe" Quinto became El Cerrito's first Filipino-American, the second Asian-American and first LGBTQ Councilmember in the history of the city of El Cerrito. Born in Berkeley, he grew up in El Cerrito, where he attended public schools. At Cal State University, Long Beach he earned his BS in Radio, TV & Film.

Prior to his election, he served as a member of El Cerrito’s Committee on Aging and as Chair of the Human Relations Commission. For many years Gabe was an elected member of the Sierra Club Bay Chapter’s Executive and Political committees, and Chair of the West Contra Costa County Group.

Quinto began his first term on the El Cerrito City Council on December 2014. His second four-year term began in December 2018 when he was instrumental in the passage of Measure V which established El Cerrito as a Charter City and implemented a property transfer tax. Measure H was also passed to fund parks and city’s pool.

Quinto has been council liaison to most of the city's Boards and Commissions. In 2020 he became the first El Cerrito Councilmember to Chair the Contra Costa Mayors Conference since the 1990s when Councilmember Jane Bartke served. In 2021 Quinto became the first El Cerrito Councilmember to be on the Marin Clean Energy Executive Committee.

In 2021, Mayor Quinto became the first El Cerritan to be appointed as Boardmember statewide for the League of CA Cities. Gabe just finished his term as President of the East Bay Division & LGBTQ Caucus and in 2018-2019 was President of the API Caucus as well as a member of the Environmental Policy Committee. Mayor Quinto also was appointed to the Committee on Equity, Inclusion and Diversity and Committee on Governance.