Board Members
President David Weinstein
Vice President Jon Bashor
Treasurer Tom Panas
Secretary Dianne Brenner
Member at Large John Falconer (Webmaster)
Member at Large Patricia Durham
Member at Large Michael Martin

Dave Weinstein, president, is a longtime journalist, who has worked for the West County Times and Contra Costa Times, and written for the San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. He is features editor of the magazine CA Modern, and has written books about architecture and local history.

Dave is the chair of Friends of the Cerrito Theater, president of El Cerrito Trail Trekkers, and a member of the city’s Environmental Quality Committee. Dave is from Long Island, New York and has lived in El Cerrito since 1981. He has been on the board since 2011.
 
Jon Bashor, Vice President, was born in Los Angeles, spent his teens in Bakersfield and moved to the Bay Area in 1980 to attend the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, where he was a classmate of Dave Weinstein. Jon was a daily newspaper reporter for the Berkeley Gazette, Richmond Independent and the Contra Costa Times. He recently retired after 30 years as a writer and communications manager at the Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkley national laboratories.

He has a penchant for volunteering in the community and has served on the El Cerrito Parks and Recreation Commission, the Friends of the El Cerrito Library board (with Tom Panas) and is former co-president of the Berkeley Clinic Auxiliary, which operates the Turnabout Thrift Store in El Cerrito. He has also contributed a handful of articles to the Forge newsletter.
 
Dianne Brenner, secretary, has lived in El Cerrito for 25 years, having moved to California from the East Coast. Her first involvement with community projects in El Cerrito was serving as co-chair of Friends of the Cerrito Theater after Dave Weinstein started that project. She has an abiding interest in architecture, historic preservation and design in general, and has enjoyed learning about the history of our town.
 
Tom Panas, member at large, is a retired CPA, was raised in the Bay Area, attended UC Berkeley, and has lived in El Cerrito since 1975. “I am a Past President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Society and have served 14 years on the Board,” Tom says.
 
John Falconer, member at large: John first moved to El Cerrito at age two, attended local schools (Kensington, Madera, Portola, and El Cerrito High) and earned degrees at Cal and Stanford. He retired in 2012 after a career of technical and managerial contributions in multiple companies, including Pacific Stereo, CBS, Westwood, Microsoft, and Chevron. John moved back to El Cerrito in 2010, having purchased his childhood home from his parents’ estate.
 
Patricia Durham, member at large, is the owner of Durham Tax Services in Richmond. Patricia retired from UC Berkeley and Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation in Oakland. An alumnus of El Cerrito High School, she served as president of the El Cerrito High School Archiving Committee. She is chairperson of the city’s annual Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Parade and Celebration.

She is a member emeritus of the City’s Human Relations Commission, where she served as president. She is a life member of the NAACP. Patricia is a member of St. Peter Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in El Cerrito. Patricia received a BS degree in business administration from St. Mary’s College, Moraga.  

Michael Martin, member at large, Born in Berkeley, Michael Kerry Martin moved to El Cerrito as a boy, in 1958. By 1972, he was a graduate of, in succession: the El Cerrito Cooperative Preschool, Del Mar Elementary, Portola Jr. High, and El Cerrito High schools. Martin then left for New Haven, Connecticut for his undergraduate degree at Yale, where he was a recordbreaking pole vaulter and among the first Black members of the world-famous Whiffenpoofs. He returned to the East Bay for his law degree, which he earned at Berkeley Law in 1981. Martin then left for Washington D.C. where he spent the next 30 years working as an attorney for the Department of Justice and other federal agencies.

Now back in El Cerrito, Martin operates a solo legal practice, an advocate of public employees. He also writes and lectures on social and political matters. He is the divorced father of a daughter and son in their thirties. His passions include music (guitar), long-distance running, and the written word.  

The Historical Society meets monthly and publishes its newsletter, The Forge, several times a year. The Historical Society also has an ongoing effort to collect oral history from as many old-timers as possible. Please contact the Historical Society if you or someone you know can contribute oral history, photographs, or memorabilia to the Society’s collection.