How I became the villain of El Cerrito’s Nextdoor

Log in

Subscribe

How I became the villain of El Cerrito’s Nextdoor

“I had a panic attack. Then I wrote an apology letter.”

Amy Brown

El Cerrito: Always making a mountain out of a little hill. (Amy Brown)

Aug 5, 2026

&bull;<br>Nextdoor, El Cerrito is Deep North Oakland, el cerrito

In April 2026, my husband and I bought our first home in El Cerrito, California. By the end of June, I’d become public enemy No. 1 on the local Nextdoor.<br>This is my story.<br>First, you have to understand, I’m a compulsive poster. I’ve been screaming into the void since my mom got dial-up internet. The first time someone from online recognized me in public was in 2005, when I ran into one of my Myspace friends at the mall. For a couple years, I ran the Wendy’s Twitter account. I’m not new to this.<br>However, until a few months ago, I consumed Nextdoor purely for entertainment. I’m on the “review team,” but that’s a low-level volunteer moderation position, offered at random to Nextdoor users in good standing. All it really means is I get to vote on content from nearby neighborhoods that other users have flagged as disrespectful, discriminatory, or illegal. Essentially, I have a curated feed of the most unhinged things people are saying on Nextdoor within a three-to-five-mile radius.<br>And oh do they say unhinged things on Nextdoor within a three-to-five-mile radius. I have seen things. One time a guy accused me of body shaming my local Cybertruck, apparently outraged at the existence and concept of aesthetic judgment itself (or perhaps just embarrassed because he thinks Cybertrucks look cool). I watched an 83-comment thread unfold about a misspelled YIELD sign, ultimately spiraling into “people don’t actually care about spelling, it’s just thinly veiled racism.” And of course, who could forget this menacing Oakland crime spree from 2024:<br>For a sicko like me, it’s fascinating. Intoxicating. Impossible not to comment on. But then, naturally, I flew too close to the sun: I developed an earnest opinion on municipal politics.

\O/

When my husband and I moved from the Midwest to Berkeley in 2018, it was the culmination of my lifelong dream to get the fuck out of Ohio. We first rented a one-bedroom cottage in the flats near Berkeley High for a few years. When I had a baby, we found a semi-neglected three-bedroom house to rent in Kensington, at the crest of a hill with an incredible view and questionable electrical wiring. Then I had another baby.<br>Every day, I’d take the kids down the hill to daycare in El Cerrito, down Moeser Lane, a four-lane road with a 13 percent grade that opens up to a panoramic view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. Even driving the posted speed limit of 25 feels like flying. And then at the bottom, you’re in this cute little town.<br>We started exploring. We became regulars at our new favorite donut shop, where they started to throw in a few extra treats with each visit. We hit up the locally owned Japanese grocery store on Tuesdays for snacks. We held a birthday at Arlington Park, up on the hill under the tall trees, by the pond full of ducks and turtles. The more time we spent in El Cerrito, the more I thought: I would raise my kids here if I could afford it.<br>Redwood trees at Canyon Trail Park, El Cerrito. (Amy Brown)And then, a Bay Area miracle. I hit the stock lottery. A tech company I’d worked for went public. We weren’t overnight millionaires, but we did suddenly have the down payment for a house. I knew exactly where we should look.<br>As we started househunting in El Cerrito, I began to notice yard signs popping up: LIBRARY TAX A BAD DEAL FOR EL CERRITO. I looked into it and found out that there would be a measure for library funding on the June primary ballot. The proposed location for the new library was the ground floor of a new mixed-use development currently under construction at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station.<br>It seemed like a pretty good deal to me. I already pay lots of taxes that go toward things like blowing the limbs off innocent children in Iran and Gaza. You want to use my money for a library? Go right ahead. I figured the opposition to the measure was standard anti-tax griping, the libertarian perspective that you have a right to keep 100 percent of your money and never wear a seatbelt. It didn’t occur to me that anyone could be all that mad at spending a little money to build a library.<br>We don’t debate the library tax<br>At the El Cerrito Democratic Club’s meeting to discuss Measure C, April 28, 2026.<br>Oakland Review of BooksMegan Steffen

Then I logged onto Nextdoor.<br>There, I discovered a guy whose profile photo showed him in a three-piece suit and a backwards Kangol hat, telling women who supported the library ballot measure that they’re government lobbyists and he knew where they lived. I saw ALL-CAPS RANTING ABOUT A SENIOR CENTER THAT WAS PROMISED BUT NEVER CAME TO FRUITION. There were people freaking out about parking spaces. People...