Mayor Linda Elderkin was elected to the Claremont City Council in March 2007. This is her first elected office but she has been widely involved in the life of this community since she and husband Rick came to Claremont in 1974. She has twice served as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Claremont and developed both interest and experience in City government on this commission.

Over the years, Linda has alternated working outside the home with staying at home with the family. Her professional experience includes positions as a student Dean at both Pitzer and Pomona colleges. As a volunteer in the community she has served as President of such organizations as the League of Women Voters, the Claremont Little League, the Presbyterian Day Care Center, the EDucational NETwork Foundation, and the Claremont High School Theatre Boosters. She has served on many committees for the School District, Pilgrim Place, the churches, the Scouts, etc.

Linda serves as the Council representative to the Foothill Corridor Design Authority JPA, the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District,Los Angeles County Sanuitation District, Pomona Valley Transit Authority, Claremont's Committee on Aging, and Claremont's Committee on Youth and Family. She is the council's representative to Claremont Red Cross Board and to the Community Coordinating Council. She also serves on the council's Commission Nominating Ad Hoc Committee and the Mansionization Ad Hoc Committee.

Linda grew up in Denver, Colorado. After earning a B.A. at the University of Colorado and an M.A. at Brown University, Linda completed her Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate University. She and her husband, Rick, a mathematician at Pomona College, have two children. Daughter Katie is married to Patrick Kendrick. They are both attorneys and live in Minneapolis with their new baby boy, James Francis. Son Topher graduated from Grinnell College in May 2008 and is attending graduate school.

Mayor Pro Tem Sam Pedroza is serving his first term on the Claremont City Council.

Sam is an Environmental Planner for the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County. His responsibilities include government relations, outreach, and public relations.

As a council member, he serves as the City's appointee to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG), the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and the Six Basins Water Master board. He also serves on the SGVCOG Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, SGVCOG Water Working Group, and is Chair of the SGVCOG Solid Waste Working Group, in addition to the SGAG Energy and Environment Committee.

As their representative to the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, the SGVCOG Governing Board recently elected Sam to help with the extension of the light rail train project from Pasadena to Claremont, and eventually to the Ontario Airport. Sam was also elected to the National League of Cities Transportation, Infastructure and Services Policy and Advocacy Committee in February of 2010.

Sam's other regional involvements include the San Gabriel Valley Public Affairs Network, where he serves as treasurer, and the San Gabriel River Discovery Center Authority where he represents the Stakeholders Committee.  He is the council alternate representative to the California Contract Cities Association and the Metro Gold Line Phase II JPA.

Sam previously served one and one-half terms on the Claremont Community Services Commission and chaired the Claremont Youth Sports Facility Committee. He also held board positions on the Claremont Wildlands Conservancy and Claremont Heritage.

Sam was born in Los Angeles and raised in Bassett, an unincorporated neighborhood between the cities of La Puente and Baldwin Park. After graduating from Bassett High School, Sam attended Rio Hondo Community College and Mt. San Antonio College. He then transferred to San Diego State University where, in 1992, earned his Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration. He later continued his education and, in 1997, earned his Master of Arts in Urban Planning from UCLA.

Sam and his wife Julie moved to Claremont in 1996 and are raising their two boys who are active in Claremont Little League, Claremont Junior All-American ,Football and Claremont Hockey.

Councilmember Corey Calaycay is serving his second term on the Claremont City Council (Mar. 2009 - Mar. 2013). He served a one-year term as Mayor of Claremont from March 2009 - March 2010.

Corey was born in Chicago. Not long thereafter, his family moved to Claremont where he has resided for the past thirty-six years. He is a parishioner of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church. He attended the United Church of Christ Pre-School, Foothill Country Day School, and Webb School of California. He went on to Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, receiving a degree in Business Administration in 1992.

In 1990, he ran his first race for Claremont City Council at age nineteen. While he did not win, he garnered a strong 2,382 votes. He ran unsuccessfully again in 1992 and 1994 before finally receiving the nod of the voters in the election of March 2005. At his installation on March 16, 2005, Councilmember Calaycay remarked that his 15-year journey to City Council brought new personal meaning for him to the old adage, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again."

Corey had been an active leader in the community in the years prior to his election. He served on the Los Angeles County Local Suppression of Drug Abuse in Schools Advisory Committee and is Past-Chair of the City of Claremont Library Task Force, Past-President of the Friends of the Claremont Public Library, Past-Treasurer and Past-President of the Claremont Educational Foundation, and a founding member and Past-President of Active Claremont. He currently serves as co-chair of the Galileo Society of Harvey Mudd College and is a member of the Selective Service System, Local Board 194.

Corey has over ten years of experience working for the California State Legislature and has had the opportunity to serve constituents in more than thirty communities in the region around Claremont including parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties. He has worked for former Assemblyman Bob Margett (59th District), former Assemblyman Bob Pacheco (60th District), former Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (71st District), and former State Senator Bob Margett (29th District).

Councilmember Calaycay serves as the council representative to the California Contract Cities Association and serves on the City Selection Committee for the League of California Cities.. He is also the City's representative to the Foothill Transit where he serves as alternate to Pomona Councilmember Paula Lantz on the Executive Board. He is the council alternate representative to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, the Los Angeles County Sanitation District, the Los Angeles Division of the League of California Cities, the Foothill Freeway Corridor Design Authority JPA, and the Pomona Valley Transportation Authority. He serves as an alternate on the Claremont Coordinating Council.

Council Member Larry Schroeder is serving his first term on the Claremont City Council (Mar. 2009 - Mar. 2013). He recently served on the Claremont Community Services Commission, which he was appointed to in 2007.

Larry was born in Michigan City, Indiana. In 1971, Larry moved to Southern California where he met his wife, Laurie. They were married in 1972. Larry and Laurie moved to Claremont in 2002 when they were looking for a community where they would eventually retire. They have three children and three grand children.

Larry has ten years (1971-1980) of experience in banking and twenty-six years (1980-2007) of experience in city government. For the last nineteen years (1988-2007) he was Finance Director for the cities of Glendora and Lakewood. Larry also has seventeen years experience in economic development. From 1997 to 2007 Larry held the positions of Treasurer, Chairperson of the Finance Committee, and Member of the Claims Committee for the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority.

Larry serves as the Council representative to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, American red Cross Board, and the Tri-City MentalHealth Governing board. He also serves as an alternate on the Metrol gold Line Phase II committee and San Gabriel Valley Mosquito Abatement District. He also serves on the council's Commission Nominating Ad Hoc Committee and the PERS Review Ad Hoc Committee.

After his retirement in 2007, Larry completed his Doctorate degree in Public Administration and since 2004 has taught a course in public budgeting at the University of La Verne. Larry holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology (1971) and a Master's degree in Public Administration (1986). Larry is currently engaged as a part-time management and financial consultant.

Peter Yao is serving his second term on the Claremont City Council after being elected to the council in March 2003 and 2007. He was selected as Mayor of Claremont in March 2006 and 2007.

Peter, born in Shanghai, China, has developed deep roots in the community since coming to live here with his parents and sister as refugees in 1956. Peter's community service includes past membership on the City's Human Relations Committee and the Traffic Stop Study Citizens' Committee of the Claremont Police Commission. Mr. Yao currently serves as the council representative to the Independent Cities Association, the Los Angeles Division of the League of California Cities, the Metro Gold Line Phase II JPA, and the County Library Commission (District 5). He is the council alternate representative to the Foothill Transit. He also serves on the council's PERS Review and Commission Nominating Ad Hoc Committees.

Councilmember Yao has received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from University of California at Berkeley, an MSEE from State University of New York at Buffalo, an MBA from California State University Fullerton and an MA in Management from Claremont Graduate University. His professional experience includes working as a circuit designer, supervising RADAR receiver designs, managing factories in Mississippi and California, and managing depot operation and design engineering organizations. He is now retired.

Mr. Yao is married and has a son.