Candidate for
Council Member; City of Claremont

Born in Shanghai, China, in 1944. Peter Yao came to Claremont with his parents and sister Margaret as refugees in 1956. His family was sponsored through connections at Pilgrim Place. Betty and Alton Sanford, the owners of Griswold's Smorgasbord Restaurant, provided initial employment opportunities. The Yao family quickly settled into Claremont life. Peter attended Sycamore Elementary, El Roble Middle School and Claremont High School. School jobs for Peter included picking up golf balls at the Claremont Golf Course and serving as the first male waiter at Griswold's. He paid his own way through the University of California at Berkeley and majored in electrical engineering. Subsequently, Peter earned three masters degrees: electrical engineering, business administration, and management science (Claremont Graduate University, 1983).

Peter has served in administration for 35 years at Raytheon Systems Company, a defense electronics contractor. He has been responsible for managing electronics production and assembly factories in California and Mississippi, supervising more than 750 employees. His last responsibility was the Director of Engineering and was responsible for coordinating power-electronics designs throughout the United States. Peter Yao Retired from Raytheon in 2005

Peter and his wife, Linda Yao, have been married for 33 years. Born in Pomona, she retired as a Library Director with the City of Upland after 26 years of service. She serves on the Corporate Board for Pilgrim Place and the local chapter of the Recording For The Blind and Dyslexic. Their son Richard is a college senior and is an Eagle Scout. The Yaos are members of the Claremont United Church of Christ Congregational.

Peter has deep roots in Claremont. He grew up in south Claremont and has lived in different neighborhoods in Claremont for the last 40 years. He has seen the evolution of Claremont from a quiet college town to a culturally diverse city in the Inland Empire.

Prior to he elected to the City Council in 2003, he serves on the Human Relation Committee for the City of Claremont and as a board member on the Claremont Community Foundation. He was a member of the Traffic Stop Study Citizens' Committee (police profiling) for the Claremont Police Commission.

He was elected to the Claremont City Council in 2003. His Council peers elected him to the City Mayor post in March of 2006.

He served on the Board of the Claremont Chapter of the American Red Cross and is currently a boardmember of the Claremont Chamber of Commerce.

In the past four years, he accepted numerous leadership posts with regional organizations in Southern California:

• Independent Cities Association
• League of California Cities
• Southern California Association of Government
• San Gabriel Valley Council of Government
• Gold Line Construction Authority
• Gold Line Joint Power Authority
• Foothill Transit
• Pomona Valley Transit Authority

Peter S. Yao has a long-standing interest and dedication to race, ethnic heritage, religious and gender issues in the work place and within the Claremont community.