by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Lifelong Claremont resident Rachel Forester, 44, is the sole challenger looking to end Mayor Pro Tem Corey Calaycay’s longtime hold on Claremont City Council’s District 1 seat.

“I want to have this seat because we need leadership that is forward-looking,” Forester said. “The challenges that we’re facing right now, whether it’s housing and homelessness, the environment, any number of things, these are problems that are not the same as they were 10 years ago, not the same as they were 20 years ago. So, we need to look at the problems we have now and anticipate what the future holds and govern from that point of view.”

Combined life and career experiences are what she said give her the tools to be successful on  City Council.

“As a hairdresser, I’ve spent 25 years talking to people all day, every day,” Forester said. “I think being a hairdresser has given me more contact with people that are living different experiences than my own. The other side is just who I am.”

Forester said her parents John and Lynn modeled a life of service, which eventually led her down the same path.

Forester, a self-described “good neighbor,” volunteers at her childrens’ schools and is a League of Women Voters Mt. Baldy Area Board member. She previously served on the Claremont Educational Foundation Board and as a commissioner on the city’s community and human services commission.

For Forester, the biggest challenge facing City Council is resource allocation. She views it as balancing finances with community needs.

“We have leadership that has done a pretty good job getting us in a better financial place, and now it is time to look at all of those services and cuts and look at the things that the community is asking for,” she said. “Since it is mostly a bureaucratic issue — it’s the budget — it takes really working with people to figure out what those … most important things are.”

Forester proposed two steps to achieve this goal: first, tapping the city’s commissions or community groups to do outreach. Then, looking at the results through “an equity lens” to determine “what is the most equitable way for us to use these resources so that everybody’s needs are being met in the community.”

Claremont is currently tasked by the state to reach its Regional Housing Needs Allocation of 1,711 new housing units —  556 extremely low-income units, 310 low income, 297 moderate income, and 548 above moderate-income units — by October 2029.

“It’s not the city’s job to build the housing,” Forester said. “It’s the city’s job to make sure the housing is available for others to build. We have a history of 60 years of under-building housing. We did not build the housing for … all of that population growth that was good for our communities. We had 60 years where local control could come in and make that work and they didn’t. I would like Claremont to be able to do this on their own, but we’ve shown the state of California, most cities have shown, that they’re not willing to take the hard steps to make room for people in their communities.”

And because of 60 years of under-building, rents and the cost of buying a home in Claremont have skyrocketed, she said.

“We have to do this developing, and we have to develop in a way that is mindful of the people that are part of our community that don’t already own a home,” she said. “We want people to be able to afford to buy a home if that is something that works for them. We can’t do it if we don’t have the inventory.”

Forester said getting residents on board with accepting new developments in Claremont begins with “being honest about the effects of housing.”

“I think we need to do better at saying, ‘Here’s what has actually happened in other places. Here’s what you might expect,’” she said. “We need to make sure that people understand that housing is not a burden to the community. Housing is a benefit to our community. We need to make sure we are mindful of what works in certain neighborhoods.”

If elected, Forester said she would conduct outreach to residents to better understand their reservations about new housing.

Asked what the City Council does well, Forester noted its response to emergencies, including  the Bridge Fire and the January 2022 windstorm.

On the other hand, Forester said she “thinks that there are gaps in our current council’s understanding of some of their constituents.” For example, she is a renter, and does not see a voice for the city’s tenant population, which occupies 30% of its housing stock.

“Having somebody who has that lived experience on council is important,” Forester said. “Over and over again we hear comments and policy recommendations that absolutely have a lens of home ownership over them. They neglect thinking about what the experience of tenants are like, and unless you understand what that experience is, you cannot make good policy around it. And I don’t think our city council has been good enough at really reaching out to that over 30% of the population on one of the most vital things that a person needs, which is shelter.”

Forester believes she would provide unique perspectives to council.

“We’ve got businesspeople on the City Council, and they are very good at speaking to the business community but … from their ownership point of view,” she said. “It’s not that I need the City Council to always vote the way I think, that’s not what I’m looking for; I’m looking for understanding.”

Claremont City Council District 1 challenger Rachel Forester faces incumbent Corey Calaycay on November 5.

Forester’s campaign website is rachelforclaremont.com.