Eastside Neighbor. Planning Commissioner. Organizer.Chris Castorena is a proven leader focused on responsible growth, local job pathways, and housing people can afford. Raised on Banning’s Eastside, he believes city decisions should strengthen neighborhoods, not displace residents. Chris is committed to practical solutions and long-term stability for Banning’s future.

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<h1>Rooted in Banning. Ready to Govern.</h1><img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/fb603f8e-3d82-4eda-b6d5-81cecda4e364/fb603f8e-3d82-4eda-b6d5-81cecda4e364.png?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C4500%2C4500&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="base">Chris Castorena is running for Banning City Council in District 5 because this city belongs to the people who live here, not the people who profit off of it. For too long, Banning residents have been left to live with rising costs, truck traffic, weak infrastructure, and decisions made behind closed doors while somebody else walks away with the benefit. Chris is running to change that.<h3>Rooted here</h3>Before graduating from Banning High, Chris moved 10 times, but he never left Banning. He stayed in Banning Unified, was part of only the second class to complete the district’s dual immersion program, and grew up playing in the City basketball league. Like a lot of people here, he was taught that success meant leaving. He left for school, got more education, and saw more of the world. But the farther he got, the more he missed the city that raised him, and the more wrong it felt that people here were taught to treat leaving like the only serious plan.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/edb0f377-0eea-4dd2-bbce-f2f27c1fa343/a4b1222c-4964-4b09-881e-827c897dfe65.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=713%2C323%2C2613%2C2407&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="right" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">Chris is a first-generation college graduate with two bachelor’s degrees and a Master of Public Policy from UC Riverside. He did not get that education to stay away. He got it to come back sharper, more prepared, and more committed to making sure Banning residents stop paying the price for decisions made without them.<h3 style="text-align: left;">Built and organized here</h3>Chris co-founded A Better Banning and helped organize real support during the pandemic, including rental relief, housing assistance, and direct mutual aid for unhoused neighbors when the usual systems weren’t enough. He also helped lead the Banning Future Fellowship, which hosted the city’s first-ever youth-led community summit and paid young people a living wage for their work. That effort took local youth seriously and produced a 50-page report with 30 local solutions for Banning.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/68eb729e-87ee-4843-a52e-646572d2b2e2/68eb729e-87ee-4843-a52e-646572d2b2e2.png?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=66%2C144%2C950%2C587&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="right" variant="framed">His commitment to this area didn’t start with this campaign, and it didn’t stop there. He has spent years serving across the San Gorgonio Pass through schools, service clubs, housing work, community organizing, and civic life, including leadership with the San Gorgonio Education Foundation, the San Gorgonio Pass Rotary Club, Pass Kiwanis, Pass Community Foundation, Faith in Action of the San Gorgonio Pass, Banning Housing &amp; Homelessness Solutions, Pass Young Democrats, Banning Chamber of Commerce, Beaumont Chamber of Commerce, and Pass Civics. Pass Civics started as a class he taught at the Banning Community Center through the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, and it has since grown into a Pass Community Foundation program, where he’ll serve as lead facilitator for Pass Civics Academy.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/6c72017b-2e7c-40de-9a97-1133457b1753/8f397a48-e618-4621-aed3-d402b92fe1ac.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=439%2C0%2C3068%2C1903&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">For Chris, service has never been about titles. It’s been about showing up for our people and putting down roots deep enough to fight for this place over the long haul.<h3>Fought for residents</h3>Chris serves on the Banning Planning Commission, where he reviews major development proposals and asks the questions too many people in power would rather rush past. He has voted no on projects tied to warehouse sprawl, truck traffic, and more pollution when they didn’t come with real, enforceable benefits for residents.His standard is simple: if a project is going to make money off Banning, the people who live here shouldn’t be left with the damage.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/bbcb3cbb-7598-4fe4-b98e-0dd30a57b744/d1473775-1ddc-4cfc-bbac-60c0e16fdaa8.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=711%2C0%2C2635%2C2245&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="right" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">Chris is also a caregiver for his dad, a Vietnam veteran who now needs full-time care. That leaves very little patience for excuses. When you’re helping someone you love get through the day, you learn fast that every delay matters, every extra cost matters, and every broken system lands somewhere real.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/c5717ad4-d38d-4c31-b85f-9e47dbc06ca4/bb5f04b0-f222-4dab-ae33-ca7aaee09371.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=501%2C388%2C2587%2C2980&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="right" variant="framed"><h3>Ready to govern</h3>Professionally, Chris has worked at the state and regional level in economic development, helping steward nearly $30 million in public investment aimed at expanding opportunity for working-class residents. He knows how public money moves, where it gets stuck, and how often places like Banning are told to wait while other people cash in.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/ce93a592-66b8-402b-927e-aa1dd2412c48/5c377a04-2764-4f63-a073-9c1db11ca2c0.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=0%2C153%2C3072%2C3202&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">He’s running on three priorities: lowering the cost of living, building good local jobs, and creating healthier neighborhoods. He believes Banning can grow without selling out the people who already live here, and that residents deserve a local government that tells the truth, does the work, and remembers who this city is supposed to serve.Because the people who live here should have more power than the people who profit off this city.

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As a Councilmember, Chris Castorena will use the full power of City Hall to lower costs and demand real benefits from developers because he believes that Banning families come first.

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If you believe Banning should work for the people who live here, not just the people who profit here, we need you.Sign up to volunteer, host a house meeting, walk your neighborhood, or help us raise the standards at City Hall.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/89b48073-732d-47a3-98f2-9070dda6cac9/89b48073-732d-47a3-98f2-9070dda6cac9.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=64%2C378%2C1759%2C988&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="center" alignwidth="50" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">

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<h1 style="text-align: center;">About District 5</h1><img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/9a21f1dc-e35b-42f8-b1f9-2f13aa220eff/9a21f1dc-e35b-42f8-b1f9-2f13aa220eff.png?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=83%2C1268%2C5969%2C3632&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="District 5 is northeast Banning, largely north of I-10 and east of North San Gorgonio Avenue." align="left" alignwidth="40" tiltdirection="left" variant="base">District 5 is northeast Banning, largely north of I-10 and east of North San Gorgonio Avenue.District 5 is northeast Banning, largely north of I-10 and east of North San Gorgonio Avenue. It is home to working families, seniors, long-time residents, and neighbors who deserve a City Hall that gets the basics right. With nearly 6,000 residents, District 5 is a majority-Latino district and one of the most important voices in Banning’s future.But District 5 is more than a set of boundaries. East Banning was shaped by generations of people who made a home here: Cahuilla and Serrano peoples, Mexican-American railroad and agricultural workers connected to the historic barrios of La Chancla, El Sapo, and El Lagartijo, Black families who helped shape the Eastside through church life, education, homebuilding, and civic leadership, and Hmong families who began putting down roots here in the late 1970s and early 1980s.This district has lived what happens when power moves without accountability. The freeway cut through parts of the old barrios. Black families displaced by Section 14 in Palm Springs rebuilt their lives in Banning. Hmong families arrived here as refugees and built community while facing language, economic, and cultural barriers. This district carries resilience, pride, and work still left to do.District 5 deserves the basics done well and the bigger decisions done right. That means safe streets, clean neighborhoods, responsive city services, and growth that lowers costs instead of pushing families further behind. It means public investment people can actually see in their block, their bills, and their daily lives. And it means leadership that treats these things like the job, because they are. That is why I’m running: to make City Hall work better for the people who already call District 5 home.Not sure if you're eligible to vote in this race? Check your registration information <a href="https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.

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City Hall sets the rules for growth, housing, jobs, infrastructure, and development.When those rules are weak, residents pay more and get less. When they’re strong, families stay, wages rise, and neighborhoods improve.We start with a simple test: does this lower everyday costs, expand local opportunity, and make life better for the people who already live here?These are the changes we’re fighting for.

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<h3>Lower Costs. Local Jobs. Stronger Neighborhoods.</h3>Banning should grow in a way that benefits residents, not outside speculation. We can lower costs, create better local job opportunities, and strengthen neighborhoods by aligning development with infrastructure and community needs.Chris is running for City Council to focus on practical, long-term solutions that keep Banning stable, affordable, and opportunity-driven.

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<h1>About the Banning City Council</h1><h3>The job that decides what gets built and who benefits.</h3>Banning is growing, but too many residents aren’t feeling the upside. We’re paying more, commuting more, and still not getting the basics: safe streets, homes people can afford, and jobs that pay.City Council sets the rules for housing, infrastructure, public safety, and small business. This office should deliver real relief and real results, not inside deals.I’m running to deliver a practical agenda: lower costs, more homes people can afford, stronger local job pathways, and infrastructure that comes first.

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<h1>Rooted in Banning. Ready to Fight for What We Deserve.</h1><img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/fb603f8e-3d82-4eda-b6d5-81cecda4e364/fb603f8e-3d82-4eda-b6d5-81cecda4e364.png?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C4500%2C4500&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="base">Chris Castorena is running for Banning City Council in District 5 because he believes City Hall should make life easier, not harder. That means lowering everyday costs, stopping bad deals, and making sure growth actually works for the people who already live here.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/edb0f377-0eea-4dd2-bbce-f2f27c1fa343/a4b1222c-4964-4b09-881e-827c897dfe65.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=713%2C323%2C2613%2C2407&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="right" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">People told him success meant leaving Banning. He didn’t buy it.<h3>Rooted here</h3>Before graduating from Banning High, Chris moved 10 times, but he never left Banning. He stayed rooted here out of love for the community that raised him, and he’s running to upset the setup so City Hall finally delivers for our people. He attended Banning Unified schools, was part of only the second class to complete Banning’s dual immersion program, and grew up in the City basketball league.Chris is a first-generation college graduate with two bachelor’s degrees and a Master of Public Policy from UC Riverside. But his story isn't about collecting degrees and leaving town. It's about bringing skills home.He grew up seeing how hard families work just to stay afloat here, and he knows Banning deserves more than bad deals, rising costs, and decisions made without the people who have to live with them.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/68eb729e-87ee-4843-a52e-646572d2b2e2/68eb729e-87ee-4843-a52e-646572d2b2e2.png?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=66%2C144%2C950%2C587&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="right" variant="framed"><h3 style="text-align: left;">Organized here</h3>Locally, Chris co-founded A Better Banning and helped organize real, on-the-ground support during the pandemic. He worked with regional partners like Lift to Rise to help keep neighbors housed, connect residents to rental relief, and deliver direct mutual aid, including food and supplies to unhoused neighbors when systems failed.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/6c72017b-2e7c-40de-9a97-1133457b1753/8f397a48-e618-4621-aed3-d402b92fe1ac.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=439%2C0%2C3068%2C1903&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">He also helped lead the Banning Future Fellowship, using community-based participatory research to listen across the city and turn resident and youth input into action. That work produced a 50-page community report with 30 local solutions, built by the people most affected.<h3>Fought for residents</h3><img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/6959f016-fb70-4e29-961a-e6adff06cd28/6959f016-fb70-4e29-961a-e6adff06cd28.png?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=950%2C0%2C3953%2C3241&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="right" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed">Chris serves on the Banning Planning Commission, where he reviews major development proposals and asks the questions too many people in power avoid.He has voted no on projects tied to warehouse sprawl, increased truck traffic, and higher pollution when they lacked real, enforceable benefits for residents. His standard is simple: if a project makes money in Banning, it should put money back into Banning, in writing, with enforcement, including infrastructure, clean-air protections, and real community benefits.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/c5717ad4-d38d-4c31-b85f-9e47dbc06ca4/bb5f04b0-f222-4dab-ae33-ca7aaee09371.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=501%2C388%2C2587%2C2980&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="right" variant="framed">Chris is also a caregiver for his dad, a Vietnam veteran who now needs full-time care. Caregiving teaches you what is urgent and makes you impatient with excuses. It's one more reason he’s running to replace the school-to-prison pipeline with real career pipelines: into City Hall, into the hospital, into the school district, and into good local jobs.<img src="https://run.imgix.net/053a9944-b277-4fda-a967-553ea6fb8d8a/ce93a592-66b8-402b-927e-aa1dd2412c48/5c377a04-2764-4f63-a073-9c1db11ca2c0.webp?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;bri=0&amp;con=0&amp;sat=0&amp;high=0&amp;shad=0&amp;usm=0&amp;rect=0%2C153%2C3072%2C3202&amp;w=1500" alt="" caption="" align="left" alignwidth="25" tiltdirection="left" variant="framed"><h3>Ready to govern</h3>Professionally, Chris has worked at the state and regional level in inclusive economic development, helping steward nearly $30 million in Catalyst funding aimed at creating job pathways for working-class residents.He is running on three priorities: lowering the cost of living, building good local jobs, and creating healthier neighborhoods, so City Hall works for residents, block by block.

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District 5 is northeast Banning. Learn about its neighborhoods, history, and why Chris Castorena is running to put residents first at City Hall.

About District 5 | Chris Castorena for Banning City Council

Meet Chris Castorena, candidate for Banning City Council District 5 working to lower costs, stop bad deals, and put residents first.

Meet Chris Castorena | Banning City Council District 5

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Banning native Chris Castorena is running for City Council District 5 to fight for affordable living, good local jobs, and healthy neighborhoods.

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<h3>In Banning, too much of daily life still feels harder than it should.</h3>A basic errand can still mean a long walk in the heat, across fast streets, with little shade and too few safe crossings. That shouldn't be normal.For too long, we've built too much of Banning around traffic speed and parking counts instead of safety, access, and daily life. Cars get the convenience. Residents get the risk.We need a different standard. Streets, sidewalks, parks, and public spaces should make daily life easier, safer, and more connected, not more exhausting and expensive.As your Councilmember, I'll fight for healthy neighborhoods with a simple set of rules:<ul><li>Treat traffic deaths as preventable. Slow dangerous turns, add safer crossings, improve lighting, and build traffic calming where people actually walk.</li><li>Fix the sidewalks. Treat sidewalks, curb ramps, and crossings like basic infrastructure, not optional upgrades.</li><li>Put daily life closer to home. Update zoning so more neighborhood-serving businesses can operate near homes, not miles away.</li><li>Stop wasting land on parking. Modernize parking rules so we can make room for more homes, neighborhood services, and walkable daily life.</li><li>Stop treating shade like an extra. Add trees, bus stop shade, shade structures, and cooler surfaces where people need relief most.</li><li>Pay for safer streets without sticking residents with the bill. Use state and federal dollars to build better walking routes and prevent serious injuries.</li></ul>Healthy neighborhoods aren't a luxury. They're about whether kids can get to school safely, seniors can move around with dignity, and basic errands stop feeling harder and riskier than they should.

Safe streets, working sidewalks, shade, and clean air should not be optional. We need the basics that make daily life easier, safer, and healthier.

Healthy Neighborhoods

<h3>Growth Should Lower Costs, Not Raise Them.</h3>In Banning, families are getting hit from every direction. Rent's high. Groceries cost more. Gas costs more. And the hidden costs add up too: long commutes, aging infrastructure, and public services stretched too thin.For too long, development in Banning has worked the same way: private profit now, public costs later.Projects get negotiated one by one, promises stay vague, enforcement's weak, and residents are left paying the price.We need a different standard at City Hall. If a project needs public approvals, public land, or public support, it should help lower the cost of living, strengthen neighborhood stability, and pay its fair share of the impacts it creates.That also means making daily life easier and less expensive by putting more of what people need closer to home.Too much still gets worked out behind the scenes. We deserve clear rules, public accountability, and a process residents can actually see and understand.As your Councilmember, I'll fight for affordable living with a simple set of rules:<ul><li>Stop approving projects on vague promises. If a project claims it'll help with affordability, that commitment should be clear, measurable, and enforceable.</li><li>Make growth pay for growth. Require up-front funding for infrastructure, traffic, safety, and other public impacts.</li><li>Create a better public deal tracker. Show residents what was approved, what was promised, what got built, and whether the city enforced the deal.</li><li>Build affordable homes near schools, services, and jobs. Support infill housing where daily life already happens.</li><li>Prevent displacement before families fall into crisis. Back housing stability, eviction prevention, and anti-displacement tools.</li><li>Rebuild Banning's homelessness response. Support transitional housing, emergency shelter, and real pathways into permanent housing.</li><li>Go after outside funding before passing costs to residents. Use housing, infrastructure, and neighborhood dollars to keep local burdens down.</li><li>Back Eastside grocery access. Support grocery improvements, healthier food options, and safer access to the stores families already rely on.</li></ul>Affordable living isn't just about rent. It's about whether life in Banning gets easier or more expensive, and whether the people who already live here can afford to stay. We need growth that lowers everyday costs, strengthens stability, and makes this city work better for the people who call it home.

Growth should lower costs, not stick residents with the bill. We need homes, accountability, and neighborhood improvements that make daily life more affordable.

Write a short blurb about an issue your campaign is highlighting. Try to keep the text a similar size between the various issue blurbs.

Affordable Living

<h3>Pathways to Paychecks</h3>Banning should not be a place you have to leave just to make a living.In Banning, this isn't abstract. One of Riverside County's largest jail facilities sits down the street from Banning High School, where I graduated. Our kids should see clear routes into careers, stability, and public service, not dead ends.Too often, that's not what our local economy delivers. Too many residents leave town every day for work, while too many of the jobs in Banning go to people commuting in from somewhere else. Too much of our time, wages, and opportunity leave the city instead of helping families build wealth here.For too long, Banning has been told to celebrate job creation without asking who actually gets hired. That's backwards.If growth is happening in Banning, local people should be first in line for the jobs, the training, and the future it creates.Banning already has the institutions to do this: City Hall, San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, Banning Unified, and Mt. San Jacinto College. They should be opening real local pathways into work, not standing by while opportunity passes local people by.We need stronger standards, clearer pathways, and a city that treats local opportunity as a public responsibility, not something residents are left to figure out on their own.As your Councilmember, I'll fight for good local jobs with a simple set of rules:<ul><li>Build the path from school to work. Expand paid internships, apprenticeships, mentorship, and school-to-career partnerships tied to real openings.</li><li>Put local people first for local jobs. Require city-supported projects to include local hire goals, first-source hiring, paid training slots, and public accountability.</li><li>Make community benefits enforceable. If a project brings more traffic, pollution, or strain on city services, it should come with real commitments the public can track.</li><li>Keep more public dollars in Banning. Expand the local vendor pool, make contracting more accessible for small businesses, and speed up payment timelines.</li><li>Make City Hall easier for small businesses. Simplify processes, publish clear timelines, and make the rules more consistent and easier to navigate.</li><li>Turn local institutions into real job pipelines. Bring together the City, Banning Unified, Mt. San Jacinto College, the hospital, unions, and local employers to build clearer local routes into work.</li></ul>Good local jobs aren't just about numbers on paper. They're about whether the people who grow up here can build a stable life here, and whether local growth actually opens doors for the people who already call Banning home.If growth is happening in Banning, local people should be first in line for the jobs, the training, and the future it creates.

A good job should not require leaving town. We need local hiring, paid training, and real pathways into careers for Banning residents.

Good Local Jobs

Chris Castorena is running for Banning City Council to fight for affordable living, good local jobs, and healthy neighborhoods.

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