At 19, He Aims to Be a City Father

Young people are taking a lot of heat--and rightly so--these days for their avid disinterest in public affairs, including a dismal voting record, so when one comes along who takes the opposite tack, it seems worthy of note. That’s why I drove down to San Juan Capistrano the other day to visit with Gerhard Peters.

Peters is one of 14 candidates for three seats on the San Juan City Council. He is also a 19-year-old sophomore at Saddleback College who is concerned that the voters of that community take his candidacy the same way he does: seriously.

We talked outside the Dana Point Harbor coffee bar where Peters has worked for more than three years, currently as manager. He puts in a 40-hour week there, carries a full academic load at Saddleback--and managed a 3.6-grade-point average last year.

I asked him when he finds time to campaign, and he explained: “I’m off school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I also have Friday and Sunday mornings free.” He made it sound as if that were ample time to carry out his self-appointed mission of trying to knock on the door of every registered voter in San Juan.

“There are 13,000 registered voters here,” he said matter-of-factly, “and realistically I expect to get to about one-third of them personally.”

He probably will, too. There’s a kind of quiet determination about him that makes converts and belies his obvious youth. He’s thin, of modest height, has straight brownish hair neatly parted with the hint of a cowlick, wire-frame eyeglasses, a high thin forehead, and a kind of wry humor that pokes occasionally through the layers of earnestness. Although I haven’t made a study, I suspect that--if elected--he would be Orange County’s only city councilman wearing braces on his teeth.

But he would probably find that observation flippant, as well he should. “People don’t know who I am when I knock on their doors,” he said, “but most of them have been real nice to me. A few gave me a kind of astonished look because I’m so young, but they didn’t say it.

“One man told me he was excited to see a young person so involved. Another guy invited me in and asked me to tell him about things I’d like to do in the city. A lady talked to me for a half-hour, asking me questions, and then when I had answers she kept probing. Nobody’s been hostile, and only a couple of people have said they didn’t want to talk and shut the door.”

Peters admits that there aren’t any terribly controversial issues on the local scene--except, perhaps, “development in historically sensitive areas,” on which he has “a moderate position; I support non-intrusive development.”

Clearly he is learning the political lingo. But instead of attacking his opponents--none of whom he has yet met--he would like his candidacy to be seen as an affirmation of youth.

“The community,” he says “has a misconception about young people. My peers are a lot more politically aware than they used to be. They have opinions, but they don’t feel comfortable expressing them in the field of politics where they feel intimidated by older people.

“But I believe we have the potential at any age to be anything we want to be, and I’d like to be an inspiration to people my age. At first, they thought this was a crazy idea, but now they respect me for it. I think, for example, it’s important to have an anti-drug member on the council who is young. I’d fight that much harder. I have a real interest in what goes on here, and the best way to make things happen is to do them yourself. They could use somebody my age on the council.”

Peters says he arrived at this place pretty much by himself, without a political mentor either at home or at school. His mother, who is German (hence the “Gerhard”) met and married his father when he was stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany. They were divorced about 10 years ago, but Gerhard’s father lives in Costa Mesa and gets together often with his son. Gerhard’s stepfather is a Marine captain who has been in charge of recruiting activities at several sites in this area, making it possible for his family to put down roots for the past seven years in San Juan, where his mother is an executive secretary for a local industry.

According to Peters, he didn’t get involved in campus politics either at Dana Hills High School (“the student government didn’t have much to say about what went on there”) or at Saddleback College. He chose instead to put most of his extra curricular energy into the 4-H Club, where he says he was into “leadership and citizenship.”

He has a hard time coming up with a political role model but finally singled out John F. Kennedy, not so much because he believed in Kennedy’s political philosophy (“I’m rather conservative”), but because “Kennedy appealed to the younger people.” Peters reflected on that a moment, then added, “But I’m not modeling my life after anyone. “

He doesn’t have a political organization, although he said that several of his friends have offered help, “but I like to put myself out front.” He’s a little hard to pin down on his future because it depends on whether or not he wins, and he doesn’t care to speculate on what he’ll do if he doesn’t win.

He’s making it clear that he will run for only one four-year term “because if I don’t get it done in four years, it won’t get done--and besides, I don’t think politicians should get too comfortable in office.” As a councilman, he would expect to continue his education at either UC Irvine or Cal State Fullerton, majoring in political sciences with an emphasis on international relations.

The only time he showed any mild rancor was when he referred to a whimsical comment by the current San Juan mayor--who will be running against him--that both his children are older than Peters. “So why don’t they get involved?” asked Peters a little testily.

Peters is thinking about a fund-raiser but doesn’t see the need for it yet. You see, he saved up $50 to finance his campaign and the day before I talked with him had visited a local print shop and discovered that he could reproduce all the single-sheet flyers he needs for $30. So his campaign fund is still solvent.

He was also carrying a stack of voter registration forms, which he says he has with him at all times in case he runs across an unregistered voter. I was pleased to be able to tell him that I’m already registered. And I’d also be pleased to have Gerhard Peters knock at my front door.