Council Watcher at Home With History

He can tell you that the city’s McDonald’s sits on what used to be a lumberyard. He can also tell you that Zoeter Elementary School used to be where a Blockbuster video store now stands. And that those four-bedroom homes that sold for $18,500 in 1958 now “go for at least $350,000.”

Gordon Shanks may know Seal Beach history better than anyone in town, and he knows its politics as well.

These days, the retired optometrist, who has lived in this seaside community since 1966, almost never misses a City Council meeting and over the last 34 years has only had brief lapses away from the City Hall chambers.

The polite 65-year-old, who is a member of the city’s Historical Society, relishes the current debate over whether bed and breakfasts should be allowed in Seal Beach. He laughs as he says that the controversy over the proposed zoning ordinance that would allow inns to operate in a section of the city is a warmup for a bigger fight.

“This bed-and-breakfast issue is setting the scene for a bigger fight having to do with the DWP property,” Shanks said. He thinks the prized vacant Department of Water and Power property next to the mouth of the San Gabriel River channel will be the city’s next battleground. A local development company is waiting for Los Angeles City Council approval of its bid on the 10-acre parcel that is zoned for 70% recreational open space and 30% for a hotel.

“The troops are organizing and alliances are being formed,” he said.

Shanks knows local politics and history so well that many times he is called upon to give his perspective on current matters at City Council meetings during public comment. And, although he would not reveal from whom or how many, he receives calls at home from council members seeking his opinion.

“Gordon Shanks is the conscience of the council,” said Councilwoman Patty Campbell. “He has developed a reputation as an honest, dependable city historian.”

He is so in tune to the inner workings of the city that Shanks has been able to dictate to the council its next move when it was “stuck on procedural issues,” Campbell said.

Shanks said he never aspired to be a local historian or resident advocate. In the 1960s, with two elementary school-age children, he began to keep track of how the city’s money was being spent and how much was going to schools. At the same time, he took a strong interest in development issues.

“I just fell into this,” he said.

His enthusiasm continued to grow. He recalls going to Planning Commission meetings at McGaugh Elementary School that would last until 3 a.m.

“It was total war in the summer of 1970,” he said, referring to the development of the College Park East homes. “It was approved with not one park or school for 3,000 homes. That was a big deal.”

Alex Murashko can be reached at (714) 966-5974