Former Santa Barbara city councilmember Dan Secord — best known as Dr. Dan — died this weekend at age 80 from bladder cancer. As a councilmember, Secord was the council’s reigning “numbers guy,” as he liked to call himself, a fiscal watchdog who reckoned that if he kept an eye on the “the nickels and the dimes, the dollars would take care of themselves.”
One of the few Republicans to serve on a council dominated by Democrats between 1998 and 2006, Secord was blunt, generous, independent, and famous for doing his own research. As the Republican Party shifted to the right, Secord — an outspokenly pro-choice ob-gyn — decidedly did not shift with them. By contemporary standards, Secord qualified as an old-school, limited government Republican. Mayor Helene Schneider expressed appreciation that Secord could always be counted on asking the police chief during budget deliberations just how many women had been hired as police officers.
Secord relished his role in political life. He ran twice for county supervisor, unsuccessfully, and he served as an alternate on the Coastal Commission. But Secord was never cagey and had precious little patience for political spinmanship. “You didn’t have to guess where Dan stood on things,” recalled Fire Chief Pat McElroy. “And he never took our disagreements personally.”