Banschick Returns to Long Beach Zoning Board

Stuart Banschick, a former trustee of the Long Beach Zoning Board of Appeals, was reappointed to that body by a 3-0 vote at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. 

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A trustee from 2002 to 2007, Banschick will return to the board to fill the seat of Eileen Goggin, whose term expires in January 2016, after she vacated it to fill a vacant seat on the City Council.  

“On the zoning board of appeals, he developed knowledge of and familiarity with the city’s zoning laws and procedures,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said of Banschick on recommending his appointment.

In January, Goggin, an attorney and Democrat, was appointed to the zoning board to replace Republican-coalition member Ray Ellmer, an attorney and city volunteer firefighter and lifeguard. But she left that position in February on her appointment to the City Council soon after former Councilman Michael Fagen was forced to step down. Fagen was convicted on charges related to his collection of more than $15,000 in unemployment benefits while he collected a salary as a council member.

On his appointment Tuesday, Goggin and fellow council members Len Torres and Scott Mandel voted to approve Banschick’s appointment to the zoning board.

“He is a committed and involved member of the Long Beach community,” Goggin said before casting her vote. “He’s a former zoning board member and clearly has the experience.”

Council member John McLaughlin was absent and Councilwoman Fran Adelson recused herself from the vote but didn’t offer an explanation for that move.

Banschick’s wife, Ruth, volunteers for the Long Beach Democrat Committee and openly criticized the previous Republican administration. Last August, when Stuart Banschick was appointed the city’s Ethics Board, Fagen noted that half of the appointees to the revived board had  made donations to the Long Beach Democrats the previous two years, and Councilman Scott Mandel challenged Fagen, saying that he was unnecessarily turning the appointment process into a political issue.

Banschick has lived in Long Beach since 1989 and has engaged in fundraising for East School and Long Beach Animal Shelter, Schnirman said.

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