LWer Nathan Steele sworn in to SB City Council
Nathan Steele, representing District 5 in Leisure World, was sworn in as the newest member of the Seal Beach City Council on Feb. 27. City Clerk Gloria Harper administered the oath to Steele, who stood at the podium with one hand raised and the other on a Bible held by his wife, Patty.
Both districts 3 and 5 had an overall voter turnout of about 58%, according to Harper, who certified the election that night.
After honoring outgoing council members Sandra Massa-Lavitt and Mike Varipapa, Steele took his seat along with other newcomer Lisa Landau of District 3, representing the Hill and Heron Point area.
After Steele and Landau were sworn in, the council was reorganized with Thomas Moore, District 2 (Leisure World, College Park West and Rossmoor Center), as mayor; Schelly Sustarsic, District 4 (College Park East, Town Center), mayor pro tem; and members Joe Kalmick, District 1 (Old Town and Surfside Colony); Lisa Landau, District 3 (The Hill, Coves, Bridgepoint and Heron Pointe); and Nathan Steele, District 5 (Leisure World).
In his opening remarks, Councilman Steele told the packed council chambers that he is a believer in Jesus Christ: “He brought me here; I am nothing without him,” Steele said.
He thanked the people who helped him win the seat and said it was “humbling” to have so many people work so hard to get him into office.
In her opening statement, Councilwoman Landau also started by thanking God, saying “through Him, all things are possible.”
Steele said one of his top priorities is connecting with Seal Beach: “My main concern is bringing Leisure World and Seal Beach closer together.
“Too often it seems like we get the least attention from Seal Beach when we are, in fact, the largest slice of the population. Of course, we have Golden Rain and our Mutuals looking after us. But, I want to be sure that we are well represented in city hall.”
Steele is the president of The Steele Agency, Inc., an advertising agency specializing in Christian teaching programming that works with Christian radio stations in North America.
He is also the U.S. director for Grace Bible Mission, which works as a liaison between the Cameroon Biblical Seminary and its supporters in North America. He has built two radio stations, enabling the local pastors of affiliated Grace Bible Church of Cameroon to preach and teach in local tribal languages.
Steele began his career in the stock brokerage business in Chicago, working with boutique brokerage firms before becoming a member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. In the early 90s, he transitioned to training others in the skills needed to be option traders, working in Madrid, Spain as the Spanish Options market was beginning.
In 1993, he joined Holden International, a global training and consulting firm specializing in strategic planning and the application of strategy to business, marketing, and sales campaigns.
Through those years, Steele worked with several Fortune 500 companies like EDS, IBM, Accenture and Microsoft’s OEM division on a global scale.
He has traveled over 2 million miles to more than 40 countries. He was a conference speaker at international conferences in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, South Africa and other countries.
He speaks fluent Spanish. The city council meets the second and fourth Mondays of each month.
Unless otherwise announced, the meetings are held in the City Council Chambers at 211 Eighth Street and typically begin at 5 p.m. with a study session or closed session meeting.
The televised portion of the City Council meeting starts at approximately 7 p.m. and can be viewed on cable television on SBTV-Channel 3 or on the City’s website at sealbeachca.org and click “Agenda, Notices & Meeting Videos” link through the Government menu option.
