David Samuel Benjamin Stannard (March 31, 1881 – June 14, 1959) was a journalist and advertising representative named to the Los Angeles, California, City Council in 1942 to replace Harold Harby, who had been stripped of his seat because he used a city car to go on vacation in Montana.

He was employed later by an advertising agency that had the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as one of its accounts.

It interviewed some twenty candidates, held several secret meetings and finally made the appointment on May 18, 1942, for the term that would end on election day in 1943.

In reacting to the then-current Battle of Savo Island and considering additional appropriations for civil defense, Stannard told the council that Southern California was a "hostile area" and that the city should not suffer because of lack of preparations.

Stannard submitted a resolution that would have forbidden drilling of oil wells within one-half mile of the ocean beach "to prevent future impairment.