SEAL BEACH, Calif. — The weather is lovely and the golf above par. But all is not well at Leisure World, one of the nation’s first and biggest retirement communities.

For nearly two years now, a few dissident members have been demanding that the community’s management company open its books and show exactly how it spends millions in resident fees. Not everyone inside this gated slice of coastal Southern California is happy about the dispute.

Some senior citizens angrily refer to the dozen or so activists as crackpots and say their lawsuits, their pickets, their letter-writing and their hell-raising at community meetings have tainted a retirement otherwise blissfully free of the hassles of the outside world.

The mere sight of one of the activists walking across the grounds recently was enough to compel another resident to stop his car and let loose with an expletive-laced tirade.

‘‘These dissidents contend that all the people in Leisure World are poor, downtrodden, sheepish people who can’t protect themselves,’’ said Jim Williams, 69, president of one of Leisure World’s community associations and a six-year resident. ‘‘But the truth of the matter is, a lot of people are just that way because they don’t want to get involved. They want to retire in peace.’’

After all, that is why Leisure World residents — average age: 78 — pay up to $425,000 for apartments surrounded by a wall with only two gates, where security guards in white gloves stand sentinel. Inside are six clubhouses with shuffleboard, lawn bowling, woodworking and art studios. There are also weekend dances and shows at a 2,500-seat amphitheater.

About 9,000 residents pay the Golden Rain Foundation, the company that oversees Leisure World, a monthly fee of $105 per unit, as well as a one-time, move-in membership fee of up to $1,300. The money goes toward such things as maintenance and landscaping of the 533-acre property.

The activists first tried in February 2004 to examine the financial records of the Golden Rain Foundation.

The dissidents contend Golden Rain must comply with a recent state law requiring financial transparency from homeowners associations. Golden Rain maintains the rules do not apply because it is a nonprofit management consultant — not a homeowners association — hired by the 16 self-governed resident associations that make up Leisure World.

‘‘They consider us troublemakers,’’ said Betty Keatley, 67, who has picketed Golden Rain’s offices at Leisure World. At meetings, ‘‘when we want to talk, they slam down the gavel and say, ‘Shut up and sit down.’’’

Golden Rain representatives did not return calls for comment. Presidents of Leisure World’s resident associations insist the money is used appropriately and say members have easy access to an audited annual budget that is projected at nearly $10 million for 2006.

Small-claims judges have consistently ruled in the dissidents’ favor, slapping Golden Rain with about $3,000 in fines and forcing it to open many of its records. The activists are pressing for more information. The case was recently elevated into Superior Court, where a judge is expected to rule by January.

The dissidents said that at first, they just wanted to know how their money was being spent. But Golden Rain is fighting back so hard that they have come to suspect that the foundation is trying to hide financial improprieties of some kind.

‘‘I honestly don’t know what else to think, for the life of me,’’ said dissident David Lyon, a 60-year-old Vietnam veteran.

Williams, the community association president, said the foundation has spent more than $100,000 in legal bills — money that would have gone toward services at Leisure World.

At Leisure World, golf carts zip along narrow streets, past little lawns dotted with American flags and fanciful garden statues. Rows of single-story, cookie-cutter apartments are surrounded by small patios enclosed with white latticework.

‘‘What you see architecturally is what you get with personalities here. It’s very much a sense of conformity,’’ Lyon said. ‘‘I became very unpopular because I dared to ask questions.’’