Candidate for
Council Member; City of Fullerton; 4 Year Full Term

Johnnie David Atkinson was born on 9/11/1965 to Johnnie "Red" and Anita "Joy. As a lifelong resident of Fullerton he attended public school at Valencia Park Elementary, Parks Jr. High and Nicolas Jr. High and graduated from Buena Park High in 1984.

While growing up he was active in the community spending lots of time at the Fullerton Boys club where he was involved in their basketball program. He was also involved in West Fullerton Little League, Fullerton Pony and Colt league baseball and Pop Warner football. He enjoyed the Fullerton public libraries summer reading program. Johnnie was very active he enjoyed roller skating and Merilark and Roller Village. He also liked going to the Fox Fullerton Theater to watch movies with his older sisters and cousins.

After graduation from high school Johnnie became a school bus driver for the Fullerton School District were he drove students for a number of years. Then he went to work in the restaurant business where he worked for over a decade working in all phases from bartending, security working his way up to manager for a number of years. During his time working in the restaurant industry he earned the respect of his fellow employees by always lending a hand whether it be washing dishes, mopping floors or busing tables. He was always willing to sit down and listen to a person's work or personnel issues.

The highlight of his time in the restaurant business was being selected as 1 of 4 employees to travel to the Philippines to guide there staff in opening a new restaurant. This was a life changing event for him seeing how the people in a third world country have so little but are so happy and work so hard.

While working his way up into management Johnnie also worked in security at a middle in La Mirada for 4 years. Then when the management opportunity opened up he focused all his attention to be the best he could be.

Johnnie is now back in security at the Jr. High level where he enjoys working with students, teachers, staff and parents to help everyone have a safe and enjoyable educational experience. He is always positive with the students, he enjoys talking with them and guiding them into the right direction to follow their dreams and be good citizens.

There are many people who have had an influence on Johnnie's life. His mom and dad always worked hard to give their kids what they needed to achieve their goals. There kindness to all people from family to strangers always sharing there food and home to help others.

Other major influences on Johnnie were his grandpa Marvin Eubanks and his uncle J.D. Eubanks who showed him how honesty and hard work are so important in molding good character. Pete Laipis long time athletic director of the Fullerton Boys Club had a major impact on Johnnie while growing up. Instilling that with hard work and determination along with being fair and playing by the rules you can be a good person. Although all the above mentioned have past except for his mom, he thinks about all of them almost daily. Which help guide him to be the best man he can be.