{"id":9406,"date":"2012-03-04T16:47:27","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T00:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=9406"},"modified":"2012-07-01T14:06:21","modified_gmt":"2012-07-01T21:06:21","slug":"meet-lancaster-city-council-candidate-sandra-johnson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2012\/03\/04\/meet-lancaster-city-council-candidate-sandra-johnson\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Lancaster City Council Candidate Sandra Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Appointed Councilmember Sandra Johnson seeks to make a long-term commitment to Lancaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER – Sandra Johnson will be the first to tell you that she has lived the American dream. Having legally immigrated to the United States from Chile at a young age, Johnson grew up with very little, but worked hard to change her circumstances and steadfastly pursued her dream of opening a learning institution.<\/p>\n

Today Johnson is the chief executive officer and co-founder of the University of Antelope Valley (UAV), which has grown from a small CPR startup company into a nationally accredited institution with three campuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough hard work, dedication, honesty, [being] law abiding, and fear of God, it works to be able to reach your American dream,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAnd with me living that and being an example of that, I know that I would be the best candidate for that [City Council] position for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris agrees. That\u2019s why he appointed Johnson to the Lancaster city council in September 2011 to replace Sherry Marquez, who resigned due to family matters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
In Oct. 2011 Johnson presented the third $10,000 installment of UAV's $100,000, 10-year commitment to Antelope Valley High School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and this is definitely my calling,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cI had the blessing of being appointed, and I said that if I was to accept it\u2019s because it will be a long-term commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson is hoping that voters will help her fulfill that long-term commitment by electing her to one of two open seats on the Lancaster City Council this April.<\/p>\n

Having sat on the city council for roughly five months, Johnson has nothing negative to say about the council. Rather, she said what struck her almost immediately was the positives of the current council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all had the same kind of mindset like mine, which is that entrepreneurial mind, that mind of vision, that mind of thinking ahead in the future, that mind of making a difference in our community because we\u2019ve all lived here for so long,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt was very comfortable for me to walk right in and feel like I belonged already.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, she said she was proud to be the only female on the council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was an honor for me to have that female voice, that female touch, and that female vision,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cNot necessarily to just represent females\u2026 but everyone in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says if elected, she will work hard to represent the community and to address what she believes are three of the most important issues facing the city right now — education, unemployment and crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to be able to be a voice for our city,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
In November 2011, Johnson handed off a full-ride bachelors degree scholarship for a graduate of the Sheriff\u2019s Department\u2019s Vital Intervention & Directional Alternatives (VIDA) Program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As co-founder of a university that graduates more than 1,000 students a year in programs ranging from career-specific certificates to master\u2019s level programs, Johnson said her commitment to education is already evident.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re giving [students] that opportunity to learn, whether it be a trade or a degree, in order to become productive citizens in our community,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cAnd it\u2019s very rewarding when you see these students graduate and then they become an example for their families and examples for their community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson says her experience running UAV also puts her in a unique position to further her second goal for the city, which is to create more jobs for its residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating jobs is very important because that\u2019s what our community runs on,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWith us here at the university having 140-plus employees, it shows that we had the creativity of being able to create jobs in this type of environment\u2026 we also create jobs every single day for our graduates, so I\u2019m able to share those tools with our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

If elected to the Lancaster City Council, Johnson also hopes to make a difference in crime, which she believes to be one of the top three issues facing the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how it feels to hurry and get home because it\u2019s getting dark, or that there\u2019s a house that they\u2019re dealing drugs from, or that I need to run away from that gang,\u201d Johnson said, referencing her humble beginnings. \u201cI know how it feels to have a challenging environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said that Lancaster\u2019s crime rate has dropped 42 percent and credits the decrease in crime to a hardworking Sheriff\u2019s department.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s still not enough, and that\u2019s definitely one of the things that I want to try and make even better,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have Impact Homes and Wellness Homes that are such great assets to children in the neighborhoods where I grew up\u2026 those are the kinds of areas that I am looking forward to making even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Johnson was one of eight women nominated for the coveted 2011 Athena Award.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When asked about funding for her campaign, Johnson said she had not set a limit on funds for her campaign, but said she intended to run a grassroots campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing from humble beginnings I\u2019ve been raised to stretch the dollar, which is wonderful because that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m doing in this campaign,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Johnson said she has contacted family members and close friends to see if they are able to contribute to her campaign, but said she mostly planned to get the word out on her own through \u201cknocking on doors and doing whatever is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked specifically if Mayor Parris had contributed funds to her campaign, Johnson said: \u201cAt this point, my answer would be no, but if he\u2019s willing to, I\u2019d be more than happy to accept because it does help my purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her purpose, she said, is simply to become an advocate for the community where she has lived her entire life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith her becoming a city council member, there\u2019s no personal goal there, there\u2019s no hidden agenda, there is no reason for her to do this other than to help the community, to have a direct impact on the community that she has been a part of for 40-plus years,\u201d said husband, Marco Johnson. \u201cIf the community wants someone who is here for the community and that\u2019s it, then she is definitely the person.\u201d<\/p>\n

*This is the last of the profiles The AV Times has published featuring Lancaster city council candidates. Previous council candidate profiles featured John Kiramis<\/a>, Michael Rives<\/a>, Isaac Grajeda<\/a> and incumbent Ken Mann<\/a>. The AV Times will now publish profiles featuring Lancaster mayoral candidates. Profiles will be published in random order.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER – Sandra Johnson will be the first to tell you that she has lived the American dream. Having legally immigrated to the United States from Chile at a young age, Johnson grew up with very little, but worked hard to change her circumstances and steadfastly pursued her dream of opening a learning institution. Today […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}