Don Bankhead

City Council Member, City of Fullerton

Don Bankhead was elected to his first four-year Fullerton City Council term in 1988, and re-elected in 1992. He left the Council briefly in the summer of 1994, and was re-elected to a four-year term in November of that year, and again in November 1998 and November 2002. He has previously served as Mayor for several terms.

Director Bankhead was born on the Fourth of July in DeLeon, Texas, and graduated from Valley Mills High School in Valley Mills, Texas. Following high school, he enlisted in the Navy, and was assigned to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Bataan, which saw action in the Korean War.

California became Director Bankhead's home in 1954 when he was discharged from the Navy. He worked for a while in the U.S. Postal Service, General Motors and Union Oil before he was hired by the Fullerton Police Department in February 1957 and retired in September 1988.

He earned an associate of arts degree in police science from Fullerton Junior College, and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's in public administration, both from California State University, Fullerton.

Director Bankhead is a member of several committees including:  the Growth Management Authority, the Orange County Water District; the North Orange County Cities Transit Assessment Study; Orange County Waste Management Commission; the North Orange County Growth Management Committee for Area No. 1; and the North Orange County Leadership Forum.

Director Bankhead has served as President of the League of California Cities, Orange County Chapter, and as Immediate Past President. He has also served on the Orange County Sanitation District; the Fullerton Transportation Center Study Selection Panel; and on the Fullerton Economic Development Team.

Director Bankhead and his wife, Carol, have seven children and six grandchildren: Samantha and Sophia Bowen and Bo, Cody, Paige and Skyler Bankhead.