Career
Austin Fire Department
Martinez began working for the Austin Fire Department in October 1992. [1] [4] [5] In 1993, he served as a Drill and Ceremony team member of the Austin Fire Department's Honor Guard. [1] [4] He was Chair of the Austin Firefighters Association Political Action Committee from 2001 to 2004. [1] [4] Martinez was elected president of the Austin Firefighters Association in 2003. [1] [4] [5] During his term as president, he helped secure collective bargaining rights for firefighters and a pay raise that made Austin firefighters among the highest paid in Texas. [5]
Political
Martinez became an Austin City Council member in June 2006. [1] [6] That December, he sponsored a resolution to preserve Oak Springs in East Austin from development. [4] In January 2007, Martinez sponsored an ordinance to create a Homestead Preservation District that aimed to reduce the effects of rising values by using a portion of increased property taxes to fund affordable housing in East Austin. [4] In 2009, Mike Martinez was the lead sponsor on a city ordinance that banned the use of mobile devices while driving. [7]
In April 2014, Martinez launched his campaign for the 2014 Austin mayoral election. [6] In August, he supported an Austin City Council resolution that would help create more solar energy for Austin Energy consumers. [8] [9] That September, Martinez supported Austin City Council member Kathie Tovo's proposal to give Austin homeowners a $5,000 cut through a general homestead exemption. [10]
Martinez advanced to a run-off by placing second in the November 4, 2014 general election after the leading voter getter, Steve Adler, failed to achieve a majority of the vote. In the run-off election held on December 16, 2014, Martinez was defeated by Adler by a total of 52,125 (67%) to 25,610 (33%).
Business
In 2015, Martinez joined the affordable housing startup Kasita [11] as head of Government and Community Affairs. Martinez also serves as Diversity Advocate at Kasita.
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