Eduardo Martinez, City Council Candidate

Eduardo Martinez surprised everyone by winning a seat on Richmond’s City Council in 2014.  

His successful campaign was fueled by small donations and grassroots door knocking.

It was his third time running for the Richmond City Council after having lost in 2010 and 2012.  This year, Martinez hopes to repeat his victory as he runs for re-election.

Martinez, 69, is originally from Dumas, Texas and moved to the Bay Area in the 1970s. He was an elementary school teacher for 18 years before retiring in 2010 to pursue politics as a candidate endorsed by the Richmond Progressive Alliance.

After four years of serving on city council, Martinez said he continues to be passionate about supporting rent stabilization, and advocating for the transfer of public funding away from jail expansion and into public services for the integration of returning inmates into the community.

But two other issues are on the forefront of Martinez’s re-election campaign.

Martinez feels strongly about the growing homelessness problem in Richmond. He, along with Mayor Tom Butt, pushed to put Measure T on the November ballot. The measure, if passed, would impose a property tax/fee on some vacant lots and buildings, with the proceeds used to pay for services to the homeless.

Another problem Martinez said he plans to address is the instability of the city budget. The city passed certain initiatives, including Kids First, which he did not support because there was no funding source identified for it. Martinez said he plans to find other ways to fund such initiatives because adding new programs without adequate funding threatens to push Richmond into bankruptcy.

Martinez opposes a plan supported by Butt to annex North Richmond because he believes this will cause a structural deficit in the city’s already shaky finances.