Henry Martinez, 53, joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17. His career began as a radioman and after 17 years he was chosen to become a limited duty officer specializing in communications and engineering. He served 14 months in Afghanistan, has a bachelor’s degree in workforce education and development and a master’s degree in mastery of military operations.
Living in Chula Vista for nearly 17 years with his wife and children, Martinez retired in 2018. Martinez is the co-founder of the Honor Our Veterans Parade Chula Vista, and vice president of the Association of Naval Service Officers. Martinez said he is running for City Council District 3 because, looking at the current positions, he said his opponent, incumbent Steve Padilla, was dividing the community.
“I am not a politician, but I am a resident of Chula Vista who cares about the climate of our district,” said Martinez. “I did not like the way the trajectory was going with a lot of hatred, separation and division. I want to stop the hate, the division and create unity. A unit that works for everybody, that would run Chula Vista safely in a happy manner.”
Martinez said Drag Queen Story Time was a big deal in Chula Vista that caused a lot of hate and discontent that actually divided the community.
“That is one example,” he said. “It costs city taxpayers between $35,000 to $42,000 just for security purposes. That is one example of him [Padilla] separating the community rather than bringing us together.”
Martinez said that crime in the area is increasing and response times are decreasing. He said the City Council should have been proactive in 2010 when they had the opportunity to plan District 3 with enough fire stations. A new fire station recently opened in Millennium.
“They missed the mark as a joint venture so they could have a small police substation here to help improve response times and also for first responders,” he said. “The main concern for Chula Vista is the response time for the police department for any security issues or concerns.”
Martinez said COVID-19 caught everyone off guard and in the beginning of the pandemic there was a time delay with the City providing information to the public. He said due to that, he and two strangers came together and created a task group on Facebook to bridge the gap of information and services and directing people for emergency needs. On his campaign website, it states that he has coordinated with local volunteers under the Eastlake Support COVID-19, Otay Ranch with open arms, IB Cares and non-profit organizations.
“We identified the needs of our area and conveyed those needs to City Council and also created a task force to reach out to no-profit organizations,” he said. “We were able to distribute food. Fresh produce, bread, eggs, meats and then helped the elderly, making sure they had proper food, medication or how to get them to the doctor. We provided job placement and childcare assistance during that phase where the City was trying to figure out how to deal with the situation.”
Martinez said the task force acquired volunteers to produce personal protection equipment, especially masks, delivering them to hospitals in Chula Vista.
“Here in Chula Vista, we are a proactive community, so we took it upon ourselves to take care of ourselves,” he said.
Martinez said though there have been funds from the federal, state and county levels to help businesses survive during the pandemic, Broadway is a good example of the hit the city has taken with businesses.
“On Broadway in Chula Vista there were 300 businesses open before COVID and around 17 open now,” he said.
Martinez said businesses moving onto sidewalks and streets to allow open air settings are allowing them to survive and that people need to be strict with healthcare preventative measures.
“We have to have a well-balanced approach to continue forward for a safe economic recovery,” he said. “We need to find ways to bring businesses into Chula Vista to help in the economic recovery. It is a collaborative effort between the County and the City to help us start boosting up the economy. It will be a very methodical countywide plan to help to boost businesses by waiving grants, some forgiveness of loans and federal and state subsidies to allow businesses to continue to borrow money at a lower interest rate.”
Martinez said if city council was really pro-business, it would have been more reactive in providing loans during the pandemic.
He said that the city could be making revenue now if it had acted on the cannabis market quickly.
“Why did it take two years to approve those permits for people to start opening up legal pot shops?” he said. “If the incumbent was really pro-business, they would have pushed that two years ago. That would have brought in two years worth of revenue that could have paid towards the debt of the retirement plan with CalPERS.”
Martinez said another concern of his is Padilla’s exploratory committee for California State Senate 40th District in 2022. He said if Padilla runs in 2022 and wins, it could cost taxpayers up to $30,000 for a special election.
“We need someone who is not using City Council as a steppingstone and leaving Chula Vista. He is focusing already and looking ahead to run for Senate and raised $20,000,” he said. “Money that could go to the police force or repairing a fires station.”
Martinez said that he would make sure that instead of any money going to a special election, it would go to first responders, police, and public works.
“I challenge the incumbent to pledge to the next four years that he is not running for Senate in 2022,” he said. “He’s not going to do that. He is not truthful. His character, his loyalty and integrity is in question. You do not have those issues with me.”
Martinez said he wants to be sure that the person running for city council is 100% dedicated to the position, like himself.
“I want to make a pledge to Chula Vista that I will serve them just like I did serving my country for 32 years,” he said. “I will focus on my district, fight to create high paying jobs, fix infrastructure, protect family values and keep our community safe.”
