Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Santa Rosa

My name is Mike Martini and for the last eight years I have had the honor to serve the citizens of Santa Rosa as Council Member, Vice Mayor and Mayor.

Second only to my relationship with my wife Susan and the raising of my son Jacob, this has been the most remarkable experience of my life.

Over the years I have worked with thousands of men and women who have given their time and experience to this city to make it what it the perfect place to live, to raise a family and to run a business.

I have worked with moms and dads who volunteer their time for youth sports and together we have built ball fields at Slater Middle School, at Cook Middle School and started the development of the 83 acre youth sports park at A Place To Play.

I have worked with neighbors who suddenly found themselves impacted by toxic wastes and together we worked with city, county and state officials to get them on to reliable, safe potable water supplies and off of chemically tainted wells.

I have worked with with hundreds of renters who overnight found themselves all facing eviction from their home because their Japanese landlord had decided to put all the homes up for sale at one time. Together with the county and some local attorneys who volunteered their services, we were able to deliver enough time so these families could relocate with the least amount of disruption to their lives.

I have worked with the homeless population who lived along Santa Rosa Creek, the neighbors impacted by their encampments and the service providers who try and help. I led the effort to establish the Brookwood Shelter so we could begin to answer the question of "if not here, where?" And we built that shelter with the help of local businessman Ken Martin and his associates at the Home Builders Association that donated over $350,000 in goods and services.

The encampment is gone and the neighbors are more secure and there is one safe place for homeless to stay and get the services they need.

And knowing that this one shelter alone does not solve the problem, I have continued to support the development of the Sam Jones Hall shelter fulfilling a promise to scatter these services around the community rather than overly impacting one part of town.

I have worked with the senior population of Oakmont faced with special transportation needs brought on by loss of sight and together with the Oakmont Homeowners Association developed a bus service for their community.

I have worked with school officials and struggled with the need to build safe pathways to schools in a system that does not provide this as a rule. Working with the County and the Engineering Contractors Association we provided those pathways to the Jack London School.

I have worked with teachers, administrators and students in response to a Powder Puff football tradition that had gotten out of hand and together found resolution and provided a great lesson to the students in governance and responsibility.

I have worked with redevelopment specialists and working with the county created a new redevelopment area in Southwest Santa Rosa generating millions of dollars for much needed infrastructure improvements. In addition to infrastructure, this agency spins off much needed dollars to support affordable housing.

I have volunteered my time to serve on the boards of the Golden Gate Bridge District and the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit supporting multi-modal solutions to our transportation problems. I have supported the intelligent traffic systems for the City of Santa Rosa.

I have worked with neighborhood groups struggling with speeding cut through traffic and helped facilitate traffic calming programs for their areas of town.

I have a great sense of accomplishment from my eight years but I know that there is more to be done.

Working together, we must find a balance between economic growth and preserving our resources. We must continue to place a high priority on public safety and we must meet the needs of our children.

We must become partners with State and Federal agencies to get our fair share of transportation funding.

As your Council Member, I will continue to make partnerships that work and promise again to make your needs my first priority.

I ask that you vote for me, Mike Martini, on November 2nd.

Thank you.