Pete Martinez
Pedro "Pete" Martinez biography
votepedropete.clearwire.net
I believe in developing policies for a higher employment rate, youth recreation, balanced city growth and the improvement of our cities infrastructure, while maintaining Porterville’s small town feel.
Quality planning must to be the main focus in the upcoming years so we may accommodate future business growth. Setting and accomplishing goals within parameters, which adhere to a fiscally responsible and accountable process, will be a crucial part of my intent to represent the entire community as a councilman.
It is my purpose to uphold faith based values and continue paving the rode towards a prosperous and strong community. As your councilperson, I will support your right to be heard, equally examine all sides of an issue, and weigh all options and consequences before making a decision.
Working together we can continue to build successful relationships with the Porterville Chamber of Commerce, Porterville School District, services clubs, and faith based organizations; thus insuring that Porterville is a city our community is proud to live in. Let us invest in the future and create an environment in which our children will flourish and become successful participants within our society.
Martinez on neighborhoods
Porterville has a home owner assistance program. This program assists home owners in rejuvenating their homes. In the 07-08 budget years we helped 14 families rejuvenate their home. The advertising of this program is on going and we feel that as more people know about this we will be able to make a larger impact in rejuvenating neighborhoods. The City is also putting in curb and sidewalks through a grant in many of the neighborhoods which have partial side walks or no side walks. Also many of the county islands which had been neglected by the County the city has begun to annex them and then put them on our program list for street repair.
I support both large and smaller scale development. We have many areas with in our city which would accommodate smaller scale development it is important that we work with developers to assure we do not have checker board growth. I also recognize the need for large areas to be planned and built to accommodate for the swelling population growth that is occurring with in our community so assuring that we have the amenities for this population is also important
Martinez on the Tule River Tribe
I support Porterville's economic growth and respect the sovereignty of the Tule River Tribe. However, I will listen to the citizens of Porterville in making my final decision because it is important for me to be open minded and respectful of the citizens whose lives will be impacted.
Martinez on jobs
The city of Porte creation by working Porterville is continually working at job creation by working through Porterville Chamber of Commerce and Tulare County Economic Development Board. We have just updated the Porterville General Plan which will allow for better land uses in our city. Porterville has just been successful in the removal of the cease and desist order which will eventually give us the ability to discharge more waste water and thus accommodate large businesses which may have. Porterville is working with TCAG and our State representatives so we could expand Hwy 190 and Hwy 65. The City of Porterville has also worked in partnership with Porterville College to gain the opportunity at providing a 4 year degree so that we may have a larger educated workforce. This action alone will in the long term change our demographics and attract more business.
Martinez on quashing gangs
I am a strong supporter of family values, public safety and the improvement of our quality of life. Unfortunately, criminality whether its youth (gang) related or involving adults must be controlled by an approach that is effective, fair and constitutional. I believe that we are on the right path and that we have confronted this problem adequately...
Martinez on medical marijuana
I am not in favor of contradicting federal law which has criminalized the distribution of marihuana for medicinal purposes. I do recognize and respect the will of the voters in California who approved dispensing it with the appropriate prescription. I believe that given the present legal conflict, it is more important for me to listen to the will of the people in Porterville.. It is quite unfortunate that this area of the law is so murky because it represents a "catch 22" situation for elected officials....
Martinez on city finances
The City of Porterville at this time is physically sound due to responsible budgeting, hiring freezes, and business growth.
I would not look at cutting services for the city or raising taxes I believe we could tighten up by working in partnership with other entities to find cost saving measures for Porterville Citizens. The City Of Porterville also has a lock box account to assist in times of restraints.
Martinez on Porterville's image
I believe that the voters in Porterville have the right to choose our city's motto. Hence, I believe that adopting a new city motto is a good idea, assuming that this becomes a reality.
First of all, I believe that Porterville has a very good image and that improving our image is a matter recognizing the uniqueness of our community. For me, it is obvious that we will continue to promote the positive aspects of our community by reinforcing all the elements that make Porterville a very desirable community to live in. It is equally important to recognize and accept the negatives and confront them diligently as a creative community with the resolve that has always distinguished us.