Robert "Bob" Martinez (born December 25, 1934 in
Tampa, FloridaTampa is a Gulf Coast city in Hillsborough County, on the west coast of the state of Florida in the United States. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. The population of Tampa in 2000 was 303,447...
) was the fortieth
governor of
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
from 1987 to 1991.. Prior to that, he was the mayor of Tampa from 1979 to 1986.
Education and early career
The grandson of
SpanishA Spanish American is a citizen or resident of the United States with ethnic origins in the southwestern European nation of Spain.Spanish Americans are the earliest European American group, with a continuous presence since 1565....
immigrants, Martinez received a
bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from the
University of TampaThe University of Tampa, or UT, is a private, co-educational university in Downtown Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2006, the University celebrated its 75th anniversary...
and went on to earn a
master'sA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in
labor and industrial relationsThe field of industrial relations looks at the relationship between management and workers, particularly groups of workers represented by a union....
from the
University of IllinoisThe University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public research university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Illinois system....
. In the late 1960s, Martinez returned to Tampa to teach.
Martinez became involved in the Hillsborough County Classroom Teachers Association, the local teacher's union, and was named the executive director of the HCTA in 1966. In 1968, the Hillsborough CTA supported the Florida Education Association's call for a state wide teacher resignation in support of more education funding and collective bargaining rights for teachers. Though the labor action was seemingly unsuccessful in the short term, it eventually set the stage for better salaries and better relations between teachers and the state.
Mayor of Tampa
Martinez ran successfully for the office of mayor of Tampa in 1979. While Mayor, the city built one of America's first refuse to energy plants, a performing arts center, convention center, reconstructed the zoo, restored the 1915 City Hall building and annexed thousands of acres of undeveloped land that became new Tampa.
Although the mayor's office is nonpartisan, Martinez was known to be a
DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
. However, in 1983, he changed his affiliation to Republican. In 1986, he resigned as Mayor to run for governor. He won the election, becoming only the second Republican elected to that office since Reconstruction and the first (and thus far, only)
HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
to serve as governor of Florida. Martinez was inaugurated on January 6, 1987.
Governor of Florida
As governor, Martinez initiated America's largest environmental land acquisition program, Preservation 2000. He proposed the Surface Water Improvement Management act that protects Florida’s surface waters, including
Lake OkeechobeeLake Okeechobee locally referred to as The Lake or The Big O, is a freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the second-largest freshwater lake wholly within the continental United States and the largest in the southern United States...
,
Tampa BayTampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay....
,
Lake JacksonLake Jackson may refer to:*Lake Jackson , U.S.A.*Lake Jackson , U.S.A....
, the
Kissimmee RiverThe Kissimmee River is a river in south-central Florida, United States.-Course:The Kissimmee River arises in Osceola County as the outflow from East Lake Tohopekaliga, passing through Lake Tohopekaliga, Lake Cypress, Lake Hatchineha and Lake Kissimmee...
, and other areas. He helped get Florida's first solid waste management law passed and implemented Florida's Growth Management Act. He was an advocate of laws and rules that protected
manateeManatees are large, fully aquatic marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. They are noted for their rather friendly nature, large size and paddle-like flippers. The name manatí comes from the Taíno, a pre-Columbian people of the Caribbean, meaning "breast"...
s and dolphins. He aggressively sought to eliminate wasteful spending projects sponsored by members of the legislature, and increased spending on the state’s drug control programs. For a time, Martinez was regarded as a "rising star" in Republican
politicsPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
.
In 1987, following the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, Martinez appointed a number of aerospace industry and community leaders to the "Florida Governor's Commission on Space." This concept was undertaken by Stephen Lee Morgan, vice chairman and executive director of the Florida Space Business Roundtable, Inc., a non-profit organization of Central Florida aerospace industry executives. Martinez appointed Martin Marietta executive A. Thomas Young as chairman of the Commission, with then-Florida Secretary of Commerce
Jeb BushJohn Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the younger brother of former President George W. Bush; the older brother of Neil Bush, Marvin Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch; and the second son of former President...
(later Governor of Florida himself), as vice chairman. The Commission was widely hailed as a leader in the arena of state-sponsored economic development initiatives in the aerospace industry, and led to the establishment of the Spaceport Florida Authority, following the release of its formal report, "Steps to the Stars" in 1988 (drafted under the direction of the Florida Department of Commerce's Dr. Chris Shove). While now defunct, the Florida Spaceport Authority did orchestrate several commercial launches from unused launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, including America's return to the moon with an unmanned orbiting vehicle aboard a Lockheed Martin rocket, the Athena (then called the "Lockheed Launch Vehicle" or "LLV"). The Authority was succeeded by an organization known as "Space Florida." The purpose of the Commission was to identify approaches and specific actions which the State might take to mitigate Florida's reliance on the Space Shuttle program as an employer in the space industry. Results were mixed, with some successes and a number of programs which bore little fruit.
Struggles and controversy
However, Martinez hit a bump in the political road. In order to raise more revenue for the state, the
Florida legislatureThe Florida Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Florida Constitution mandates a bicameral state legislature with an upper house Florida Senate of 40 members and a lower Florida House of Representatives of 120 members...
passed a
sales taxA sales tax is a consumption tax charged at the point of purchase for certain goods and services. The tax is usually set as a percentage by the government charging the tax. There is usually a list of exemptions...
on services with Martinez's support.. The response from Floridians was strongly negative, so only two months after the tax went into effect, Martinez called the legislature back for a special session to repeal it.
Though the tax was repealed and replaced by a traditional sales tax on goods, the perceived flip-flop on the issue seriously hurt the governor's credibility among Floridians and reduced his ability to get his initiatives enacted.
Two years later, in 1989, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed states greater flexibility to restrict abortions, Martinez called the Florida Legislature into special session in an effort to pass anti-abortion laws. None of the governor's proposals made it out of committee and his approval ratings sank to around 24%. Also in that year, Martinez vowed to "clear Death Row" and signed over 90 death warrants, some of which did not pass all state and federal appeals. In 1990,
TIMETime is a component of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects...
magazine referred to Martinez as "embattled" as he authorized a statewide television advertisement campaign boasting his deeds, which were largely unpopular.
In 1989, Martinez ordered state prosecutors to determine whether Miami-area rappers
2 Live Crew2 Live Crew is a hip hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.-Early career:...
's album Nasty as They Wanna Be violated Florida obscenity laws. As a result, record store owners were arrested for selling the album and members of the group were arrested after a concert.
All arrested parties were eventually acquitted. On
Banned in the USABanned in the U.S.A. is the fourth album by 2 Live Crew. It was originally credited as Luke's solo album. Released July 13, 1990 on Luke/Atlantic Records...
, their follow-up album,
2 Live Crew2 Live Crew is a hip hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.-Early career:...
included a song entitled
Fuck Martinez.
In 1990, Martinez was defeated in his bid for re-election by former Democratic United States Senator
Lawton ChilesLawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the forty-first...
.
Post elected-office
After leaving the governor's office on January 8, 1991, Martinez was appointed by
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States . He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence....
to the cabinet rank position of Director (or "
Drug CzarDrug Czar is an informal name for the person who directs drug-control policies in the United States, following the U.S. use of the 'czar' term. The 'drug czar' title was first published in a 1982 news story by United Press International which reported that “Senators... voted 62-34 to establish a...
") of the Office of National Drug Control Policy where he served until January 20, 1993.
Since then, Martinez has served as a consultant to Florida-based law firms and is a political analyst for
Bay News 9Bay News 9 is a cable-based television news station located in St Petersburg, Florida. It currently serves the Tampa Bay Area including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Polk, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties....
television. He is a trustee of the
University of TampaThe University of Tampa, or UT, is a private, co-educational university in Downtown Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2006, the University celebrated its 75th anniversary...
, and a director of the Hillsborough Education Foundation, Tampa's
Lowry Park ZooTampa's Lowry Park Zoo is a nonprofit zoo located in Tampa, Florida. In 2004, Lowry Park Zoo was voted the #1 Family Friendly Zoo in the US by Child Magazine , and is recognized by the State of Florida as the center for Florida wildlife conservation and biodiversity .Tampa's Lowry Park Zoological...
and the Tampa Bay History Center, all local nonprofit groups involved in some way with education.
Martinez had been mentioned as a possible seatholder after Senator
Mel MartinezMelquiades Rafael "Mel" Martinez , né Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...
(no relation) resigned on August 7, 2009, recent sources state that it was another Bob Martinez who was former US attorney in 1993.
External links