Juan Martinez Eyes Vacancy Seat for Longterm

Juan Martinez is Hoping to Win Seat on Coachella City Council in November

COACHELLA — Come November, Juan Martinez will have what no other candidate will likely have — experience serving on the Coachella City Council. His experience might be short-lived, but he will have it.

Martinez, 49, on Friday, June 5, was appointed unanimously to serve the remainder of Frank Figueroa’s term after he moved into the mayor’s chair. The chair shuffle follows former Mayor Steve Hernandez’s resignation as mayor after pleading guilty to one felony count of conflict of interest.

Martinez, a real estate broker for Better Homes and Garden Real Estate based in Bermuda Dunes, was among nine applicants interviewed for the vacancy. He did not apply on a whim.

Long before the vacancy was advertised, Martinez said he had pulled the necessary paperwork to run for City Council in November.

Coachella City Clerk Angela M. Zepeda immediately swore him into office. His life has been a whirlwind since, meeting with the city attorney, meeting with Human Resources and more, Martinez’s term lasts until November,

Mayor Frank Figueroa mayor had initially proposed another candidate but failed to garner support for his choice.  Figueroa then did what he thought was in the city’s best interest —and for the sake of unity.

“It’s an appointed role for the short term. And the individual that we ended up picking, I voted in favor of. It doesn’t look good to have a three-one vote,” Figueroa told Uken Report in a telephone interview. “I think it’s very important because we’ve gone through so much and, as a Council, I want us to move forward together.”

“There were a lot of really good candidates, and every single one of those people could have done a really good job in these next five to six months serving in this role. That’s what we have to remember. They’re filling the term until November.”

If any of the unchosen candidates want that seat, they’re going to have to run for the full four-year term, the mayor said.

“Mr. Martinez will serve his community and I wish him the best of luck. And I think he had some good comments just like everybody else. And for me, it was really, really, really hard, but I made a choice. It’s up to Mr. Martinez now to be able to work with the rest of the City Council and myself and be able to prove to the residents of Coachella that he stands for the city and what his passion is for the City of Coachella.”

The passion Martinez has for Coachella is palpable in his voice. Though he only lived in the city of Coachella for two years, his roots go back further.

“When I first came into the United States back in 1990, my mom used to live in Coachella,” Martinez said. “That’s where I went to high school. I graduated from high school in 1994. And throughout the city, when I was moving around the city in the 1990s, my earliest memories are in downtown old town Cochellita where all the old homes from the 1960s, 1950s, Caye Camacho, Cayavila. So that’s where I used to live and that’s where my mom ultimately purchased a home.”

Years later, he purchased his first home in Coachella.

He his wife have two grown children.

You may learn more about him in his application for the vacancy.

 

 

 

pointed to his work as a regional director for the California Association of Realtors and as a government affairs director for a local real estate board, where he’s established relationships with local lawmakers and officials.