Bob Martinez
Born in Tampa on Christmas Day 1934, Bobby Martinez started his Hillsborough County public school education at Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary School in 1941 and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1953. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with a major in education from the University of Tampa in 1957 and a Master's of Arts degree in labor and industrial relations in 1964 from the University of Illinois.
Upon graduation from the University of Tampa, Martinez taught social studies at Oak Grove Junior High and Chamberlain High School. In 1966, he became the executive director of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association where he represented the interests of teachers and education until 1975
In 1975, Martinez changed professions and bought the well-known and popular Café Sevilla Spanish Restaurant. Florida Governor Rubin Askew appointed him to the Southwest Florida Water Management District governing board later that year. He went on to become the vice-chairman and served until sworn in as mayor of Tampa on Oct. 1, 1979.
As mayor of Tampa from 1979-1986, he provided leadership for numerous initiatives. Some of the more visible ones were the construction of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa Convention Center, Lowry Park Zoo reconstruction, Tampa City Hall restoration, McKay Bay refuse to energy plant, downtown Tampa economic revitalization and annexation of large tracts of land that later became New Tampa.
In July 1986, Martinez resigned his office to run for governor of Florida. He was elected in November 1986 and served from 1987 to 1991. During his tenure as governor, he supported increased education funding, pre-paid tuition legislation and the 10th state university located in southwest Florida. He was best known for his environmental agenda. The Preservation 2000 Environmental Land Acquisition Program was the largest land-purchasing program in the nation. He supported new initiatives for surface water improvement, solid waste management, Everglades restoration, manatee protection, beach-erosion mitigation and growth management. He legislated major expansions in transportation and criminal justice programs for the citizens of Florida.
In 1991, President George H. Bush appointed Martinez as the United States' second drug czar. The Cabinet-rank office was responsible for developing the nation's drug-control policy to reduce the use and sale of illegal drugs and to expand drug education and rehabilitation programs throughout the country. As drug czar, he traveled to many countries in the Americas and Europe in support of the president's drug-fighting initiatives.
In 1993, Martinez returned to Tampa and became a consultant. In 1999 he became the managing director of Carlton Fields Government Consulting Services. In early 2007, Martinez left Carlton Fields to become senior policy advisor for the Holland Knight law firm. In addition to representing clients, he serves on corporate boards. His community interest remains high. He is trustee emeritus of the University of Tampa, director of the Hillsborough Education Foundation, honorary member of the Florida Council of 100, Honorary Director of the Florida Council on Economic Education, director of the Lowry Park Zoological Society, director of the Tampa Bay History Center, trustee of the Harmony Institute, director emeritus of the Collins Center, member of the Rotary Club of Tampa, director of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Florida Blood Services Corporate Partnership.
Martinez married his high school sweetheart, Mary Jane Marino, in 1954. She served as Tampa's and Florida's First Lady and was the head media specialist at Tampa's King High School. Their daughter, Sharon Marie, is the mother of identical twins, Emily Ida and Lydia Marie, and their son, Robert Alan, is the father of Robert Alejandro and Christine Ysabel.
Bob BuckhornA 1980 graduate of Penn State University, Bob Buckhorn arrived in Tampa in 1982. After taking a marketing position with a national consumer product company, he became active in national and local politics, chairing along with Senator Pat Frank, the John Glenn for president campaign in Hillsborough County.
In 1985, he assumed the position of director of governmental affairs for the Builders Association of Greater Tampa, a trade association representing the construction industry in Hillsborough County. As such, he led the effort to establish the Hillsborough County Housing Finance Agency, which has resulted in thousands of first-time home buyers being given the opportunity for the American dream of home ownership through the use of low-interest financing.
In 1987, he coordinated the successful mayoral campaign of Mayor Sandy Freedman and assumed the role of special assistant to the mayor upon her election. He served in this capacity until March of 1995. During this time he was the recipient of the "Up and Comers" award by the Tampa Bay Business Journal and the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse. In addition, he was recognized as one of the state's emerging young leaders by his selection for the Leadership Florida program by the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
In 1991, he was selected to chair the MacDill Reuse Advisory Committee and over the ensuing four years helped lead the effort to save MacDill Air Force Base from closure. MacDill Air Force Base was one of only a handful of bases around the country that have successfully fought a decision of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision to close or realign them. As a result MacDill's 6,000 jobs and $2 billion economic impact are secure and in fact, MacDill is now home to a new flying mission.
As a result of his MacDill experience, he was nominated by the governor and approved by the Legislature to serve as a member of Florida's Defense Transition and Conversion Commission. This commission was charged with designing a blueprint for Florida's response to the 1995 recommendations of the Base Closure Commission as well as designing a strategy for the successfully transition from a defense-related economy to the conversion of military technology to a civilian application.
He co-chaired with Florida Secretary of Commerce Charles Dusseau the Base Closure Committee that coordinated Florida's fight to save its bases. The end result was Florida suffered no base closures and in fact was the recipient of a net gain in military-related jobs.
In 1995, he was elected to an at-large seat on the Tampa City Council. In that capacity he was the chairman of the Public Safety Committee, a member of the Municipal Planning Organization and the chairman of the Hillsborough River Interlocal Planning Board.
During his time on the city council, he undertook a vigorous agenda. Focusing on law enforcement in particular, he proposed and led the passage of the city's Rave Ordinance. This law, which put an end to raves in establishments with alcohol beverage permits, was used as a model for the recently passed statewide Rave Ordinance and was highlighted in an ABC News 20/20 segment.
He also led the effort to defend our public spaces and protect our families through a number of ordinances aimed at quality-of-life crimes.
He helped shape one of the nation's most aggressive and comprehensive attacks on prostitution and was successful in passing an ordinance that allowed police to impound the cars of those arrested in the act of soliciting for prostitution. In addition he worked with police to strengthen curfew laws and remove drug dealers from public housing through the vigorous enforcement of the "One Strike and You're Out" policy.
He also initiated "Predator TV" where the names, addresses and pictures of convicted sexual predators are shown on government access television in an effort to help parents and neighbors protect our children.
Fiscal discipline and neighborhood empowerment also remain high on his agenda. He helped to lead the effort to pass the Save our Seniors initiative, which allowed thousands of low-income seniors to reduce their property tax burden by exempting a additional $25,000 of their homestead exemption tax.
He initiated and got passed one of the area's toughest lobbyist registration ordinance, strengthened city council financial disclosure requirements and has fought to interject competition into city government. In addition, in 2003 he proposed and helped write a massive overhaul of the City of Tampa's code of ethics that was subsequently implemented by the Iorio administration.
In 1996 he was the regional coordinator for the Clinton/Gore Coordinated Campaign. President Clinton's victory was the first time in 20 years a Democrat had won Florida. In Hillsborough County the margin was more than 9,000 votes.
In the fall of 1998 he was nominated and selected from more than 1,000 nominations from around the country to represent the American Council of Young Political Leaders as a delegate to the Republic of South Africa and in 2000 was named as one of America's "100 to Watch" by the Democratic Leadership Council, a national organization.
In 1999 he was reelected to the Tampa City Council for a second term with 75 percent of the vote where he served until 2003.
In 2003 he joined the Dewey Square Group, a nationally known public affairs company, where he serves as a principal in the Florida office.
He is married to Dr. Catherine Lynch Buckhorn, an OB/GYN and faculty member at the University of South Florida Medical School, and is the father of two daughters.
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