Martinez, Robert, 1934-

<p>Florida's first American governor of Spanish descent, and the second Republican since Reconstruction to be elected to the governor's office, Bob Martinez was born in Tampa on Christmas Day in 1934. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Tampa and a master's in labor and industrial relations from the University of Illinois. Martinez ran successfully for the nonpartisan 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. In 1986, he resigned as Mayor to run for governor. He won the election and took office on January 6, 1987.</p>

<p>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 Okeechobee, Tampa Bay, Lake Jackson, the Kissimmee River, 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 manatees and dolphins. Martinez was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1991 to the cabinet rank position of Director (or "Drug Czar") of the Office of National Drug Control Policy where he served until January 20, 1993. Today, Martinez serves as a senior policy advisor to Holland & Knight LLP and is a political analyst for Bay News 9 television. He is a trustee of the University of Tampa, and a director of the Hillsborough Education Foundation, Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo and the Tampa Bay History Center, all local nonprofit groups involved with education.</p>

<p>Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is a retired American politician who was the first person of Spanish descent to be elected to the office of Governor of Florida. He was the state's 40th governor and held the office from 1987 to 1991.</p>

<p>Martinez was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, attended the University of Tampa, and began his career as an educator in the local public school system and then the University of Tampa. In 1965, he was named the director of the local teacher's union, a position he held during the Florida statewide teachers' strike of 1968. He first entered politics with an unsuccessful run for mayor of Tampa in 1974, then won the office in Tampa's next mayoral election in 1979 and was reelected in 1983. During his second term as mayor, Martinez switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, upsetting some supporters in heavily Democratic Tampa. He resigned the position in 1986 to focus on his ultimately successful campaign for the governorship of Florida. His single term as governor was controversial due to the passage and repeal of an unpopular state sales tax on services and an anti-obscenity campaign targeting Miami rappers 2 Live Crew, who later recorded a derogatory song attacking Martinez. He lost his reelection campaign to U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles in 1990.</p>

<p>After his time as governor, Martinez was appointed Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy by President George H. W. Bush. Martinez held that position from 1991 until 1993, when he returned to Tampa and became a business consultant and a board member of several local educational organizations.</p>

ROBERT “BOB” MARTINEZ was born in Tampa, Florida. He attended the University of Tampa, graduating in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in education. He continued his studies at the University of Illinois where he received a master’s degree in employee and industrial relations in 1964. As head of the Tampa teachers’ union in the late 1960s, he led a strike against the city. Within a few years Martinez became mayor of Tampa, a post he occupied from 1979 until his run for governor in 1986. In 1983, during his tenure as Tampa mayor, Martinez switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Elected Governor of Florida in 1986, Martinez continued the environmental protection programs of his Democratic predecessor and created additional protections for Florida’s surface waters, including Lake Okeechobee, Tampa Bay, Lake Jackson, the Kissimmee River, and other areas. He aggressively weeded out what he believed to be wasteful spending projects sponsored by many members of the legislature. The state’s drug control programs received a boost from Martinez. A law to tax services was less successful; the governor at first backed the tax and then withdrew his support. After his term in office, Governor Martinez was appointed by President Bush to be the director of the National Campaign Against Use of Drugs. He now operates an international business consulting firm in his hometown of Tampa.