Former area Congressman Matthew 'Marty'…
Former area Congressman Matthew 'Marty' Martinez dead at 82
By Frank C. Girardot | Frank.Girardot@sgvn.com and Steve Scauzillo | sscauzillo@scng.com |
Former Congressman Matthew "Marty" Martinez has died. He was 82.
A Democrat who became a Republican in the later part of his career, Martinez represented the 31st Congressional District which stretched from East Los Angeles to Azusa. He was first elected to Congress in July 1982 and served until January 2001.
Martinez died at his home in Fredricksburg, Va., according to his widow Maxine Grant, his former chief of staff.
"He always had a great sense of humor and his mind was as sharp as can be," Grant said.
A former Marine, Martinez will be interred at Quantico National Cemetery in Virginia, Grant said. A rosary is planned for Sunday night.
Martinez began his political career on the Monterey Park City Council in 1974 and in 1980 he was elected to the California state Assembly. During his first term in Sacramento, Martinez sponsored legislation that effectively sped up state payments to victims of violent crime.
Frank Venti, himself a former Monterey Park city councilman, recalled Martinez as an avid hunter and a passionate advocate for the little guy in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
In 1994, Martinez helped Venti prove that a defective helicopter part led to the death of Venti's son. When federal aviation authorities refused to listen to Venti, he turned to Martinez. The Congressman set up a meeting between Venti and National Transportation Safety Board members.
That meeting resulted in an NTSB finding that a defective control stick caused the crash that killed the younger Venti — and that there was no pilot error involved.
"I felt that there was a cover up," Venti said. "We would have never known the answer if it wasn't for that meeting."
Martinez left Congress in 2000 after he was defeated in the Democratic primary by state Sen. Hilda Solis, D-La Puente, who eventually captured the seat and served in Congress until 2009 when she was picked by President Obama to be his secretary of labor.
The bitter loss caused Martinez to switch to the Republican Party. He served as a Republican his final months in Congress.
"My Democratic colleagues have just lost sight of what's fair for the American people," he told CNN. "I really believe the Republican agenda stands up for what the American values are and what most people in this country really want their government to do for them," he added.
Martinez broke from the Democratic ranks in supporting a repeal of the estate tax, a measure favored by the GOP.
Martinez grew up in East Los Angeles and later moved to Monterey Park. He served in the Marines from 1947-1950. He was deployed to the Pacific Islands to help get the Japanese soldiers out of island caves, said Grant.
"He was tough," said his oldest son, Matthew Martinez, a resident of Diamond Bar. "He got into the Marines while still in high school. All of the things he learned as a Marine he applied to his work as a legislator."
In 1949, Martinez served with the Marine Expeditionary Force in China where he helped train troops loyal to Chiang Kai-Shek. He was part of the force that helped evacuate Nationalists to Taiwan.
The owner of an upholstery company, Martinez was elected to the Monterey Park City Council at age 45, and then to the state Assembly in 1980 with the help of Howard Berman, who later on was elected to Congress. In his election to congress, Martinez defeated incumbent Republican and onetime John Birch Society organizer John Rousselot, of San Marino.
At the time the district had the highest percentage of Latinos of any Congressional district in the United States, according to the Library of Congress.
As a congressman Martinez championed funding for Head Start and was a lead sponsor of the Older Americans Act. He also authored bills that set standards for private security guards and to open up FBI crime records to state regulators, according to the Almanac of American Politics.
When Ronald Reagan was President, Martinez twice voted against funding for the Contras in Niguaraga.
"He learned how to fight the good fight," said his son, Matt. "He always wanted to do the right thing for the people."
Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, who served with Martinez in Congress recalled his former colleague as a friend.
"Marty was very committed to public service and to helping his constituents in the San Gabriel Valley," Dreier said in an emailed statement. "I considered him a friend and we worked on many projects together in a bipartisan way during his 18 years in Congress."
Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, remembers working with Martinez on veterans issues. Martinez told her about plans to reduce services at a veterans center in East Los Angeles. There was talk of taking away their pool table, as well as access to prescription drugs and doctors visits.
"We raised holy hell. He was helpful on veterans issues. He really cared about the veterans," she said.
In an emailed statement, Rep. Judy Chu, D-El Monte, said Martinez was committed to public service and served his constituents well.
"His support for Head Start and legislation benefiting older Americans was laudable, and ensure that his legacy will live on," Chu said.
One of his five children, Diane Martinez, D-Monterey Park, followed her father into politics, and served in the state Assembly from 1992 to 1998.
Besides his daughter, Martinez is survived by his wife, Grant, four children, two stepchildren, 15 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Venti said Martinez, a fourth degree knight in the Knights of Columbus, a men's club affiliated with the Roman Catholic church, had recently purchased a ranch in Idaho and planned a hunting trip there later this year.
A visitation and Rosary is scheduled for Sunday at Found and Sons Mortuary in Fredricksburg, Virginia from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
A funeral Mass will be held Monday for Martinez at St. Jude Catholic Church, also in Fredricksburg.
Staff writer Ruby Gonnzales contributed to this story.
frank.girardot@sgvn.com, twitter.com/FrankGirardot
steve.scauzillo@sgvn.com, twitter.com/stevscaz
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Frank C. Girardot
Steve Scauzillo
Steve Scauzillo covers environment, public health and transportation for the Southern California News Group. He has won two journalist of the year awards from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club and is a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing on environmental issues. Steve studied biology/chemistry when attending East Meadow High School and Nassau College in New York (he actually loved botany!) and then majored in social ecology at UCI until switching to journalism. He also earned a master's degree in media from Cal State Fullerton. He has been an adjunct professor since 2005. Steve likes to take the train, subway and bicycle – sometimes all three – to assignments and the newsroom. He has two grown sons, Andy and Matthew. Steve recently watched all of "Star Trek" the remastered original season one on Amazon, so he has an inner nerd.
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