Why I'm running for office

By William H. "Bill" Wainwright

I'm your candidate if you feel city government has left you out, is ineffective in paving streets, stimulating local business, managing the marina, and beautifying the town.

Then I'm your candidate.

Martinez is threatened by runaway development around Forest Hills and high-density housing downtown. It's time the City Council listened to residents, not to outside interests.

High-density apartment projects and more ticky-tack development will destroy what makes our town unique.

A better way is to preserve historic Martinez and save its small-town character; to promote single-family, owner-occupied homes, encourage local business, welcome the Willows Theatre, manage the marina effectively, and bring in a fine waterfront restaurant.

I own a small business in Martinez, with 30 years' hands-on management experience here and abroad. I graduated from Alhambra and left Martinez to go to school, earning an A.B. from Claremont McKenna College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Tufts University. I've lived overseas, worked on Capitol Hill and in the White House, served on the faculty at Harvard, and studied in France. But I've always come home to Martinez where my family has lived since the 1880's.

With my wife, Susana Villaseņor of Mexico City, our sons, Will and Henry, and my mother, Phyllis Butcher Wainwright, who also grew up here, I continue to call Martinez home. Our daughters, Susan Jane and Elizabeth, presently live in France.

Martinez is in my heart and I want to preserve it. Coming home from a long-term business assignment, I see our town under threat, and in a state of decline.

I want to restore and revitalize historic Martinez.

That is why I'm running for office.