MARTINEZ GOES FROM GRASSROOTS TO CONSULTING

By Juan Montoya
Back in the day, we remember Fred Martinez – originally from Portway Acres – making a run for the Brownsville City commission,
Fred was a lot much younger (or much older as Dylan would say) and believed that getting elected to the commission would allow him to push for the improvements to the city and neighborhoods.
Over the next two decades, after working as a bail bondsman and administrative assistant to elected officials, Martinez realized that there was really no method to the madness and that governance consisted of opposing interests that could only be moved by applying greater political force on the entities.
Now, a little bit older and a little bit wiser he wants to impart the knowledge he has acquired at the grassroots level and in the halls of power to upcoming players on the political scene.
"I figure that I can save some of the candidates for public office a little bit of grief by pointing out the players in the different barrios and how to get there from here," he said recently when we met him at a local lawyer's office.
Martinez has been involved in numerous political campaigns in his two to three decades of political involvement. He has also been active in promoting sports to young people, specially baseball and soccer.
Hardly anyone who has been active in local politics – whether for the Brownsville Navigation District, the Brownsville Independent School District, the city and county, etc. – hasn't made use of his assistance and knowledge of the local scene. There are literally no neighborhoods he does not know.
"Since I'm doing it anyway, I thought I might as well go into it full time," he told us. And remember, if you see me on your opponent's campaign, it's because they hired me."