Nelda Martinez

Nelda Martinez
Mayor of the City of Corpus Christi
Incumbent
Assumed office 2012
Preceded by	Joe Adame
Personal details
Born	(1961-07-22) July 22, 1961 Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Profession	Real estate

Nelda Martinez (born July 22, 1961) is an American politician who is the current mayor of the Texan city of Corpus Christi.

Career

Nelda founded and served as President of First American Closing Office and later sold the successful business to Stewart Title. Nelda has owned and grown four successful businesses. Today, Nelda serves as President, Owner of Adlen, Enterprises, Inc.

Nelda served as President of the Corpus Christi Chapter of Executive Women International. In 1999, the Coastal Bend Area GI Forum Women’s Chapter honored Nelda as the “Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year,” the YWCA gave her the “Y Women in Careers Award for Corporate/Business Management in 2000 and the US Small Business Administration, awarded Nelda the 2007 “Women in Business Champion.” At the 25th Annual State Conference, the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas honored Nelda as an Estrella of Tejas, Star of Texas. Recently, the Texas Speech Communication Association awarded Nelda the “Communicator of the Year for 2013-2014.

Nelda has served on numerous boards in her region and state including Board Chair of South Texas Public Broadcasting Systems, Inc., where she organized fundraising for the PBS documentary on Dr. Hector P. Garcia, “Justice for My People.” For many years Nelda has been a Life Time Member of NAACP. She also served as a Board Member of Christus Spohn Health System Foundation and is a current Board Member of Foster Angels of South Texas, an organization supporting foster children, and serves on the Advisory Board of Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas. Nelda was recently elected in October 2013, President-Elect of Texas Municipal League.

Nelda broke historical barriers in Corpus Christi city council elections becoming the first woman and first Hispanic to be the highest vote-getter in an at-large election, a feat she continued for three elections and became the first Hispanic Woman to be elected Mayor.

A Corpus Christi native, Nelda graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas

Nelda Martinez is the current Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas. She was elected in 2012. Before becoming mayor, she was an at-large member of the Corpus Christi City Council from 2007 to 2012. Martinez has announced that she will run for re-election for a third and final term in 2016.

City’s water system scandal as Mayor

The city issued a advisory on May 13, 2016 after low levels of chlorine disinfectant were detected in the city’s water system, making the water risky for residents to ingest. Similar advisories were issued in July and September 2015. The coastal city of about 300,000 issued a widespread water boil advisory, its third in the past 10 months. Much has happened since the boil advisory began. Corpus Christi city manager Ron Olson resigned from office on May 17, 2016 amid the scandal, and residents are now urging Mayor Nelda Martinez to follow in his footsteps. The situation has also caught the attention of well-known environmental activist Erin Brockovich, whose colleague, the water quality expert Robert Bowcock, traveled to Corpus Christi to participate in a special city council meeting on the matter. He told the council that he's heard about the 'chlorine burns' being used to sanitize the water system. He recommends stopping the practice. Bowcock also stated that 3 water advisories in a short period of time shows "It's clear you're chasing your tail. City staff knew about the current issue back in March 2016 when quality problems were found on North Beach. In response, hydrants were flushed in that area. Also in March 2016, there were problems found in the Glenmore neighborhood (near Alameda and Ennis Joslin), that brought the attention of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The public was not informed about a problem with the water until the evening of May 13th 2016 when a city wide boil advisory was put in place after bacteria levels were found in samples from Flour Bluff neighborhoods. The water department states no e coli contamination was found in this round of testing, which is what caused a prolonged water boil issue the previous summer.

Cost of water boil scandal adds up for Corpus Christi School District, County Jail and Hospitals.

With the water boil advisory, CCISD is delivering thousands of water bottles to every school in the district. The cost is about $15,000 a day. The County Jail, more than 1,000 inmates get about four water bottles each day. "We've spent about $6,000 dollars," said Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin. "The tax-funded jail budget and CCISD maintenance funds have been enough to cover the unexpected costs, spending from those pots of money will eventually not be sustainable," Sheriff Kaelin said. The water boil advisory is also hitting hospitals. Both Driscoll Children's Hospital and CHRISTUS Spohn are using only bottled water and purified water for patients. Spohn is taking extra measures, such as using bath solutions and baby wipes to bathe all patients and newborns, and providing water-free cleansers in every room.

Residents calling for Mayor Nelda Martinez to step down.

In light of all of our water issues, residents say the mayor should step down. Residents have contacted the city secretary's office to start a petition to recall Mayor Nelda Martinez. One of those residents include Leah Rand who has started a Facebook page called "Corpus Christi Recall of Mayor Martinez". The calls come as the city enters its sixth day of a water boil notice. In her push for mayor recall, Tiner said in a statement, "The mayor should be held accountable. She is the one who oversees the best interest of the citizens. We're not getting that right now." Tiner needs 10 percent of registered voters signatures in order to call for a recall in the next election in November 2016. Tiner says she's getting a lot of support from the public. "People are upset. They're tired of the excuses. You know from the get go. The truth has not been told to us since this started. Since this water boil started, the truth has not been told," she said.

Sources

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