While Martin “Marty” Richman is a man who has no political experience, he is a near-permanent fixture at many public meetings and is more than familiar with how politics works—or doesn’t work. Richman announced last week that he is running for the District 4 Hollister City Council seat being vacated by Jim Gillio, who is in the November runoff for incumbent San Benito County Supervisor Jerry Muenzer’s seat.
Richman was career military and served more than 22 years in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army. He retired as a chief warrant officer in 1983, and continued working as a quality assurance manager in explosives and electronics industries where he could use his training as a nuclear weapons technical officer.
He and his wife Joyce moved to San Benito County in 1996 so he would be closer to his job and they could buy a bigger home. Since retiring, Richman has been a mainstay at public meetings and gives his opinions on a wide range of topics, including growth, cannabis and roads.
After he wrote a few letters to the editor of the Hollister Free Lance newspaper, he was a regular columnist between 2007 and 2012. Over the last several years, Richman has published on BenitoLink, volunteering many hours to research facts and statistics for online “Community Opinion” and “Community Column” articles.
“I’d like to do more public service and leave my mark where people felt I did something for the community,” he said. “I have no hidden agenda. I’m not doing it for money and I don’t owe anybody any favors. I want to make Hollister a better place to live and help the people who live here understand what they can do to make it happen to improve us.”
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