By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 27, 2019 | You get a lot of good vibes when driving around Loganville, which is partly in Gwinnett, and the eastern-most city and one of the oldest (1887) of the county. A majority of Loganville is in Walton County.
Everywhere you turn, it seems clean and neat. You might even spot Mayor Rey Martinez from time to time out picking up trash such as Styrofoam cups, to make sure the place is neat. It’s not every mayor who is so particular and willing to regularly pick up trash to insure his city is clean.
He’s quoted as saying: “We all need to combine our efforts to ensure that the City of Loganville leaves a great first impression on those visiting – and that impression is that we are a community proud to call Loganville our home.”
Rey and Ana Martinez
U.S. Highway 78 is the main commercial stretch, with many of the key big-box stores and popular chains finding Loganville for locations. This has taken place in the last few years, as Loganville has quickly grown to about 13,000 people. It was only 5,435 back at the 2000 census.
The recent influx of new people keep the place vibrant. Back in 2017, the city relocated its city hall, needing more space, to the former Elementary School at Main Street and Georgia Highway 20, after rehabbing that building. But now there is even talk among city leaders of planning a new city hall, more in the center of town near the Old Well on Main Street.
Mayor Martinez is in his first term as mayor, the first Hispanic mayor in Georgia. He previously served eight years after being elected to the City Council in 2010. He clearly enjoys his public position, reaching out to help people and working with people in all walks of life. He particularly likes to visit with school children, and talk with them. He wants to be an inspiration for other Latino children.
The mayor is of Cuban descent, after being born in Puerto Rico. He came to the United States when eight years old with his parents through Miami. He learned English through the ESOL program, but it was hard; he failed fourth grade.
He has been in Loganville since 2007. He’s a businessman, his firm known as Rey’s Cuban Food, and he is a professional caterer. He enjoys serving food from his Cuban heritage. “Cooking Cuban food is a passion of mine.”
He’s a past president of the Walton Lions Club; serves on the Georgia Lighthouse for the Blind as a board member, and has been on the Walton County Development Authority. He visited the White House as part of the National Hispanic month in 2018.
His wife is Ana, of Chile. They have two sons, both in military service. Rey himself is retired from the Naval Reserve after 25 years of service, including eight years on active duty. That includes three tours overseas, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Dubai.
Rey Martinez has become active in political circles. Governor Nathan Deal appointed him to serve on the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity in 2015. And Gov. Brian Kemp this year appointed him to the board of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association.
He was chair of the Hispanics for Trump in 2016.
Among the projects he’s proud of, the City of Loganville issued $15million in water bonds for expansion. That included laying groundwork for a water line to Monroe to provide another source of water.
That’s Rey Martinez, one of Gwinnett’s newest mayors. You’re gonna hear more from him in the future.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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