Latest / Arizona Unscripted / Episode 28: 🌵 Arizona Unscripted - A Conversation with Jacob Martinez!
Transcript
- Arizona Unscripted: Yeah. Welcome to Arizona Unscripted. I'm your host, Bart, alongside my wonderful co-hosts Catherine, Jim, and and Diane today. And from time to time we'll be joined by special poppin' guests from communities all across the Grand Canyon state. Arizona Unscripted is all about Arizona, its people, its places, its events, and the local issues that shape our everyday lives. From small towns to big cities, from hidden gems and great local food to history, culture, and the challenges facing our communities. We're here to have real conversations with real Arizonians. So our goal is simple, to celebrate what makes Arizona unique while bringing together voices from every corner of the state. So whether you're a lifelong resident, a newcomer, or just someone who loves Arizona, we hope you'll feel right at home. So grab a cup of coffee or something cool. Sit back and join us as we explore the people, places, and stories that make Arizona one of the most fascinating states in America. So welcome to Arizona Unscripted. And with that, I'm going to pass it over to my Hello, Diane. Hello, Bart. Thank you for being here today. It was so good to see and hear you again. ⁓ we have Jim and Carol and Joan here from Mojave County, as well as Daniel from Graham. And Terry was just on an episode with us. Glad that you are hanging out here with us, Terry. ⁓ Jim, I might have missed you, but Jim is here as a co-host and Catherine. I'm here. Hello. And I am going to turn it over to Catherine to introduce our special guest today. Thank you so much, Diane. It's wonderful to be here. And we're so happy to have you with us today, Jacob Martinez. Jacob is running for Arizona House Representative in Legislative District 9, which I believe covers West Mesa, downtown Mesa, and a little bit of eastern Tempe. And from my ⁓ looking you up, Jacob, it looks like you grew up in Mesa, went to Mesa Public Schools. So ⁓ I'm curious about your path from growing up in Mesa to now you're running to be the representative. Yeah. Well I mean thank you all for having me to start. And ⁓ yeah, it's it's an interesting journey. But really I think what it comes down to and what I like to tell people is I'm a Mesa kid. I was born and raised here in Mesa. I went to Mesa Public Schools. I've every time I've moved, I've moved pretty much within a square mile of of where I grew up. And really that's because I love it here. I love this community. I love Mesa. And I I always tell people, you can't, you know, let's say let's let's talk about the top like food places right. I think it's New York, LA, and then probably Mesa. There's probably not another city with so many restaurants that are, you know, that go viral that are famous. You know, whether it's Republican Panada, Amichi's Pizza, I mean it's just it's the place to be. And so running for the state ledge here in in now in in my hometown and in my home district has been the honor of a lifetime. And I I couldn't be more grateful to have this opportunity. So which one of those restaurants is your favorite? I can't play favorites. I love ⁓ all equally. Can you spotlight one? We're foodies here, so we'd love to hear about new places to go eat. So sharing some. Yeah, I'd say you have to I mean Republican Panada is staple. You can't come to Mesa without going to Republica. So I would strongly recommend that. But really any single of you any of the Mesa restaurants are you have to stop in. Wow, I had no idea that it was such a gastronomic capital. That's wonderful. Well, I looked at your endorsements, Jacob. You've got some really strong endorsements coming from Mark Kelly, Chris Mays, Greg Stanton. Tell us why these folks are endorsing you. I I think I mean it really speaks to what people want in in in I hate to say like an elected official because that sounds very formal. But like what people want in a representative, you know. People want someone who's from their community who knows what it's like. I grew up with a single teen mom. And my mom had my brother and I. I have a twin brother. She had us at 16. And, you know, so growing up, it was a struggle, right? It was a struggle to, you know, I grew up on WIC. I grew up on public assistance. And now we see politicians in Arizona and also in DC attacking programs like that. When, you know, people that are actually from here who who know what it's like to live here and to grow up similar to most of the people in this district and not well off. Right. They know what a struggle it is and they know how those programs provide such a a lifeline for folks. And so, you know, I'm fortunate to have, you know, Senator Kelly and and attorney General Mays and and so on. And and I think it's just because like they acknowledge that we need people that are from the communities that they're trying to represent who know what life is like for those people. And I'm fortunate to have lived that experience and and to, you know, be able now to be in a position to run and represent the people that that I grew up with. So admirable. I love to he have w we've been having these young people on our show and one gentleman told us he'd wanted to be a candidate and run for office since he was twelve years old. I mean, that's that's pretty serious commitment. So not only what you're I I'd like to know not only what you're hearing from people in your district, but I'd like to know what are the issues that you think are the most important and more than that, what Are you gonna try to do about them? Yeah. I mean, I I knockdoors every single day. You know, whether it's 115 out, I'm out and not talking to people. And and I'm hearing the same thing over and over again. People are struggling with the cost of absolutely everything. The cost of housing, the cost of utilities, the cost of groceries, the cost of health there, and on and on and on, right? People are struggling to make ends meet and to afford the basic necessities that they need in order to live. And two years ago, A lot of people voted in anticipation that things were going to get better, right? They thought costs were going to come down. They had all these, you know, they're hearing all these grand ideas and and you know, a picture painted of this this great world that we would all live in. And the complete, right? The cost of everything has gotten higher. ⁓ conditions are are far worse than they were two years ago. And and people are are noticing that and they're responding to it and they're talking about it. Right. And so they're ready to see a change. They're ready to see, you know, bold actions be taken. To try and bring down the cost of housing, right? I'm a huge proponent, as have Democrats in the state been, of banning corporations from being able to buy single family homes, right? Because that's absolutely cut driven up the cost of housing. I am in favor of allowing municipalities to regulate short term rentals to make sure that they're not completely artificially ⁓ constricting the supply and driving up prices for for folks that that have lived in these communities for decades. Yes. ⁓ when it comes to things like groceries, there's a reason that grocery stores are switching to digital price tags. It's so that they can charge you and me at the store at the exact same time, buying the exact same product, two different two different prices. So I support banning surveillance pricing so that stores can't take advantage of consumers who are already struggling to make ends meet. The the what it comes down to is we need to be passing legislation that makes life more affordable for people here in the state, not make it harder to live here. And so far, what the legislature done has just tried to pass bills that make life more difficult for people. You know, insert marginalized group name here. That's what they've done. And so it's time we pass actions that actually help people. And and I'm looking forward to hopefully having the opportunity to do that come January. Wow, those times. You know, charge a higher rent for it, you know. And they're making tons of money right now, right? These these companies are making ⁓ just I mean, look just thinking about tariffs, right? They raised prices on everyone because of tariffs. Then the tariffs were deemed unconstitutional. They got all that money paid back, but it in no way has been you know passed down to the consumer. Prices haven't gone down, they didn't do any sort of, you know, rebate. Of course they didn't, right? So they are making an ab just absolutely insane amount of money and we're all left having to deal with it. If they always find another way to ⁓ make us pay for their taxes. Absolutely. Those are great ideas that you have as far as affordability. ⁓ so and you you mentioned housing. I believe there is ⁓ I I believe the legislature did did they pass the law taking the right away from municipalities to ⁓ p put limits on the number of Rentals and like air vacation rentals. Yeah. So there's been a moratorium. I believe it's been for the last decade, but I could be misquoting that. But there's been a moratorium on on on any sort of action on it in general. And so that moratorium is up next year. And so I'm a huge advocate of not reinstating that moratorium and at a bare minimum allowing cities and municipalities to put regulations in place because no one knows what they need more than these than these localities. And so the fact that the legislature is trying to be heavy handed and say, Nope, you can't do this just because they're getting, you know, millions of dollars from from short term rentals, that's unacceptable. Right. I'm with ya. Yeah. I I I think that's one of the biggest issues that we're all seeing, especially here in Arizona, that a a tourist state, really a lot of our economy is tourist based. So, you know, those Airbnbs can get filled up pretty fast, but yet The people who rent those Airbnbs want to go out to restaurants. They want to have waiters and waitresses to serve them. They they want a service economy, but there's no place for these people to live. Right, exactly. And it's it's it's that whole idea, right? Of the people that live that work in our in our in our communities, they should be aff able to afford to live here also. But with this housing market, people are you know, I I live in Mesa. There's folks that work here in Mesa that live in in Maricopa. That live in Santan, that live in ⁓ you know, all the way as far as ⁓ you know, all all over. That's unacceptable, right? That's absolutely unacceptable. If you work here, you should be able to afford to live here. And the fact that we've allowed this to happen over the last several years is just completely unacceptable and and and but honestly indicative of what the legislature's priority has been, right? It hasn't been bringing down costs. It hasn't been making sure life's affordable. It's been their corporate special interests. That's right. That's right. So I love to hear you say that that law expires. Did you say next year? Yeah. I I I I believe it's next year. So once you and this wonderful cohort of young ⁓ Democrats gets elected to the legislature legislature, let's really hope that you guys can get rid of that because that's one of the worst problems with housing. So Another one of your issues and l and public education. It's an issue all over the state. What do you what do you think we need to do as far as public education goes? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I'm a product of Mesa Public Schools. I could have done, you know, I've I was fortunate, I just graduated from law school. I would not have been able to do that was it, you know, without the strong foundation that I got in public schools. And so one, it starts with giving them the resources they need. There was just a court decision recently that Arizona is unconstitutionally underfunding our schools. We already knew that, but now a governor Doug Ducey appointed judge just reaffirmed it in the courts that we are are drastically not giving schools the resources they need. So we need to increase funding for education. We need to put guardrails around the universal ESA program. The fact that it's ballooned to the size that it has when most students have never attended a public school. It's been a handout to the wealthy who are already affording private schools. And so it's time we put restrictions in place, we put caps in place, and we make sure that funds are being used responsibly on education, not lingerie and diamond rings. Those are two things we need to do immediately. And third, we also need to make sure that we're respecting our educators. I think funding and and giving them the resources and and giving them higher pay only goes so far. But for the last five to ten years, the legislature has been introducing and passing bills constantly. That demonize educators, that demonize public education, that make it a crime to talk about current events. All of that just makes it harder and more difficult to be in a classroom. And so we need to one, repeal those bills, but two, make sure we're passing legislation that supports our educators and shows them that we support them, right? That we want them to teach our kids to make sure that they have the foundation they need, just like I and many of you had, so that they can be successful. And so those are things we need to do immediately. We need to make sure we're we're being strong supporters of public education. It's in the Arizona Constitution, right? That we need strong public schools, that we need to protect public schools. And so we need to live out what our founders intended. Thank you so much for that, Jacob. Hey Daniel, I saw that you had your hand up. Did you have a question or a comment for Jacob? Yes, I did. ⁓ I know he was talking about being a local issue with the regulations and laws for the restriction of Airbnbs. I know my friends in s the Sedona area, they tried to get a local resolution that Airbnbs could be restricted so that there would be room for actual renters and residences, and those consistently get voted down because of the power structure of the people who own the properties. So kind of my question, it sounds like that's what he's approaching, that if it isn't done on a state level that will pass constitutional state and and national, that it's gonna be very difficult to control. ⁓ we have the same thing here in Graham County, ⁓ I mean a standard one bedroom is running fifteen hundred dollars or more. ⁓ my gosh. And because our major ⁓ pop you know, large population works for the mines and for the prison systems, and they make so much money that the people working in the grocery stores can't keep up. And my whole life I have had to live with other people. no matter what. I've never owned a piece of property, never managed to do that. And so, you know, I I don't see a problem with three seniors living together, sh house sharing. But it's difficult when a three bedroom apartment costs more than three seniors can afford. Yeah. I mean, literally. So being so this is an important issue and Glad to see you see ya, but we think I think we need to expand on the concept. There's nothing wrong with seniors living together and supporting each other emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, and economically. But it's hard. Mm-hmm. I actually like it. I actually don't want to live totally alone, but I do want my own damn bathroom. Well, and I'm glad you bring that up because I I I feel like I always try and ground that too, because a lot of times people talk about families. They talk about young people, you know, people graduating. But seniors are just as affected from the housing crisis, right? People forget about that. That, you know, especially seniors on fixed incomes, they're l if they're living in in, you know, if they're renting or if they're I mean, if they're like these are people who are affected just as much as everybody else, but it doesn't get talked about as much. And and I and that's so important because our communities all have a wider range of people that are dealing with these issues. And we need to be like we need to have that in mind, right? We're and especially when talking, trying to get this legislation passed, right? We're not just talking about all these young woke kids that are just complaining because they, you know, buy too much avocado toast and can't afford a home. Right. This is impacting everybody in our community. And then we've got to do something about it, right? It's it's unacceptable that that we're going through this, that anyone's going through this. Indeed. So, Jacob, how can people that are listening help you? Help you help us. ⁓ Get you elected, get get you in there where decisions are going to be made so that we do have some younger voices, some people willing to fight for our communities. What can we do? Yeah. Well, I'm running in legislative district nine, which is one of the most competitive districts in the state of Arizona that will ultimately determine if Democrats take the majority for the first time in 60 years or not. And so we need a lot of help. ⁓ and there's two ways people can do that. One We could use help on doors. Like I said, I'm out knocking every single day, talking to voters, and we have a team of of people that is doing that every single day. We're aiming to hit thousands and thousands of doors a week. And, you know, I can't knock that on my own. And so if people are interested in coming out and and getting involved, we would absolutely love for them to do that. ⁓ the second way is it's really expensive to be running in one of the most competitive races in the state of Arizona. And so we're always fundraising. We're always trying to raise more money. It's because we need to hit as many voters as possible and talk to as many people as possible because they need to know that the alternative isn't good, right? I'm running against someone who was an election denier who was one of Carrie Lake's witnesses in her trial to overturn the election, who's hired consultants that work for the Proud Boys, right? That's not someone we want in the state legislature. That's not someone we want representing us. And so, you know, as as money you know, w when we get donations, that helps us spread that message. One of of us pushing community oriented solutions, but also of making sure people know that the alternative is is absolutely devastating for our community. And so both of those, you know, information for both of those things is on my website at martinezforaz.com and that's F O R A Z dot com. And even if just if people have questions, my email's on there and I'm always happy to talk to people or answer questions or whatever it is. Well, I have an unrelated question. In the background, I see a sign that says Jacob Martinez Park. What is Jacob Martinez Park? Yeah. So it's I was the I I served on the Mesa Parks and Recreation Committee for six years. I started when I was a senior in high school and my term ended in twenty twenty four. And so at the end of your term on the board, you don't actually give you a park. But they give you this cool sign that says your name on it, park. And it's the same sign that we have in all of our parks. So it's super, super cool. I love it. It was like when I first found out that they gave those out, I was like, ⁓ my gosh, I can't wait for my term to be over. Not really. I love being on the board, but I was excited by this cool sign. It's a very simple sign. Yeah. And and what's cool is that you've been involved that long. ⁓ again, it's it's what we're seeing from these. young Democrats coming out, especially down in southern Arizona, where we really are hoping you y'all can get into the legislature and make some changes that are gonna really ⁓ impact for the better people's lives here in Arizona. We really need people like you down there, Jacob. Well I appreciate it. And I mean real we just need community people, right? We need people that aren't bought by special interests, that aren't gonna take corporate pack money that aren't gonna cave to all these companies that the minute they ask for something and put a check behind it, they're gonna do it. Right. Like that's what we need. And and I I'm I was with a bunch of the potential freshmen that are gonna be starting in the legislature next year, ⁓ just last week. And I'm excited, right? I think we have a really solid potential class of people coming in that care about community, that care about doing the right thing. And and that's what's gonna be what's most important at the end of the day. So I'm I'm hopeful. We just we got to get through November. We have forty three days to to work hard and then to make history. So I'm I'm We're all hopeful. Yeah, fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. I I think I'm curious. I want to know what your twin thinks of all this. He's ⁓ he's he's intrigued. He he flies planes, so he's a lot more captivated by flying planes and and doing that than than all this political nonsense. Although he helps me put up signs, which is very helpful. Does he get mistaken for you sometimes? Does, yeah, he absolutely does. Yeah, absolutely. We've actually even talked about like to to hit more ground when we're knocking doors. So, you know, we'll hit we'll both hit, right? We'll put him on on one neighborhood, me in another neighborhood. Always careful about where it's at, right? You it's like at Disney where they can't put the same character like too close to each other because the kids might see it and be like, whoa, I just saw you. So we're gonna have to do that in two different parts of the district to to hit as many people as possible. Interesting. I I met Katie Hobbs' twin sister at a state committee meeting one time and and it was interesting. You know, talking to her, I I I had to keep reminding myself I was not really talking to Katie Hobbs because she looked so much like her. They look very, very similar. Yeah. Yeah. She's also a very awesome person. I absolutely love her. And Becky, yeah, Becky's awesome. Mm-hmm. All right. Do you guys have more questions for Jacob Jacob? We're really super excited. I'm curious ⁓ if somebody wanted to come help Canvas or slash knockdoors. Do they have to be from your area or absolutely not. No. We take people from absolutely I mean, we have people from Tucson come, we have people from the West Valley come. ⁓ just Senator Annalise Ortiz knocked doors ⁓ last week in our district. And so we we take help from absolutely everywhere. ⁓ 'cause at the end of the day, like a lot of us in our we all have the same problems, right? None of us can afford to live where where we live. And and so, you know, being able to go to these different places and talk to people, right? It it translates to the same. And so we'll take help from absolutely anywhere. So we could do a fun road trip with friends and get some really good food in Mesa after knocking doors for you. That's that's what we do every weekend. We go knock a ton of doors and then we go to one of the million amazing restaurants we have. And it's always a fun time. Especially now that the weather's getting cooler. I mean, now is the time to to do it. It's it's it's you know, it's not perfect yet, but it it's better than it was two months ago. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Well, okay. If ⁓ if nobody else has any questions, Jacob, thank you so much for coming on our show today. We really appreciate it. Loved hearing all of your ideas and seeing your enthusiasm. It's it makes us even more hopeful for the future. So your hard work will pay off one of these days. Thank you all. I appreciate it. Forty three days. I'm counting down. Yep. Deep gratitude and the best of luck. Thank you all. Thanks, Jacob.