Director, Contra Costa Water District

Antonio Martinez was elected to the Contra Costa Water District Board of Directors in 2020, representing Pittsburg and Antioch. He began serving as Vice President in May 2022.

A resident of Antioch, he recently retired from the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) as the Manager of Distribution Maintenance and Construction in the Operations and Maintenance Department. He was responsible for the potable distribution system for 20 cities and 15 unincorporated East Bay communities within Alameda and Contra Costa counties. He managed a staff of more than 220 employees dedicated to meeting stringent state regulations around worker safety, water loss, and system maintenance. 

Over his 32-year career at EBMUD, he has worked on and led various water projects. He had 25 years of labor activism negotiating contracts, defending worker rights, and fighting for working families. While working, he attended community college and eventually transferred to the University of San Francisco where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior and Leadership. 

He has experience in managing resources through disasters and is well versed in the incident command structure instituted at the state and federal level known as National Incident Management System (NIMS)/State Incident Management System (SIMS). He worked during the Oakland fire; most recently, he led response teams to the Napa earthquake and Paradise fire. 

He is a member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). He has attended conferences around the country where he has provided leadership trainings as well as presentations on testing new pipe materials for water distribution systems. He is a member of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), and Contra Costa Special Districts Association (CCSDA). He works to create partnerships with Baywork, Civicorps, Cypress Mandela Training Center, local community colleges, and trade Unions to help young adults develop skills and find meaningful work in the water and wastewater industry.