Biography
Marti is a City Manager emphasizing innovation and best public policy practices in public administration, municipal budgeting, urban planning, economic development, delivery of city services and quality of life issues.
In August 2021, Marti joined the City of Willows as its Interim City Manager. By November 2021, she was appointed the City's permanent City Manager. Reporting to the City Council, Marti runs the City's day-to-day operations, including the following departments: Administration, Community Development, Finance, Fire, Public Works and Recreation. The City contracts with the Glenn County Sheriff's Department for police protection services. Current key projects and initiatives include: completing a $4 million park improvement project, large solar installation project at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and Civice Center, negotiating a new law enforcement contract with the Glenn County Sheriff's Office, and transitioning all city software programs to Tyler Technologies (e.g., Finance, Permitting, Business Licenses).
Prior to joining the City of Willows, Marti worked with the Kensington Police Protection and Community Service District as its General Manager, the City of San Juan Bautista as a Community Development Consultant and the City of Marysville as its City Manager.
During her tenure with the City of Marysville, a few of Marti's key successes included the completion of a $15 million sewage infrastructure project, new Proposition 218 Sewage Study, negotiating three new labor contracts with city bargaining units, and refinancing city debt resulting in an annual savings of $385,000.
Prior to joining the City of Marysville on January 1, 2018, Marti worked in the City of Arvin as its first Community Development Director. Reporting to the City Manager, she managed the Planning, Building, Code Enforcement, Maintenance & Infrastructure, and Parks & Recreation Divisions, as well as co-managed Economic Development projects with the City Manager.
From October 2012 to August 2016, Marti was the Executive Director of the Franklin Boulevard Business Association (‘Association’ (501c6)) and the Franklin Neighborhood Development Corporation ('Corporation' (501c3)) - a community development corporation in South Sacramento. In addition to her responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of the Association and Corporation, Marti also managed the development of a Community and Economic Development Plan for the business district and surrounding residential neighborhoods.
From 2009 to 2014, Marti also served as a Councilmember in the City of Vallejo, California. During her tenure, she spearheaded bringing Participatory Budgeting (PB) to the City of Vallejo for the first city-wide PB process in North America. PB Vallejo won the Top 10 Innovations in Public Engagement Award from the Ash Center at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government (May 2015), League of California Cities 2014 Helen Putnam Award for Enhancing Public Trust, Ethics, and Community Involvement (September 2014), and UC Berkeley Chancellor's Award for Public Service (May 2017).
Marti's other popular civic innovation effort includes bringing Code for America to the City of Vallejo. In the fall of 2014, the City was recognized as a 2015 Code for America Government Partner – a competitive application that Marti initiated in 2013 before leaving office.
In addition to these initiatives, Marti's council tenure was also highlighted by her work on the City's comprehensive General Plan Update including advocating and receiving council approval for its first-ever Health Element; her tough but necessary stand on labor contracts; and successfully exiting municipal bankruptcy. In 2018, the City of Vallejo's General Plan and Health Element won the California Planning Association's Northern Section Planning and Health Award of Merit.
Marti has been featured on Fox News, CBS and California Forward. She’s also interviewed with the Washington Post, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee on such topics as Participatory Budgeting, municipal bankruptcy and public employee pension reform. More recently, she has also been included in stories in the Appeal Democrat (Yuba and Sutter Counties daily newspaper), Sacramento Valley Mirror (Glenn County) and Action News Now (Chico).
Marti has also been a public speaker and presenter at several conferences including The American Planning Association, League of California Cities, California American Planning Association, SXSW, Government Finance Officers Association, the Participatory Budgeting Project, the Local Government Commission, City Innovate Summit, and Code for America Summit.
Prior to joining the City of Arvin and the Franklin Boulevard Business Association, Marti spent 10 years as a Redevelopment Planner and Project Manager for the Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency and the City of Berkeley. She was also a Market Manager and Cartographer in the Marketing Division of AT&T.
Marti's volunteer activities have included:
- Vallejo Water Front Coalition, Co-Chair,
- Participatory Budgeting Project, Advisory Board Member
- Vote Yes on Measure A (to Remove Binding Interest Arbitration from City Charter), Co-Chair
- Willows Rotary Club, Member
Marti holds a Master of Business Administration from Hope International University, Master of Arts degree in Geography with a concentration in Resource Management and Environmental Planning from San Francisco State University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from World College West. She is a recipient of the Participatory Budgeting Project's Government Leadership Award and The Waterfront Center’s 2005 Clearwater Award for Excellence on the Waterfront. Marti speaks Spanish and Nepali.
For more information about Marti, check out her LinkedIn profile.
