Gilbert Martinez says he'll bring expertise to the City Council on a topic upon which he built his early career: utilities.

The 58-year-old is retired from Public Service Co. of New Mexico and has done contract work for the city water and wastewater divisions. He hopes that will distinguish him from his two competitors to represent the council district on the city's southwestern edge.

Martinez waited to enter the race, he said, until it was clear who the other candidates would be.

"Once I realized who the people were, they were not known to me," he said. "I felt that I brought some skills, leadership and some background about the city more than these two individuals who are currently running."

Martinez has lived in Santa Fe for 32 years. He moved here from Texas as an employee of Central Gas Co. It wasn't the job that encouraged him to relocate, he says, but rather the people. He said he arrived as a "a guy from Dallas wearing a suit" and received a warm welcome.

The candidate has a history with District 3, especially its affordable housing development in Tierra Contenta. He served on the board of directors for the public/private partnership and lives in the neighborhood, although he moved there from Rancho Viejo and before that lived in Bellamah.

While employed for the power company, Martinez said, he worked with budgets and rate analysis for large accounts. That experience helped him find places where the city of Santa Fe wasn't managing its gas and electric billing appropriately. The city was paying too much money, he said.

On top of that, the city had about 425 separate accounts for electricity. Martinez made changes that pared that number down to 386.

"As of today, I can tell you where every gas and electric meter is at that belongs to the city of Santa Fe," he said.

Faced with a challenge of low voter turnout, Martinez said he has employed a one-on-one approach to getting support from individual voters, walking past many of those meters as he goes door to door.

"A lot of people just don't have the energy to want to vote anymore. They've seen what has happened nationally and at the state [level], and they just don't believe in people anymore," he said. "They are quick to put me in a pot of politicians. I have trouble relating to that. I am just a citizen, just like you."

Even though this race is his second campaign for office, following an unsuccessful bid for county treasurer in 2006, Martinez maintains, "I am not a politician."

Martinez is sometimes long on generality and short on specifics. In a late December interview, he said there was nothing particular that he wanted to change in the city's spending or revenue picture, but said he was "very concerned as a taxpayer."

Although Santa Fe posts its annual financial report, budgets and other materials on its website, Martinez said the city of Española publishes more easily accessible information about expenditures on its website.

He also has questions about whether the city should continue with its plan to annex more territory along the fringes of the city, which would likely be added to the council district he wants to represent. In 2008, city councilors and Santa Fe County officials settled a series of lawsuits by agreeing that the city would soon annex certain areas and would then hold off on additional annexations for 20 years.

Councilor Miguel Chavez, outgoing representative of the district, was an advocate for creating an annexation plan and smoothing a checkerboard boundary along the city's southwest side.

"I would like to annex slowly but also look at the financial rate of return on this," said Martinez, who said he favors reopening the settlement agreement.

Martinez said City Manager Robert Romero has done an "excellent job," but Martinez believes more oversight would help matters at City Hall.

The candidate is up to speed on energy retrofit projects conducted in recent years by the city, including overhead lights at City Hall and a switch to light-emitting diodes for traffic signals. He's a backer of the solar-power generation project proposed for the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, one of several projects proposed for funding through a general obligation bond issue also on the March 6 ballot.

Martinez had been working on a contract to monitor solar projects already up and running on city property, but put that on hold in early December so he could campaign.

He also stays busy by working part-time at the Back 9 Grill, a private business located at the city's public golf course.

That's where he became friends with campaign treasurer Bob Foland. Foland, a former employee of the Santa Fe County assessor, also has a job at the golf course. Foland said he offered to help Martinez even though he doesn't live in the district. The pair have been talking about the campaign for nearly a year, he said.

"We are feeling good about it," Foland said of the campaign. "I tell people that he's running for City Council and that he's going to try to bring more transparency to the city."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.

Gilbert Martinez

Age: 58

Education: High school graduate; course work at El Centro and Mountain View junior colleges in Dallas and Santa Fe Community College.

Occupation: Substitute teacher and part-time manager of the Back 9 Grill at the city-owned Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe golf course; recently worked on contract for the city to oversee solar-energy production.

Experience: Retired from Public Service Co. of New Mexico after 30 years; ran for county clerk in 2006; performed contract work for city utilities; summer youth coordinator at the former SER Academy (now called the Career Academy at Larragoite); also had part-time and temporary jobs in recent years at St. Elizabeth Shelter, Junior Achievement of New Mexico and the Santa Fe Civic Housing Authority.

Personal: Married to Margaret Ryan; eight children and nine grandchildren. Lives in Tierra Contenta.

Campaign info: Privately funded, with a personal loan of $1,000 and $1,200 in donations from more than a dozen people, including his wife, Dr. Warren Hoffman and general contractor Bill Dench; gilmtzcityofsfe11@yahoo.com.