Somos un pa?s con diversidad étnica, y estamos unidos como Americanos en nuestra determinaci?n de ganar esta guerra y demostrarles a los terroristas que ser?n derrotados.
Translation: "We are a diverse country, but we are united as Americans in our determination to win the war and show the terrorists that they will not succeed."
In the process, Martinez, 55, the former Orange County chairman who last year became the first Cuban-American Cabinet member in U.S. history, established himself in the Latin media as a frequent source of Spanish-language spin on everything from the president's state-of-the-union address to his budget. While still unknown to most Anglos outside of Florida, Martinez has become, for Hispanic-Americans, among the most visible government officials in the nation, according to a recent poll conducted by the government-backed housing company Freddie Mac.
"He is turning himself into a household name with Latinos," observes Dario Moreno, director of The Metropolitan Center, a Florida International University think tank in Miami.
Martinez's status among Hispanics -- voters the administration covets -- has helped him gain both the president's ear and Bush's backing for his HUD agenda. The agency's $31.5-billion budget is up 7% this year -- the largest increase of any federal agency. Martinez says his proudest accomplishment as HUD secretary has been persuading the president to make housing a priority. "I think the challenges of the country and the demands of the time are such that for us to have been on his agenda says a lot," he says.
The president has good reason to listen. For the first time in decades, polls show that affordable housing trumps even healthcare as working families' greatest concern. While homeownership has reached a historic high of 67.8%, the average sales price for an existing home climbed above $150,000 for the first time last year, locking out many young families, minorities and the working poor.
Also problematic are the growth in high-cost subprime and manufactured housing loans and a persistent gap in homeownership: HUD reports show that 74% of non-Hispanic whites own their homes compared with about 48% each for blacks and Hispanics.
His initiatives
Martinez's primary focus is expanding homeownership, particularly among minorities. His proposals include a $200-million appropriation for an "American Dream Down Payment Fund" to help low-income families buy their first homes; a $35-million counseling program for first-time home buyers; and $2.4 billion in tax credits over the next five years for developers of affordable single-family homes.
Martinez estimates that the first initiative will open the door to homeownership to 40,000 low-income families annually and that the tax credits will finance construction of 200,000 units in central cities and high-growth suburban areas.
Martinez has two other major initiatives. One $35-million plan targets the 10% of homeless considered "chronic"; that group, including many who suffer from mental illness or drug addiction, accounts for more than half of federal funds spent on the entire homeless population. The other combats predatory lending practices, including high interest rates and inflated closing costs. Rules changes now under way will limit closing costs to the initial estimate and disclose how much brokers are paid in mortgage deals, in addition to simplifying the home-buying and lending process.
How significant are these initiatives? At Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, Director Nicolas Retsinas says Martinez's plans for expanding minority homeownership and for reforming home buying and lending are far-reaching and bold. His affordable-housing initiatives, on the other hand, get lower marks. "There's no question that he cares about the poor and that he cares about this issue," Retsinas says. "But there are some who are waiting for him to raise a stronger voice that is parallel to the one that he has given on the Hispanic homeownership issue."
Affordable-housing advocates support a $5-billion National Housing Trust Fund for extremely low-income families. Martinez says he would support such a trust, but not, as currently proposed, the use of FHA reserves to fund it.
Back in his home state, some builders and affordable-housing advocates are impressed with Martinez's agenda -- particularly tax credits for affordable single-family homes. Until now, those credits have been available only for multifamily housing, hugely unpopular in old Florida neighborhoods undergoing revitalization.
Still, other Florida builders say bluntly that new affordable housing in urban areas such as Orlando simply won't happen. Charlie Clayton III, president of the Home Builders Association of Mid-Florida, claims that while "there is nothing we would rather do" than build affordable housing, the prospect is "impossible" given the high costs of land and impact fees of more than $8,000 per lot.
Martinez doesn't buy that argument. "Of course you can build affordable housing, even where you have high land costs and impact fees," he says. "I believe you can go into a place like (Orlando's urban) Azalea Park and rebuild there, where you have road infrastructure and shopping and jobs. I believe that is far better than buying 50 acres of land in eastern Orange County near the Econ River where there are no schools or roads."
His future
Despite his growing visibility in Washington, Martinez says he's likely to spend only one term in the nation's capital -- inviting plenty of speculation about his political future. Moreno and others speculate that Martinez may run either in 2006 for governor or in 2004 for U.S. Senate if Bob Graham does not seek another term.
In a Republican primary for either office against Tom Gallagher or Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, Martinez's home turf along the I-4 corridor would give him a strong base. And his willingness to stand up to the powerful home building industry -- in Orlando, he linked zoning decisions to whether new development would add to overcrowding at schools -- could play well with voters statewide who are increasingly concerned about the impacts of development.
He could also count on significant support among Hispanics, who can make up more than 15% of the vote in GOP primaries in Florida, although, Moreno says, that will take more than appearing on Latin TV. "I think a lot of his future success is going to lie in what direction he takes HUD," says Moreno. "He's in a better position than most politicians to do big things -- because he has such a huge budget. But the question is whether he'll do big things."
Martinez insists that he hasn't defined his ambitions for when his stint as housing secretary ends. "I wouldn't foreclose being in the private sector, just being a good dad, granddad and husband and enjoying Florida," says Martinez, who friends say is homesick for the Sunshine State and good Cuban food. "But the possibility of serving beyond this is also open."
Mel Martinez
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Born: Oct. 23, 1946, Sagua La Grande, Cuba.
Arrived in Florida: In 1962 as part of an airlift of children known as Operation Pedro Pan.
Lived: In two Catholic orphanages, then with two foster families, before being reunited with his family in Orlando in 1966.
Married: Kitty, in 1970; they have two sons, a daughter and a new granddaughter.
Graduated: From Florida State University College of Law in 1973.
Practiced law: In Orlando for 25 years.
Elected: Chairman of Orange County in 1998.
Confirmed: Unanimously by the U.S. Senate and took office in January 2001.
Moms: Martinez was the only Cabinet secretary with four of them at his swearing-in ceremony: His own mother, his two foster mothers and his mother-in-law.