Francisco Martinez
What I cover
Francisco covers Tiburon: the Town Council and town government, development and housing, and the people and events of the town.
Background
Francisco joined The Ark in July 2023. He previously worked for NPR member station KCBX-FM in San Luis Obispo, where he reported "Beyond the Furrows," an award-winning 12-part series about farmworkers in Santa Barbara County. Francisco was also a reporter, news anchor and radio DJ for student-run Mustang News and KCPR-FM at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo; he graduated in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Francisco lives in Point Richmond with his wife and their four cats. A former record store employee, he spends his free time listening to music old and new, going on walks and solving puzzles of all kinds. Francisco remains an eternally suffering Tottenham Hotspur fan.
Our standards
Ark journalists avoid conflicts of interest, refuse gifts, favors, free travel and special treatment, and correct information throughout the life of a story. Read The Ark’s ethics policy and corrections policy.
Latest from Francisco
New Tiburon resident takes over Bellinger and Strawberry dental practices
The Tiburon resident who recently acquired Strawberry’s Tiburon Family Dental has now expanded downtown, taking over the Juanita Lane...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Tiburon appoints two residents to serve on joint disaster advisory board
A retired firefighter who served as the Novato Fire Protection District’s deputy chief of operations and a media and technology...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·Belvedere watercolorist takes first at county fair
Watercolorist Jan Pinkston was scrolling through results from the Marin County Fair’s competitive exhibits, marveling over the entries...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Tiburon resident Bob Booker wrote Grammy-winning album satirizing JFK, family
Tiburon resident Bob Booker, a comedy writer and producer who was one of the creative minds behind the Grammy Award-winning album “The...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Trio of clergy aims to make religion accessible in podcast
A Catholic priest, a Presbyterian minister and a Jewish cantor walk into a coffee shop to discuss their next podcast. That’s not the...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
San Francisco Yacht Club to host world sailing championship
A world-championship sailing competition is coming to Bay Area waters Aug. 20-24, organized by Belvedere’s San Francisco Yacht Club. The...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Servino family plans to open new candy shop on Main Street
A candy store on Main Street — but not The Candy Store on Main Street — is coming to downtown Tiburon before the end of the year, with...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Agency wins extension for clearing boats from Richardson Bay anchorage
The Richardson Bay Regional Agency has been granted an extra year, until October 2025, to relocate more than a dozen boat dwellers from...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Tiburon arts board OKs dance performance, film screening
Tiburon will bring a performance from Sausalito-based Danse Lumière to Zelinsky Park this fall, followed by a screening at Town Hall of a...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·School bus agency rejects requested boulevard stop at Stewart Drive after neighborhood stop eliminated
The board that oversees school-bus operations has rejected a resident’s request to add a stop on Tiburon Boulevard near the Stewart Drive...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·Judge tentatively rules Tiburon housing-site review broke law
A Marin judge has tentatively ruled that Tiburon violated state environmental laws when it analyzed the impact of up to 118 new housing...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·Parents call for kid-friendly parks, neighbors skeptical of Blackie’s ideas
One group of residents is pushing Tiburon to include more kid-friendly amenities in its long-term parks plan, while another is asking...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·Ballet Tiburon owner aims to promote positivity through dance at Cove studio
Ryan Camou says ballet was his “go-to safe haven” growing up. Coming from a self-described broken home, he says dancing was his...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Tiburon DJ Yuka Yu is blending traditional influences with modern sensibilities
Tiburon’s recent townwide celebrations have been set to the soundtrack of local DJ Yuka Yu. Those attending the town’s inaugural Asian...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Strawberry resident Vic Seixas won Wimbledon during the amateur era of tennis
trawberry resident Vic Seixas, a Wimbledon winner and hall-of-fame tennis player who was the oldest living Grand Slam champion, died of...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Nonprofit founded by Tiburon teens aims to address peers’ mental health
Four Tiburon Peninsula teens are on a mission to address what they say is a growing youth mental-health crisis. Siblings Jack, Athena and...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Belvedere resident Bonnie Spiesberger was fierce advocate for local library
Belvedere resident Bonnie Spiesberger, whose three decades of volunteer service to the Belvedere-Tiburon Library included helping to...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Tiburon resident to open new office of his plastic surgery practice downtown
NorCal Plastic Surgery, headed and founded by Tiburon resident Dr. Timothy Rankin, plans to open a downtown outpost at 1650 Tiburon Blvd....
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
Tiburon council approves near 8% rate hike in garbage hauling
Starting Monday, Tiburon residents will join their Belvedere and Strawberry counterparts in paying more for trash and recycling...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·Tiburon cops get raises, wellness benefit, new rank
Tiburon police officers and service aides will get annual 3.5% increases and a new wellness benefit, while a new corporal rank will be...
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ·
