Board member since June 2010. Current term expires in December 2020.
Chair: Finance Committee. Member: Executive Committee
Russ Martin is the current Vice President of the MSWD Board of Directors. Director Martin grew up in Long Beach, California where he attended Wilson High School, Long Beach Community College and Cal State Long Beach, majoring in art history. In 1968, he started a career in law enforcement with the Santa Monica Police Department. For the next three decades, Russ worked a wide range of assignments including Narcotics, Robbery-Homicide, Communications, Crime Prevention, Community Relations and Special Enforcement. His last assignment was to command the police sub-station in the busy downtown Third Street Promenade. Russ Martin retired from the Santa Monica PD in 2000 and was recognized for his service by the Governor of California and the President of the United States.
Russ has served on the board of directors or advisory boards of 10 organizations including the United Way, Westside Shelter Coalition, Claire Foundation for Substance Abuse, National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the Bay Area Hotel Security Association. He also chaired the City of Desert Hot Springs Public Safety Commission, serves on the Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Board and served two terms as its chair, and was appointed by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to the San Gorgonio Pass Water Alliance.
Russ has lived in Desert Hot Springs since 2006 with his wife Florence. His daughter, Jaclyn, graduated from Columbia College film school in Los Angeles and is now teaching school in South Korea. His daughter, Katie, graduated from Sonoma State University with a degree in ancient history and now resides in Boston with her husband Evan and daughter Avery.