Paul Martinez, 54, remembers playing bumper pool, ping-pong, dodge ball, whiffle ball and basketball at the Richmond Hill club from age 6 to 13. He also remembers learning how to “play nice and compete.” “I grew up in the Boys Club,” he said. “That place molded me … It was a great experience.” Martinez, a former Jacksonville City Hall department head and advertising agency owner, on Monday takes
over the nearly 50-year-old nonprofit that provides after-school programs in 13 clubs in three counties. “Best job in the city,” he said. “I literally cannot wait.” Martinez has no direct nonprofit management on his resume but had “the most interesting skill set” of the more than 40 applicants, said Arnold Tritt Jr., chairman of the nonprofit’s board of governors. “It’s out of the box,” he said. “It’s a departure.” Martinez has not run a nonprofit, but is familiar with them, having served on the Jacksonville Children’s Commission board of directors and worked with them when he was owner/president of Martinez Advertising Group in Jacksonville Beach. “He owned his own business, worked in government … has experience in public relations and branding,” Tritt said, “and he attended a Boys Club when he was a kid. That was important.” Continue reading…