Babylon names Hispanic town board member

Antonio Martinez, an organizer with the Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters, has been named the newest member of the Babylon Town Board.

He comes to the board via a musical chairs of sorts after Babylon Town Clerk Janice Tinsley-Colbert resigned to take a position with Suffolk County. She was replaced with Town Board member Carol Quirk, leaving a vacancy on the board.

Today, the Board is swearing in Martinez. He will become the first Hispanic board member in town history and the only sitting Hispanic board member in Suffolk County, Town Supervisor Steve Bellone said.

“It’s a great American story,” Bellone said. “His parents came here with nothing but the hope of giving their family a better way of life. Tony has turned around and rewarded their sacrifices by achieving the American dream himself.”

Martinez came to American from El Salvador in 1982. He has been educated in the United States and has spent many years trying to help working families survive in Babylon and across Long Island, Bellone said.

“He understands working families and middle class families are struggling to get by today,” Bellone said. “People are struggling out there today with the high cost of living on Long Island. He’s uniquely situated through his life experiences that he has to help them.”