Biography
Stephen Martin-Pinto is a fifth generation San Franciscan. His great great grandmother, Guadalupe Miranda, was born here in San Francisco in 1848. His great grandmother was a survivor of the 1906 earthquake. His grandfather was an engineer for the city for 30 years, and his mother was a nurse at San Francisco General Hospital. His other grandparents were immigrants from Ecuador, and his grandfather was one of the first Hispanic doctors in the Mission District.
Stephen attended St. Phillip's Elementary, Lowell High School, and University of California at Davis, graduating with a degree in Environmental Engineering in 2001. While at Davis, he was a member of the Men's Crew team for 4 years, and had a late night music radio show on KDVS 90.3FM, the college radio station.
Left photo: Promotion to Corporal, April 1, 2006, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, San Diego California.
Right photo: On assignment for the Bureau of Land Management on a Type I (hot shot) Hand crew, Alaska, July 2009
After graduation, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps, inspired by the events of 9/11. He was given the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of 7051, Aircraft Firefighter and Crash Rescue Specialist. He was stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, California for 5 years, deploying to Iraq and promoting to the rank of Sergeant. After Iraq, he was selected to attend Officer Candidate's School in Quantico, Virginia. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant, given the MOS of 0602 Communication Officer, and deployed to Afghanistan and Georgia (the country) as a foreign military advisor and trainer. He promoted to Captain, left active duty in 2014, and returned to San Francisco.
He was hired by the San Francisco Fire Department in August 2014 and transferred to the Marine Corps Reserves. As a firefighter, he has worked at every station, and has been assigned to Pacific Heights, Inner Sunset, Bernal Heights, Civic Center, Chinatown and Bayview District Stations. He has done numerous deployments to the wildfires across California. He is a certified fire instructor, and teaches fire control at locations around California. He is a NERT and Listos SF instructor, and is a member of the department's Transit and Tactical EMS committees. He is also a Hazardous Materials Specialist with FEMA California Task Force 3 based in Menlo Park, CA. He was promoted to Major in the Marine Corps reserves in 2019, and has done short deployments to Canada, Korea, Jordan, and attended the Expeditionary Warfare Course at Camp Pendleton. As a union Pile-Driver with Local 34, he has worked as a welder on the Central Subway project in San Francisco, as well as various other projects around the bay area.
He has been very active in the community, serving as president of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association from 2016-2020, and is currently the President of the West of Twin Peaks central Council. He has served as a Commissioner for the San Francisco Veteran's Affairs Commission since 2019. He has served on the district 7 participatory budget committee, and has been active as a neighborhood voice for the Balboa Reservoir Project, the Detroit Steps project, and the Circular Avenue Ribbon Garden cleanup.
He currently lives in the Sunnyside neighborhood with his dog, three chickens and girlfriend. His hobbies include playing the guitar. He likes to travel and has been to nearly every state and major city in the US. He is fluent in Spanish, and proficient in Russian and Georgian (the language) from his time in the military.