Former Sparks Mayor Geno Martini died Thursday, his daughter Gina confirmed. He was 77.
Martini was the longest serving mayor of Sparks, serving for more than 13 years. He retired in 2018 after a diagnosis with Parkinson’s.
The City of Sparks on Friday released this statement:
All of us here at the City of Sparks are mourning the passing of our beloved Mayor Geno Martini. Mayor Martini was the longest-serving mayor of the City of Sparks, serving from February 2005 to November 2018. He was also a Sparks City Councilmember from 1999 to 2005 and a lifelong resident of Sparks.
He served during strong economic times as well as during the Great Recession. And, through it all, he remained positive, hopeful, and resourceful.
Mayor Martini was instrumental in many great projects during his tenure with the City, including the beautiful Sparks Marina, the Outlets at Legends, downtown Victorian Square redevelopment, Golden Eagle Regional Park, and development in north Sparks. Mayor Martini was also influential in the realignment of the North Truckee Drain further downstream of the Truckee River to alleviate flooding issues. The Pyramid/McCarran Intersection Improvement Project and the SE Connector Project were also completed during his time as mayor.
“We greatly appreciate Mayor Martini for the amazing and valuable work he did over the years,” said Mayor Ed Lawson. “But more importantly, all of us here at the City loved and respected the man who could bring a smile to anyone’s face. Mayor Martini appreciated, loved, and respected City staff and the feeling was mutual. To me personally, he was a mentor who always gave me encouragement and perspective.”
In 2018, the City threw a farewell retirement bash for Mayor Martini that was attended by City employees and officials from throughout the region.
“It was our time to say goodbye to him professionally but now we say a final goodbye to a man who truly made a difference in our City,” Mayor Lawson said. “We will miss him terribly, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Ruth, and daughter Gina and her family.”
