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50 Years: The Department of Boating and Waterways, 1957 to 2007
BR E A K I NG B A R R I E R S
Marty Mercado
Director, 1975–1982
Marty Mercado is a very strong, determined individual. As the first
woman director of Cal Boating, she took on a job that had only been
held by men for nearly 20 years and rose to the top of the boating
management field – an arena long thought to be a man’s world. Marty
had worked in state service since she was a teenager, getting hired
right out of high school at the Department of Motor Vehicles and later
gaining valuable experience at the Departments of Highways and
Social Welfare. In 1974, she was serving as executive secretary to the
Secretary of the California Resources Agency when Governor Jerry
Brown opened the doors of state government management positions to
women and minorities and appointed her to the lead Cal Boating post.
“My new job was certainly a challenge,” recalls Marty, “because I was a
Latina woman, and many of the people involved with the department
and with boating were retired Navy and Coast Guard personnel – all
men – who were quite skeptical of having a woman in charge.” Marty
came on board at Cal Boating in November 1974, first serving as
acting director in order to learn the ropes and build up her self-
confidence, and then becoming director in early 1975. She and some of
the other minority Brown appointees formed a support group to help
each other transition into their new positions at some of the top levels
The national States
Organization for Boating
Access (SOBA) presents
first William H. Ivers
Award to Bill Satow,
former Cal Boating
assistant director, one of
key SOBA organizers.
Cal Boating conducts
highly successful pilot
program in Sacramento
County to loan life jackets
to the public. Later, Cal
Boating partners with
local fire stations to
continue the program.
Annual Boating Safety Poster Contest
begins. Open to all California students
grades K-8, the contest combines art and
water safety education. Nine winning
posters, one for each grade level, are chosen
for Cal Boating’s official calendar. Students
depict aquatic safety themes, promoting the
idea of safety around the water.
...1993