Martin Moore

Martin D. Moore, Ph.D., the new manager of the City of Batavia, was the center of attention on Wednesday afternoon, but he was quick to mention that it’s the residents who come first.

Moore, speaking at a meet-and-greet session at City Hall Council Chambers, said he advocates an open-door policy that gives citizens an avenue to let their voices be heard.

“I’m here for the people themselves … that’s who I work for,” said Moore, who was joined at the event by his wife, Joanne, and 17-year-old son, Martin Jr. “If they need something, have an issue or a suggestion, I am willing to listen. There are no bad ideas.”

The former city manager of Eunice, N.M. (he served in that capacity for about seven years), Moore said he has a “relaxed style but is very driven toward results at the same time.”

As he prepares for his first City Council meeting next Monday, Moore said his immediate priorities include talking to the management team about how to communicate effectively, building a working relationship with the business community, and meeting with Batavia Development Corporation officials about the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

“I really want to see the shovels starting to hit the ground,” he said, referring to the Ellicott Station project.

His hiring as the one to replace Jason Molino, who resigned the position about nine months ago, is homecoming, of sorts, for his family. His wife has two sisters in Le Roy, a brother in Warsaw and another sister in Castile. She also has a brother who resides in Tonawanda.

Moore said he was in the running for similar positions in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, but believes that the Batavia job was meant to be.

“When I came here (during the interview process), everything seemed to click,” he said. “City Council was great; I really enjoyed talking to them and when I went around town, the people were very friendly.

“And if any hurdle came up, it was worked out. Everything just lined up.”

City Council agreed to an initial contract of $110,000 plus benefits for Moore.

His previous executive management experience includes a four-year stint as a consultant, census 2010 crew leader and general manager in Timberon, N.M.; county manager for Otero County, N.M.; executive director of Eastern Arizona Counties, and director of development and community services for Apache County, Ariz.

An Eagle Scout, he was a member of several professional associations and president of the Eunice Rotary Club.

His wife said she was excited when she heard about the Batavia position being open and got “really excited” as her husband made the final cut.

“I haven’t lived in New York since I was 16,” she said, noting that she moved to Hawaii in the mid-1970s and then to the southwestern part of the United States after marrying Moore in 1985.

“He was an Arizona boy, so we settled in New Mexico,” she said.

Joanne, who served as the Chamber of Commerce director in Eunice from 2011-2018, said her husband will be active in the community – appearing at festivals and other events. (They have found a home on Lincoln Avenue, just a short walk from Centennial Park).

“(Martin) likes to be somewhere where he can make a difference,” she said. “He wants to do things to help the community and wants to know what the people think. Sometimes you don’t know unless somebody lets you know.”

Martin Jr. is one of seven children – the others live in New Mexico, Utah, Idaho and Michigan – and is in his senior year at Batavia High School.

He said he's interested in cosmology, the science of the origin and development of universe, and hopes to go to college in Hawaii and earn an internship at the Mauna Kea Observatories.

At least one Batavia resident, James Owen of Redfield Parkway, said he came away with a positive first impression of Moore and his family.

“I think he’s going to be great for Batavia,” Owen said. “He came across as very willing to help the citizens of Batavia. We’re hoping for the best.”

As a matter of his employment contract, the just-hired new city manager for Batavia, Marty Moore, recognizes he answers to the city council but as a matter of accountability, he works for the City of Batavia residents.

"As a city manager, I am hired to represent the people who live, work, and play in the city in particular and I am accountable to them," Moore said during a 42-minute video press conference with members of the local media.

"I don't see myself as being shielded from them. I see myself as having a responsibility. I've learned in my career that it's important to show myself as a servant of the people not this guy who sits back in the office and lets everything come to him. It's not my style."

Moore promises to get out into the community, join organizations, talk with residents and business owners and get to know them and what's on their minds.

His first goal will be to get to know his staff and the members of the council.

Overall, he thinks the city is in sound shape financially and plans to support and champion the ongoing economic development projects, particularly the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

The progress Batavia has shown, in fact, is what attracted Moore to the job.

"I really did a lot of research into all of the places I applied and Batavia really impressed me with things like revitalization and bringing new businesses in, the financial structures that are set up, the good things that your previous people at the city have done, has created, I think, a good atmosphere," Moore said.

"It's a really progressive, want-to-move-forward, can-do, all-in type of attitude and that's the type of attitude that I have. It just really felt good. It felt right."

Moore and his wife, Joanne, just celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary. She's from Buffalo and grew up in Tonawanda and still has brothers and sisters in the area. They met while Joanne's father had a job in Hawaii and Moore was studying there at the Brigham Young University campus there. 

They have seven children and five grandchildren: Jessica, 32, has two children and lives with her family in St. John's, Mich., just six hours from Batavia; Spencer lives in the Albuquerque, N.M., area, works at Sandia National Laboratories, and has three children; Aubrey, 20, is single, working on her master's degree and lives in Provo, Utah; Melissa, 24, lives in New Mexico and is engaged; Amanda, 23, just got married to a young man from Alaska and they live in Idaho where they're attending college; Christopher, 22, is also recently married and lives in Las Cruces, N.M., where he is going to college; and 17-year-old Martin Moore Jr. is near the end of his Eagle Scout project, and will be a senior in high school this year.

Moore says he enjoys the outdoors. He and his son have climbed 22 of the highest peaks in New Mexico and intend to climb the rest. He also enjoys fly-fishing and looks forward to trying out the creeks in Western New York.

For the past six years, he's been the voice of the Eunice Cardinals on a Eunice, N.M., radio station.

As for his view on what the city is doing right and where it can improve, from what he's observed so far, he said economic development is definitely heading in the right direction. The city's finances are in good shape. There is work to be done on infrastructure and he thinks grants can be pursued more aggressively. He's taken notice of property crime issues but believes Chief Shawn Heubusch is working to address that.

A big area for improvement, he said, is transparency.

"I sense there is the need for more of a feeling of openness and transparency with the employees and with the citizens," Moore said, adding a bit later, "I think when you don't have clear communication all kinds of rumors and feelings and challenges and difficulties arise."

One of the first things he wants to look into once he starts his job Oct. 15 is the housing situation in Batavia. He wants to better understand the housing needs of the city and whether they are being adequately addressed.

Related to crime, he said one of the first things he did when he became city manager in Eunice seven years ago was hire a new police chief. Together, they tackled the serious drug problem -- mostly methamphetamine -- they felt was growing in Eunice.

The days of drug dealers openly selling meth from their front porches are over in Eunice.

"(We) made it clear that drugs are not something that we will be known for in the City of Eunice," Moore said. "I'm not going to say it's perfect. Drug deals still do go on but the drug dealers have gone underground."

Out in the middle of the desert, water is a big issue for Eunice, but so are roads and sewer lines, just like Batavia.

The budget for Eunice is typical $8 million to $10 million but is currently more than $15 million because of some bonds for capital projects. There are 50 full-time employees, along with 22 volunteer firefighters, and 10 different department heads.

The economy cycles up and down with the flow of oil from the thousands of wells dominating the skyline.

"We probably have as many oil pump jacks as Batavia has trees," Moore said.

City Council voted by an 8-1 margin to hire Martin Moore, Ph.D., as the City's new manager, replacing Jason Molino who left for an administrative position in Tompkins County in January. A story about the voting at a special business meeting at City Centre Council Chambers will follow.

----------------------

The Batavia City Council is expected to approve the hiring tonight of Martin Moore, Ph.D., city manager of Eunice, N.M., since 2011, as the city's new top executive.

Moore has accepted a three-year contract, which must be approved by the council tonight, to fill the vacant city manager position in Batavia.

Moore will begin his duties in Batavia on Oct. 15.

City Council President Eugene Jankowski said Moore could not attend tonight’s meeting due to a family wedding but will be available via video conference at 3 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

Jankowski had nothing but words of praise for Moore, who was voted “City Manager of the Year” in 2015 by the New Mexico Municipal League for his “handling of the city’s finances and progress of the community and how it operates.”

“He is articulate and personable,” Jankowski said, “and all of us have been very impressed by him.”

Moore also won praise from Councilman Art McGinnis.

"He was mature, gave great answers and has incredible experience," McGinnis said. "We really won out on this one. Big time. I'm very happy."

Jankowski said Moore’s wife has family in North Tonawanda and that they have been looking at relocating to Western New York.

Eunice is a city of about 3,000 people, located just west of the Texas border in the southeast corner of New Mexico.

It operates under the guidance of a nine-member City Council, including Mayor Billy Hobbs. According to the city’s website, it is in a “period of sudden growth,” with the oil field (its main employer) in a boom period, due to the price of oil.

“All companies are in need of employees with unemployment for Lea County running at 0 percent.

"Also, the National Enrichment Facility has received their license and will be building a $1.7 billion project five miles out of town.

"They will employ approximately 250 permanent employees and have up to 1,000 construction workers on site in two years. The total project will take seven to 10 years to build.”

Additionally, the website reports that its schools are “top-notch with prekindergarten through 12th grade. The community is very involved with all levels of sports and has many state championships in all.” The Eunice High School baseball has produced 17 state championships, which is fifth-most in the nation.

Moore’s contract, as reported first on The Batavian, calls for a starting salary of $110,000, with increases of $2,000 annually. He also will receive retirement benefits, paid family medical insurance, three weeks’ vacation, life insurance, and relocation reimbursement up to $10,000.

His previous executive management experience includes a four-year stint as a consultant, census 2010 crew leader and general manager in Timberon, N.M.; county manager for Otero County, N.M.; executive director of Eastern Arizona Counties, and director of development and community services for Apache County, Ariz.

An Eagle Scout, he was a member of several professional associatons and president of the Rotary Club of Eunice, N.M.

Moore replaces former manager Jason Molino, who left in January for a similar position for Tompkins County. Public Works Director Matt Worth has been handling the city manager responsibilities on an interim basis since Molino’s departure.