Town Hires New Public Safety Admin

Ryan Murphy is the new town code compliance and emergency management administrator for the Town of Southampton. He will oversee code enforcement, the fire marshal’s office, and the office of animal control.

Since 2010 Murphy served as the community emergency evacuation coordinator for Suffolk County Fire Rescue. He most recently worked on disaster planning and sheltering placement for Suffolk County. He was the logistics section chief for Suffolk County during Hurricane Sandy, which was labeled a Type 1 disaster.

“It’s almost like Ryan was born for this position,” said Supervisor Jay Schneiderman. “He has extensive firematic experience, extensive code enforcement experience, and extensive emergency management experience. He’s meticulous. He does his homework. He does his research. He may not come on too heavy-handed, but he is confident in his abilities based on an extensive amount of training.”

Murphy has 20 years experience as a firefighter and is currently the chairman of the board of fire commissioners with the Patchogue Fire Department. He worked for more than 12 years as a building department code enforcement officer for the Village of Patchogue.

Murphy is also a certified teacher and has taught U.S. history, economics, civics, sociology, and Spanish in the Brentwood and Patchogue school districts. He has numerous professional certifications in the emergency management and public safety fields, and holds a master’s degree from Stony Brook University.

“We had an extraordinary slate of candidates to pick from. Really impressive,” Schneiderman said. “People with great law enforcement backgrounds, investigatory backgrounds, detectives. This public safety post is a multi-faceted post, and we are fortunate to find someone so clearly qualified to head up our public safety division.”

The supervisor said he engaged with Murphy when he was sent out on behalf of the county to inspect the shoring up of the berm on Dune Road in Hampton Bays to avoid a breach during a storm.

“I think he’s going to do a phenomenal job with the personnel. He’ll work really close with the town attorney’s office and the justice court. He’ll work really well with the fire folks,” Schneiderman said. “I won’t be here as supervisor forever and emergencies will occur. To have someone working for the town with his depth of knowledge, to have somebody like that here when there is a hurricane or another type of event, I’ll sleep better knowing the town will have someone like that.”

Murphy will earn an annual salary of $105,000 and will begin working in his new position on February 10.

desiree@indyeastend.com