J.J.Murphy City Manager

J.J. Murphy, A Service-Minded City Manager - Motivated to Succeed in Leadership Positions

J.J. Murphy, a service-minded city manager, is a natural leader with the proven ability to lead cities to long lasting success. He is currently the City Manager for Hobbs, New Mexico and has been in the position since August of 2012. During his time as the City Manager for the community, he has helped make Hobbs, New Mexico the seventh fastest growing micro city in the United States of America.

A community is considered a micro city in the United States if the city itself has a population no greater than 50,000 residents. Hobbs, New Mexico has a population amounting to approximately 40,000 people over an area of about 20 square miles. The city itself sits in the heart of Lea County, which is a county that has a population of about 65,000 people total. The county is known for its diverse energy economy, which includes nuclear, oil, solar, and gas energy sources.

J.J. Murphy is dedicated to his position as the leader of Hobbs, New Mexico and he is put the community on the path toward success. He is a recognized facilitator and leader with a record of success in maintaining high levels of operational improvements. He has the reputation for enhancing productivity through a combination of business understanding and intuitive management capabilities. He exercises fiscal discipline in times of economic boom and maintains a surplus in order to continue the community’s overall growth and prosperity for the foreseeable future.

J.J. Murphy is nothing short of an expert when it comes to leading groups, individuals, and entire city populations.

As the current City Manager for Hobbs, New Mexico, his is responsible for 500 city employees and a budget amounting to over $188 million dollars. During his first year, he started with a projected 30 percent budgeted reserve and ended that year with over $16 million dollars of budget surplus and a 40 percent reserve. His second year in the position began with the same goal, which was exceeded again by a 20 million dollar budget surplus, a 40 percent reserve, and 90 million dollars in the bank. His third year ended with a $15 surplus, 47 percent reserve with over $120 million in the bank. He is dedicated to exercising fiscal discipline in order to ensure the city’s prosperity for many years to come.

J.J. Murphy City Manager, a service-minded city manager, has proven himself a worthy leader for the city of Hobbs in Lea County, New Mexico. Whenever he decides to leave the position of City Manager, it will surely be in a better position than when he started.

J.J. Murphy, A Service-Minded City Manager - Dedicated to Local Government

J.J. Murphy, a service-minded city manager is a highly dedicated and highly motivated individual with the proven ability to lead people down the path of long lasting success. He has had a lengthy and successful career in government and is currently serving as the accomplished City Manager for Hobbs, New Mexico. He began working in the position in August of 2012, and he immediately demonstrated his excellent leadership abilities by ending his first year with more than $16 million dollars of budget surplus.

He believes that firm fiscal discipline is the only way to quickly improve a government’s economy, and he continues to lead Hobbs, New Mexico with this value at the forefront of his overall plan. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from King’s College in 1993 and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Marywood University.

In the years J.J. Murphy has been in the position of City Manager of Hobbs, New Mexico, he has helped make it the seventh fastest growing micro city in the United States of America.

In order for a city to be considered a micro city, the population must not exceed 50,000 residents; Hobbs, New Mexico consists of approximately 40,000 citizens over a 20 square mile area. The community itself sits in the middle of Lea County, which is known for being highly diverse in its energy supply. Various types of energy including nuclear, solar, gas, and oil fuel their economy and has led to the nickname, Energy Plex.

J.J. Murphy City Manager is dedicated to the overall success of Hobbs, New Mexico, and the residents that call the micro city home. He has proven himself an excellent leader with the ability to propel the city into a state of long lasting prosperity and overall success.

During his time as the City Manager of Hobbs, he has facilitated multiple public and private partnerships in order to move key government projects forward that would have otherwise been halted for various reasons. J.J. Murphy collaborated with key community groups in order to raise 65 million dollars in support for a health, wellness, and learning center; partner contributions equaled more than 50 percent of the capital and operational costs for the facility. He also began consensus building efforts that resulted in unanimous support from the City Commission to fund a $12 million dollar golf course, which enhanced the overall quality of life of the city’s residents.

J.J. Murphy, City Manager: Excellence Wherever He Goes

J.J. Murphy, City Manager of Hobbs, New Mexico, has found success in the two arenas he has spent most of his life: civil service and the military. Murphy became an officer for the US Air Force in 1997. He worked as a minority recruitment officer at the University of Notre Dame until 1998, when he moved to California to work as a public affairs officer for Vandenberg Air Force Base near Santa Maria. In 2000, he became a Controller/Watch Supervisor for the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center which is now located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. From Tyndall, he volunteered for two deployments. One was during the war on terror, in Djibouti, where he helped coordinate efforts to stop terrorism in East Africa and parts of the Middle East. The other deployment came after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. It was in Haiti that he helped coordinate the successful medical evacuations of approximately 2,000 severely injured Haitians.

J.J. Murphy also has a distinguished public service record. In 2002, he became the Deputy City Administrator of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barre had suffered financially, but Murphy, who was promoted to City Administrator in Wilkes-Barre by 2004, began working with the Mayor on fostering unprecedented public and private partnerships that eventually caused a $57 million audited turnaround for the city. He served the city of Wilkes-Barre with distinction until 2010, before leaving for the private sector. In 2012, he moved to Hobbs, New Mexico to serve as City Manager there. Since he moved to Hobbs, the economy has significantly improved, and a new emphasis on fiscal responsibility and collaboration has blossomed to quality of life improvements and much needed economic expansion over the past several years.

J.J. Murphy, City Manager: Experienced and Credentialed

J.J. Murphy, City Manager of Hobbs, New Mexico has many years of experience in city administration. He graduated from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1993. In 1998, he completed his Master’s degree in Public Administration at Marywood University, while also serving as a Major in the US Air Force Reserves.

Having earned a job as Deputy City Administrator of Wilkes-Barre in 2002, J.J. Murphy has continued to further his education and credentials. He completed multiple courses at the ICMA national conferences since 2002 and takes numerous ongoing ICMA professional development courses, including the ICMA Gettysburg Leadership Institute. In 2013, Murphy completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program. Last year, Murphy successfully completed the Senior Executive Institute at the Weldon School of Public Service, University of Virginia and the Dale Carnegie “Skills for Success” course.

City Manager J.J. Murphy has also received many accolades for the successes of his career in city management and the US Air Force Reserves. In 2005, Murphy won the King’s College Leo Award for his dedication to community service after graduation. He has won the US Air Force Commendation Medal three times, in 2000, 2002, and 2003. He volunteered for two deployments after 9/11 in Africa and Haiti. His life-saving work, and his volunteer work elsewhere earned him the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal in 2004 and the Humanitarian Service Medal in 2010. Murphy continues to bring prosperity to the City of Hobbs, one of the fastest growing cities of its size in the US.

City Manager J.J. Murphy has dedicated much of his life and career to serving the public through his professional services as well as in his role with the United States Air Force. He has more than 12 years of experience in local government and over 17 years as a military officer. His areas of expertise span a number of skills and include time management, media relations, labor relations, public-private partnerships, budget control and implementation, customer service, leadership and teambuilding, organizational change and development, and negotiation and interpersonal skills.

His experience in city management has been largely successful. He attended King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1993. He went on to achieve his Master’s in Public Administration at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1998. He was recently accepted to Northeastern University to pursue his Doctorate in Law and Policy starting in the summer of 2015.

His time with the city of Wilkes-Barre is highlighted by his success in navigating the municipality through financial hardship, taking them away from bankruptcy and into economic stability. He implemented a five-year recovery plan that resulted in an audited financial turnaround of $57 million from 2003 to 2009.

City Manager J.J. Murphy has continued his professional development, having graduated from both the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program as well as the ICMA Gettysburg Leadership Institute in 2013. In 2014, he graduated from the Senior Executive Institute at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, at the University of Virginia and also completed the Dale Carnegie “Skills for Success.”

Dedicated to Public Service

City Manager J.J. Murphy is the highly experienced and dedicated type of individual you want to be in charge of running an entity as large as a city. His high levels of experience, education, and success make him ideal as a city manager. He graduated from King’s College with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1993 and went on to achieve his Master’s degree in Public Administration from Marywood University in 1998.

Even after securing positions with municipalities, Murphy has continued on his course of further education. He completed the ICMA Leadership Institute in 2002 and continues to take numerous ICMA professional development courses. In 2013, J.J. Murphy City Manager graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program as well as the ICMA Gettysburg Leadership Institute. He completed the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia as well as the Dale Carnegie “Skills for Success” in 2014, adding to his credentials as a professional city manager and public administrator.

City Manager J.J. Murphy has been honored and awarded for his services over the course of his career in city management and as an active member of the United States Air Force Reserves. He received the King’s College Leo Award in 2005 for dedication to community service from an alumnus. Most of his other awards are for his military performances. In 2000, 2002, and 2003, he was honored with the Air Force Commendation Medal. He volunteered for two deployments after 9/11 that saw him travel to Africa and Haiti where he coordinated critical search and rescue efforts. He received the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal in 2004 and the Humanitarian Service Medal in 2010.