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Newly hired Warren County Administrator Ryan Moore (right in photo) is shown here with his wife Katherine. Moore, a Sarasota native, will take over for Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, who has been acting administrator since March 2016.
LAKE GEORGE | The Warren County Board of Supervisors named Westchester County Senior Budget Analyst Ryan Moore as the county’s new full-time administrator effective April 9.
Moore will replace acting county administrator Kevin Geraghty, who has been filling the position since March 2016 after the retirement of Paul Dusek, who was in the job 20 years.
“Warren County needs a full-time administrator and we got the best candidate,” Geraghty said. “He’s a people person, extremely knowledgeable, and based on talking to former bosses in Saratoga County, a tireless worker.”
Moore, 37, will be leaving his current position as a senior budget analyst in Westchester County, where he was hired in 2015 as an assistant budget director. From 2011 to 2015, Moore served as the deputy administrator in Saratoga County.
Moore was born in Saratoga Springs and went to public high school before attending Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., where he majored in History and Political Science. Moore worked on political campaigns for about five years before he transitioned to the political policy sphere and started working in county government. He started a public affairs firm and was doing state budget analysis, while writing opinion-editorial pieces for governmental and political clients.
Moore said Warren and Saratoga Counties are very similar in the way they are financed. Westchester County bases most of its revenue on property taxes, whereas Warren and Saratoga Counties depend on strong sales tax revenue. The two counties also have a board of supervisors, which appoints a county administrator. Westchester has a county executive form of government. Moore said a board of supervisors eliminates the conflict that can arise between an executive and the legislative body.
“I certainly think today people are fed up with government being political, with people fighting and not getting things done. I believe it’s better to do the right thing rather than the political thing. That’s what I hope to bring to the county,” Moore said.
In Westchester, Moore had an opportunity to focus more on finances, and feels he has learned the topic thoroughly. There he managed a general fund worth $1.8 billion, whereas in Warren he would oversee about $1 billion, but it comes with a lot of challenges, including financing multi-year functions and quarterly forecasts.
He helped Saratoga County come out of four difficult years and recover its fund balance, which he said had come dangerously close to zero.
“In Warren County the situation not as financially dire, but that’s not to say it’s without its challenged. The state has been leveling financial pressure trying to get counties to do more with less,” Moore said.
Moore said his chief goal for Warren County is to remain financially healthy while delivering good services.
Moore was hired at a salary of $110,000 per year. When Dusek retired, he was making $140,000 annually.
“They got a hell of a deal when they hired me,” Geraghty said.
Geraghty was paid $15,000 for his first year, and last year was paid $24,000.
