MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A few months after long-time Martinsburg City Manager Mark Baldwin announced his October retirement, his replacement has been named.
Martinsburg City Council appointed Andrew “Andy” Blake as the new city manager last week.
Blake has most recently served as assistant city manager and will take over when Baldwin retires Oct. 28.
According to the announcement from the city, Blake served for 20 years as an attorney in the private sector and has been at his most recent post as assistant city manager for three years. He served Martinsburg as an attorney in its planning and zoning departments.
Blake is a graduate of Shepherd University and WVU.
Baldwin helped bring Blake on board as assistant city manager three years ago and said, “I congratulate Andy and look forward to watching him implement his ideas alongside the Mayor and City Council to make Martinsburg even more successful and a quality place to live.”
For his part, Blake, who has known Baldwin for more than 20 years, said the city will be losing “a wealth of institutional knowledge, history, and expertise” upon Baldwin’s retirement. He said he’d be absorbing as much from his mentor as he could before taking over.
“I am willing to put in the work, effort, and passion required to make Martinsburg an even better place to live, work, and play and to embrace our position as one of West Virginia’s major economic engines.”
Baldwin has served the city for 27 years. He announced his retirement in June.