Ben Walsh

Benjamin Walsh (born July 4, 1979) is an American politician currently serving as the 54th Mayor of Syracuse, New York.

He graduated from Westhill High School in 1997.

Walsh attended Ithaca College and graduated with a B.A. in Political Science.

He also received a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Walsh began his policy career working for Laborers Local 633, working on construction jobs around Onondaga Lake after his graduation from Ithaca College.

Following this, he worked for the political actions staff of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in Albany.

In 2002, Walsh returned to Syracuse to run his father's congressional campaign.

Following his father’s campaign, Walsh traveled to Ireland, where he stayed for three months and interned for then Prime Minister of Ireland Bertie Ahern.

Walsh eventually returned to Syracuse to work for SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, educating municipalities about brownfields.

He went on to become the deputy commissioner of the city's Department of Neighborhood and Business Development under previous mayor Stephanie Miner.

Here, Walsh created the Greater Syracuse Land Bank and was part of the redevelopment of Hotel Syracuse.

He also worked on the Metropolitan Development Association, a precursor to CenterState CEO.

Additionally, Walsh served on several boards and community groups around Syracuse, including serving as president of the Gifford Foundation board.

After resigning from his position at city hall in 2015, Walsh worked for Mackenzie Hughes law firm as Business Development Director, prior to launching his campaign to become the mayor of Syracuse.

Walsh was elected mayor of Syracuse in 2017 while running on two minor party lines, the Independence Party of New York and Reform Party of New York State.

In what was generally seen as an upset, Ben Walsh won the election with 53.2% against four other candidates, namely Democratic frontrunner Juanita Perez Williams as well as the nominees from the Republican, Green, and Working Families Party.

Walsh assumed office on January 1, 2018 as the first independent mayor of Syracuse and the second without major party support since Louis Will in 1913.

Walsh is the son of former congressman James T. "Jim" Walsh and grandson of former congressman and mayor of Syracuse, New York, William F. Walsh, both of whom represented Central New York as Republicans.

Walsh grew up as one of three children in the Strathmore neighborhood.

In January 2019, Walsh introduced his major policy plan, Syracuse Surge, at that year's State of the City.

The goal of the plan was to modernize Syracuse’s economy and prepare it for equitable access to new technology (as anticipated in projections in the Fourth Industrial Revolution) through both public and private investment.

The mayor's plans have included establishing a science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) school at the old Central Technical High School and was expected to open in Fall 2022.

In January 2020, Walsh announced the Resurgent Neighborhood Initiative (RNI), a plan for housing and economic development focused on ten neighborhoods and business corridors throughout Syracuse.

The RNI plan was expected to add 200 new units of affordable housing to the city.

Despite the negative impact of the pandemic, the program's progress has continued.

Mayor Walsh made an executive order regarding police reform.

The executive order included the enactment of the Right to Know law which requires officers to give their name, rank and reason for stopping someone during every interaction with the public.

The officers are required to leave their information if no arrest is made.

Additionally, the executive order includes equipping each patrol car with a dashboard camera, securing more body-worn cameras for patrol officers and new training guidelines such as education on the history of racism in Syracuse and the United States, among other things.

Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration created The Mayor's Office to Reduce Gun Violence, tasked with conducting a Syracuse Violent Crime Assessment and recommending interventions for its Community Violence Intervention Plan.

On April 1, 2022, Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration appointed Lateef Johnson-Kinsey, a pastor at The Well of Hope Church, as director of The Mayor's Office to Reduce Gun Violence.

Johnson-Kinsey is the executive director of Transforming Lives & Community and was previously the Dean of Students at Syracuse Academy of Science.

On March 7, 2023, Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration announced The Safer Streets Program, a $1 million proposal from The Mayor's Office to Reduce Gun Violence and Lateef Johnson-Kinsey recommending paying known gang members a weekly $100-$200 stipend not to commit violent crime and to attend training, therapy and career coaching.

The program uses federal funds from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan.

Johnson-Kinsey claimed that his office found that the gangs are not fighting over drugs or money but over feuds and personal disputes.

The Safer Streets Program proposes stipends to alleviate poverty for 50 of the city’s most at-risk individuals between the ages of 18 and 24, many of whom have criminal records and gang affiliations.

The payments are designed to help gang members with basic expenses and are available if they avoid violent criminal behavior and participate in other program initiatives.

This was met with pushback from the Syracuse Police Benevolent Association and opinion pieces by local politicians.

Syracuse Police Benevolent Association President Joseph Moran said, “You’re actually paying stipends to individuals who are documented gang members to maintain good behavior and obey the law.

It really was a surprise to us to see that.