November FOCUS Forum: Micron and the City

Mayor Ben Walsh is the 54th Chief Executive Officer of the City of Syracuse. The first independent mayor of Syracuse, Walsh was first elected to the position in 2017. He was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term in 2021.

Upon becoming Mayor in 2018, Walsh and his team created a new vision for Syracuse: to be a growing city that embraces diversity and creates opportunity for all. After decades of decline, the city’s population began rising again before the end of his first term.

In 2019 Walsh launched the Syracuse Surge, the city’s strategy for inclusive growth in the New Economy. Under his leadership, Syracuse became New York’s “Flagship Smart City” and was selected as one of five U.S. cities in 2019 to receive a JP Morgan Chase $3 Million Advancing Cities grant.

In preparation for the massive Interstate 81 viaduct project, Walsh created Syracuse Build, a training and workforce development program focused on the construction industry and related careers. The program is successfully helping city residents enter apprenticeships and careers in construction.

Walsh has made affordable housing a critical priority. He introduced the Resurgent Neighborhoods Initiative in 2019, which is building the first affordable new construction single- and two-family homes in the city in decades. The program is also advancing hundreds of additional units of affordable housing at multiple sites around the city. His administration is working in close coordination with the Syracuse Housing Authority and Blueprint 15, a community organization, on the New 15th Ward, a initiative to rebuild more than 1,000 public housing units on the city’s near southside.

Working in partnership with county government, Walsh guided the City of Syracuse through the COVID-19 pandemic. He created a comprehensive plan for American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief. Working in coordination with the Syracuse Common Council, his administration has ensured the full $123 million in funding dedicated to Syracuse has been allocated.

Walsh is a native of Syracuse whose approach to leadership and public service was shaped by growing up on the city’s West Side neighborhood in a family of proud public servants. He attended and graduated from Ithaca College before attending Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University where he earned his Master’s in Public Administration (MPA).

Before becoming Mayor, Ben Walsh played a lead role in some of the most transformational projects in Syracuse’s recent history. From the creation of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank to the successful redevelopment of the Hotel Syracuse, Walsh earned a reputation as a pragmatic and collaborative leader who brings the right people together to get the job done. In his six years working at City Hall, as the deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development, he interacted with business owners and neighborhood residents on a daily basis.

Mayor Walsh currently resides on the city’s West Side with his wife, Lindsay, and their two daughters. In his spare time Mayor Walsh enjoys spending time with his girls, watching Syracuse University sports, and exploring urban and rural landscapes.

County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II is the 4th County Executive. He assumed office on November 2nd, 2018.

Ryan started his career in public service as a Syracuse City Councilor in 2005 after being elected at the age of 25. He was reelected in 2007 for a second term and quickly earned a reputation as a bi-partisan problem solver.

In 2011, County Executive McMahon was elected to the Onondaga County Legislature and was subsequently elected Chairman of the County Legislature in 2012 by his fellow legislators becoming the youngest Chairman in County history. As Chairman, his primary focus was job creation and ensuring good fiscal discipline in the county. Under his leadership, property taxes were brought down to historic lows. Upon becoming County Executive in 2018, Ryan has placed a focus on three main initiatives: poverty, infrastructure and economic development. A passionate supporter of small and local businesses, the County Executive firmly believes that the best way out of poverty is through a job and career. In his first term, County Executive McMahon has also led the way in securing huge economic successes for our community including JMA Wireless on the South Side of Syracuse, Amazon in the Town of Clay and most recently, the largest economic development project in the history of the United States with Micron.

Alan Mallach is known as both a thinker and practitioner on cities and neighborhoods. A senior fellow with the Center for Community Progress in Washington DC, he has worked at the Brookings Institution and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, taught at Rutgers University and Stockton State University, lectured at universities in the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Israel, and held a number of public sector positions, including serving as director of housing & economic development for the city of Trenton, New Jersey.

Alan’s latest book, written with Todd Swanstrom, is America’s Changing Neighborhoods: The Meaning of Place in the 21st Century, which explores the value of neighborhoods in today’s cities and the many challenges they face. Other recent works include Smaller Cities in a Shrinking World: Learning to Live without Growth, and The Divided City: Poverty and Prosperity in Urban America. His 2006 book, Bringing Buildings Back: From Vacant Properties to Community Assets, has become a resource for thousands of planners, lawyers, public officials and community leaders dealing with problem property and revitalization issues. 

Alan is also an accomplished pianist and author of two well-received books on 19th century Italian opera. He holds a B.A. degree from Yale College and has lived for the past forty years in Roosevelt, New Jersey.