White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Ryan Decides Not to Seek Reelection. Boykin Will Run for District 5 County Board

Passing the Torch Bill Ryan, (left) and Benjamin Boykin when they ran together in 2011 WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2013. By John F. Bailey January 24, 2013: White Plains Councilman Benjamin Boykin announced his candidacy for the County Board of Legislators District 5 (covering White Plains, all of Scarsdale and a portion of Harrison), tonight in a statement to the media. He announced his candidacy at the city Democratic Committee meeting. Boykin said he had been encouraged to run by Mayor Tom Roach, and that County Legislator Bill Ryan, running for County Executive, "has been extremely helpful and supportive." Boykin told WPCNR this evening that when Ryan came into the meeting, he told the crowd he had to there when Mr. Boykin announced. Boykin said there are rival candidates from Scarsdale challenging him for the nomination for the seat, but White Plains makes up 2/3 of the district. Mr. Boykin told WPCNR he felt it was important that attention by paid to the Westchester economy, which he described as "flat." He added it was important that cities towns and the county work together to solve problems. Boykin said in his statement, "I will work to bring more transparency to the County's budget process and implement budgets that protect the most vulnerable among us, provide safety and security for our citizens, provide opportunities for economic development and job creation and protect our environment. I will fight for better coordination and working relationships between the County government and our villages, towns and cities to tackle and solve mutual issues in order to enhance our quality of life." Should Boykin be elected to the County Legislature to Mr. Ryan's seat, his election would again create a vacancy on the White Plains Common Council that would have to be filled as the vacancy occurring when David Buchwald was elected to the Assembly last November. The council chose John Kirkpatrick in January to occupy Mr. Buchwald's seat until the end of 2013. Mr. Boykin was reelected to a fourth term on the Council in 2011, which expires in 2016. Mr. Boykin was elected to the Common Council in 1999 and was relected in 2003, 2007 and 2011. Boykin said Mr. Ryan was retiring because his county legislative seat was up for election this fall, but of course, if Ryan is elected County Executive, Boykin said, Ryan would not retire. According to the news release distributed this evening, Boykin has been a member of the White Plains Common Council since 2000, and has been Council President three times. During his time on the Council, Boykin was instrumental in $1.2 billion investment in downtown White Plains, fought to change zoning to protect White Plains neighborhoods, supported public safety initiatives to protect residents, protected our environment and created 180 units of workforce housing. Previously, Boykin served seven years as a member of the White Plains School Board. Mayor Tom Roach said “Ben Boykin is an outstanding Councilman who will bring a tremendous amount of experience and leadership to the County Board of Legislators. He is a financial executive always seeking ways to provide high quality services to constituents in the most cost effective manner. He understands the needs of our constituents. The people of District 5 would be fortunate to have someone of Ben’s caliber as our Legislator.” As a member of the County Board of Legislators, Boykin would continue to represent and serve the residents of White Plains while adding constituents in Scarsdale and Harrison. Boykin is a financial executive. He is currently president of Ben Boykin & Associates, a financial consulting firm. He held numerous executive positions with RJR Nabisco and was Assistant Treasurer at Nabisco. Boykin also worked several years with the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touché. Boykin received his MBA, with honors, from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1981. He has been a CPA for forty years. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


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