Westchester County Board of Legislators

Bill Ryan, a White Plains Democrat, is now serving his seventh term on the Westchester County Board of Legislators. He represents the 5th district. Legislator Ryan is the immediate past Chairman of the Board. A former state Assemblyman, Ryan is President of the New York State Association of Counties. Born in Peekskill in 1949, Ryan attended public school and graduated from Peekskill High School in 1967, where he lettered in football as a QB and defensive back. He went on to study economics at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh (BA 1972). For ten years, Ryan worked as a banker in Westchester, Orange and Rockland Counties. In his hometown he coached youth football, helped establish a community health center, served on the volunteer ambulance board, chaired the local Housing Authority as well as the Board of Assessment Review, and entered politics. Bill Ryan's political career was launched in 1974 on the floor of the Peekskill Democratic City Committee. By a vote of16 to 15, Ryan won a district leader post in the city's 8th election district. In 1975 he was elected Democratic Chairman and went to work to unite a divided local party. Ryan directed the Democratic campaigns in 1975, 1977 and 1979 resulting in three straight city election victories. In 1976, he helped bring presidential primary candidate Jimmy Carter to Peekskill for a key northern Westchester campaign stop. Later that year, Ryan was considered by party leaders as a candidate for state Assembly. He chose not to run in 1976, but he did become a candidate six years later. In 1982, Bill Ryan was elected to the New York State Assembly from the newly created 91st A.D. spanning the Hudson River and including parts of Westchester, Putnam, Orange and Rockland Counties. In the Assembly he served on the Education, Banks, Transportation, Consumer Affairs, Election Law, and Veterans Affairs Committees. Ryan's area of expertise was state aid to education and he worked to secure record amounts of state aid for school districts in Westchester County, in particular, special Hurd Aid for small city school districts. Assemblyman Ryan ran for re-election in 1984 but lost a close contest to Republican-Conservative candidate George Pataki, the mayor of Peekskill. The backdrop for the Assembly race was the national presidential election where incumbent Republican Ronald Reagan trounced Democratic challenger Walter Mondale. From 1985 to 2003, Ryan worked for the Assembly Speaker assigned to the NYS Legislative Commission on State-Local Relations. Ryan handled policy matters involving intergovernmental financial relations, education finance, and aid to localities. In 1986, state Democrats urged Ryan to take on long-time incumbent Republican Senator Mary Goodhue for the Senate seat in northern Westchester/Putnam. But, local public school advocates felt otherwise and mounted a draft Ryan campaign to ensure a Ryan - Pataki rematch for the Assembly seat. Ryan was unsuccessful in that effort. In 1993, Westchester County Democrats selected Ryan, now a resident of White Plains, to challenge incumbent Republican Joseph Delfino for the County Legislative seat in the 5th District. Ryan was defeated in that race but would run again in four years and win. In 1997, Bill Ryan was elected to the Westchester County Board of Legislators from the 5th legislative district which included part of the city of White Plains, all of the Town of North Castle, and part of the Town of Harrison). When seated in January 1998, Ryan was part of the first Democratic majority in the history of the County Board. Legislator Ryan was appointed Chair of the Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice. He was best known for creating the Department of Emergency Services, the nerve center for rapid response to fire, medical emergencies, hazardous materials spills, natural disasters, and acts of terrorism including use of weapons of mass destruction. Ryan spearheaded legislation that prohibited the sale of dangerous laser pointers to minors; required "safe storage" of guns in homes to protect kids; launched a "graduated drivers license program" to make our teenagers better prepared drivers and keep them safe, and protected our drinking water from residential wastewater contamination. Legislator Ryan won reelection by a large margin in 1999 and again in 2001 after redistricting added Scarsdale to the 5th CLD and removed North Castle and Harrison. He was reelected by large margins in 2003, and 2005; ran unopposed in 2007; and won again in 2009. Legislator Ryan served as Vice Chair of the County Board in 2002-2003. In January 2004, Ryan was unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of Legislators. He held the position for 6 years and is the longest serving Chair in the Board's history. Chairman Ryan restored the legislature as an independent, co-equal branch of government. He emphasized its oversight responsibility, upgrading the staff to handle matters pertaining to budget and finance, public policy, and the functions, programs, and services of the government. Ryan made the Board's committee system more efficient and less expensive. He expanded the Board's use of technology to improve day to day operations and communications with constituents. To save money, Ryan set a goal for the Board to become a paperless operation. Chairman Ryan successfully took on many of Westchester's most difficult challenges including saving the Westchester Medical Center from financial collapse, creating more affordable housing, expanding the authority of the Human Rights Commission into the urban centers, and holding down the property tax rate of increase to an average of only 2.65% per year for the six county budgets passed by the Ryan-led legislature. As Chairman, Bill Ryan gave Westchester County a strong presence in the New York State Association of Counties. A former NYSAC director-at-large and association officer for five years, Ryan was elected President of NYSAC in September 2010. Chairman Ryan also established a strong Westchester presence in the National Association of Counties, serving on important NACo committees and working for the appointment of other Westchester legislators to committees and leadership positions. In July, Ryan was appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Counties. He continues to serve on NACo's Large Urban County Caucus where he is one of 35 officials representing over 140 million people in America's 100 largest counties, on matters before the federal government. He also serves on the Finance and Intergovernmental Relations Steering Committee, the Immigration Reform Task Force, and the Hospitals Task Force. During his tenure as Board Chairman, Bill Ryan made foreign missions to Ireland, China and Israel for the purpose of economic development, educational exchange, and improving foreign relations. Ireland (2004) - Focused on economic development efforts and industrial development agency activity in both Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ryan met with labor and IDA officials, leaders of the political party Sein Fein, and members of both the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly and Parliament. China (2005) - Focused on economic development and college faculty and student exchange. Ryan met with Chinese government and political party officials, university administrators, and business principals. Ryan met with officials of Lenovo, the Chinese computer manufacturer that took over IBM's personal computer division, to promote Westchester as the site for Lenovo's "western hemisphere" headquarters and discuss the availability of County economic development incentives. Israel (2007) - Focused on social service agencies and delivery system and Israeli-Palestinian relations. He visited the Israeli town of Sderot, the target of Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza. Ryan met with Israeli national leaders including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, local government officials, officers of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and social service agency administrators and staff. Running for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic Primary Election, Bill Ryan was voted a member of New York State's delegation to the Democratic National Committee's Presidential Nominating Convention in Denver, Colorado. Bill Ryan is a member of many community organizations including the White Plains Historical Society, White Plains Rotary Club, North Broadway Citizens Association, Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, and the Antonio Meucci Lodge, Order of Sons of Italy. He is a patron member of the White Plains Post of the Jewish War Veterans and for 6 years served on the board of directors of Arts Westchester. Bill and his wife JoAnn, a retired Senior Vice President of Wachovia National Bank, live on Seneca Avenue in White Plains. They have five adult children, three sons and two daughters, and eight grandchildren. Click here to read Bill Ryan's District 5 Summer 2011 newsletter.