Jerry Bien-Willner: Mayor of the Town of Paradise Valley
By Terrance Thornton | Digital Free Press
Money. Power. Respect.
To the outside world those words may best articulate the themes of the Town of Paradise Valley, but to those who know the municipality and the people who call paradise home know a community dedicated to the preservation of itself — and tenets of limited government.
At the helm of this community for the last six years has been Mayor Jerry Bien-Willner.
There is no denying the overarching themes present in a community whose affluence is only rivaled by places like Dubai or the wealthy enclaves of Los Angeles or the Big Apple.
But for Mayor Bien-Willner he says beneath the cover of money, power and respect is a community in tune with its identity that during his terms of service set a new standard for quality of life in the Valley of the Sun.
“I was encouraged by my peers and the members of the public — many former leaders — whose opinion I valued encouraged me to take the position,” Mayor Bien-Willner said at his home in the heart of the Town of Paradise Valley of when he first decided to run for mayor of the municipality six years ago.
“And, whenever I get involved in any kind of a group, I always look to where I can add value and I try to be realistic about my own strengths and weaknesses. I live in the community. I love the community. And I saw opportunities to do more.”
Mayor Bien-Willner is a lawyer by trade with the insights of an entrepreneur but with the heart of an artist.
“I was thinking of how I could use the knowledge and skills I’ve been fortunate to gain over a very diverse career and with the different experiences growing up and working to put those to use for our community — And so that’s why I chose to do that.”
Following that decision resulted in several noteworthy accomplishments including Mr. Bien-Willner being the youngest elected mayor in the history of the Town of Paradise Valley and is the only mayor to date to be elected three times to the top figurehead position. Furthermore, Mayor Bien-Willner has been chosen to serve on the executive committee at the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, a statewide municipal lobbying outfit.
But it all started on a flight home in 2010 when Mr. Bien-Willner had just completed several years of financial litigation work in New York City as the country came to grips with the fallout of the Great Recession of 2008.
Service at the Planning Commission and Town Council
Scott LeMarr, the 16th mayor of the Town of Paradise Valley, says when he first heard Mr. Bien-Willner speak he knew he was the real deal. Mr. LeMarr met Mayor Bien-Willner in the fall of 2012.
“As we have always done, and we still do today, is we have interviews for residents who want to serve on local commission’s like the Planning Commission,” Mr. LeMarr told the Digital Free Press in a Nov. 26 phone interview. “He applied to be considered for the Planning Commission and when he came in I don’t think he was even 40-years-old yet. I could tell his was smart, but also humble. I suggested to my colleagues we give him a shot and we agreed to appoint him — and he did a terrific job.”
Mr. LeMarr, a beloved leader of the Town of Paradise Valley in his own right, expressed a deep sense of respect when he spoke of his relationship with Mayor Bien-Willner.
“He was just such an apt student of the town,” Mr. LeMarr said of ‘game recognizing game’ in the local political arena. “I asked him to run for Town Council because I just knew he would make a terrific addition to the team — I supported him then and I support him now.”
Mr. LeMarr explains some of Mayor Bien-Willner’s greatest moments are those not known in the public realm but for those we lived through it, they knew the quality of leadership at the helm of the Town of Paradise Valley.
“Everyone went through a lot when COVID happened and even our town experienced issues with civil unrest in the years that followed,” he explained. “He did so many things under the radar that kept our residents safe. I think his leadership has blossomed, grown and matured and I think the sky is the limit for Jerry — I don’t think his political career is over.”
Mr. LeMarr points out Mayor Bien-Willner has exceeded all expectations.
“He has proved that he is a good leader and I love the fact that he mentioned me during your interview,” he said. “We have a mutual respect for each other.”
A Paradise Valley public servant is born
Mayor Bien-Willner says he remembers well the flight home from New York City with his wife, Robyn Bien-Willner, not knowing exactly what he would do in Arizona.
“That was 2010-11, time frame when I was commuting back and forth from New York City for a while — we bought this house in November 2011,” he said of his life at this point in time. “We were lucky that my folks had an extra guest suite for us to stay while we were house hunting, I was going back and forth for a bit and Robyn was wrapping up her work in the city as well. So, we were here and we had just purchased the home and I received a notification that the town was in need of volunteers at the Planing Commission.”
Mayor Bien-Willner explains his children had not yet been born and he was looking to get involved in his hometown.
“I guess I learned it from my family,” he said. “Everyone in my family works hard. There’s not a single person who’s sitting around and that stuck with me because I’ve always put in a lot of effort into the things that I do — especially the things I enjoy and I was practicing law in New York, and I loved it.”
But high stakes litigation in a capital city of the world can take its toll, Mayor Bien-Willner explains.
“We came back here and I was still very busy and active, but obviously a more relaxed lifestyle than being a high-stakes litigator in New York City,” he said noting after consulting with his wife, he applied to volunteer at Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Drive. “So I put in a cover letter and my resume and both of them very brief and I said, ‘If I can be of service, happy to help, if not, it’s all good.’”
Town Hall took him up on his offer and following two years of service at the Planning Commission, Mr. Bien-Willner opted for a run at Paradise Valley Town Council, which he won serving under then-Mayor Michael Collins.
“I was encouraged to run for Town Council by Mayor Lemarr,” he said pointing out that in a community of about 13,000 full-time residents community volunteers can, at times, be tough to corral for public office.
“I didn’t seek it out — I was fully intending to serve, you know, the full term at Planning Commission as it was a four-year appointment at that time. What I understood from Mayor LeMarr, when he talked to me, about running for public office was that other leaders of Town Hall felt I had a good understanding of the town and my legal and business background would be a positive contribution to the Town Council.”
Mayor Bien-Willner points out what he learned at the Planning Commission, which was under the guise of its most senior member, Planning Commissioner Tom Campbell, at the time of his service, was to do your homework and come prepared.
“There’s a tremendous amount of experience at the Planning commission. It is a very team-oriented group. So I spent a lot of time listening and learning,” he said of his initial work in the Town Hall dynamic of shared leadership.
“I try to understand what the issues are, how the structure works, what the normative behaviors are, you know? The guardrails. And I really try to absorb also substantive knowledge and develop relationships so that if I have questions, I feel comfortable asking the people I’m working with and also they feel comfortable answering in a candid way. That’s how I think you build trust with the other commission members and town staff.”
The local political arena of Paradise Valley
When it comes time to run for an elected position — no matter the size of the electorate — a professional politico is one’s best avenue to success at the local ballot box.
Enter Tom Evans of Lumen Strategies. The time was late 2012 and the place was The Henry.
“We met at the Henry and I think if someone else would have been watching the meeting, they would have thought two guys looking at each other thinking, who the hell is this guy? You know? That kind of vibe.” Mayor Bien-Willner said of his close friend and confidant. “Tom is a consummate professional. He’s brilliant. He’s great at what he does. Until you get to know him, though, he can come across as very serious and very focused.”
Mr. Evans got a chuckle when the Digital Free Press offered Mayor Bien-Willner’s fond recollection of the two men feeling each other out that day at The Henry in 2012.
“He’s, right? That’s about how it was. It was a meeting of feeling each other out,” he said. “But the first time I met, I could tell immediately he was a very thoughtful person — this was something he wanted to do and not something he was doing because he wanted to stroke his ego. I think it is important when you are a consultant that you actually believe in the client and you get to know them as a person.”
Mr. Evans points out Mayor Bien-Willner is one of his favorite people and they have struck a real friendship over the about 12 years they have worked and known one another.
“He really understands people and what motivates them and how to really work with people,” he said of admirable character traits. “I think he has a lot of empathy as a person and he genuinely wants to help others and those traits make for a great leader. I think that is why he has had such great success in public service.”
Following that meeting, then-Mr. Bien-Willner pursued a Town Council seat at the November 2013 general election and won.
“It was an easy transition, I would say the set up is the same — the issues are different, higher stakes and I like that,” Mayor Bien-Willner said of his initial experiences in an elected leadership role at Town Hall.
“I’d say I felt freer because we weren’t simply responding to directions— we were the ones creating the directions. It’s a more open playing field, if you will. It’s a bit like if you’re playing basketball and someone says on the commission, ‘Your job is to play defense. Don’t shoot.’ It’s still fun, but there are times when you want to rip a three, right? So being on the council was more fun.”
Mayor Bien-Willner became a member of council under the term of Mayor Collins and points out Mr. Collins had a clear set of goals to accomplish during his service as the municipal figurehead.
“Mike came in with a very defined agenda that he actually printed up — I remember the single-page document with two sides that had all of the things he wanted to accomplish, which he shared with me,” Mayor Bien-Willner recalled. “Mike is a business owner and served in our military and had a very defined idea of how he saw leadership functioning at Town Hall and I think we ultimately had some good conversations that helped me when I became elected mayor.”
While Mayor Collins and Mayor Bien-Willner differ on approaches to leadership both have served their community with distinction.
“It’s a competitive process and so differing opinions on certain things would happen, but I always respected him,” Mayor Bien-Willner said of Mayor Collins. “I think everyone at this time observed and appreciated how Mike would allow everyone to voice their opinion and under his leadership we didn’t see, for the most part, any personal attacks via social media so prevalent today. A credit to Mike is that even when he disagreed with things being done or said, he really let people speak, I respected that.”
Jerry Bien-Willner: the mayor of Paradise
Mayor Bien-Willner served three consecutive terms as mayor of the Town of Paradise Valley facing only one challenger — councilwoman Julie Pace — over the last six years whereas the mayor of Paradise Valley only serves two years.
Unlike most municipalities, elected officials at the Town of Paradise Valley are not compensated.
“I’ve tried to be measured in my approach,” he said. “I listen to the community. I listen to myself. I like the challenge of getting things done through the process, working with my peers. So what does that mean if I pick an issue to put on the agenda, it’s something that I really believe in and I go for it.”
Mr. Bien-Willner says he believes steadfast in the idea of a limited government model.
“People love this community the way it is,” he said. “Our job is to take something that people love, keep it great, and hopefully make it even a little bit better. Sometimes by trying to make something better, you know, you make it worse. How many times have you been cooking something and you taste it and you’re like, hey, that’s really, really good. And then add just a little more salt and then you ruined it, so you got to be careful sometimes.”
Mayor Bien-Willner says effective governance can oftentimes require a soft touch.
“Someone will always run for mayor in this town, so I don’t think anyone runs unopposed because no one else is interested,” he said of the quiet joy of running unopposed for the top elected position which he did twice, the first time in 2018 and 2020.
“You’re unopposed because people see the strength of your candidacy and choose not to enter. So transitioning to mayor from a council member I tried to help guide the decisions and express my thoughts when I thought the direction was wrong. I tried to nudge it back or push it into the right direction with my voice and my vote as mayor, you’re really charting that direction.”
But leadership is not as it appears on television, Mayor Bien-Willner reminds, as oftentimes the ideas of money, power and respect can create unnecessary tension within municipal hallways.
“The difference between what a mayor actually is in a council-manager form of government and what people may see on TV are completely different things,” he explains.
“You know, we don’t have the powers that most people think we have, but one of them is we can put things on the agenda and how the meetings are conducted. So I know what the my goals are. I know what the town’s priorities are. I try to identify weaknesses and opportunities for success, and then deliver those results, which means I have to build a relationships with the council members, listen to the council members, listen to the community, exercise judgment, and then you’ve got to work with the group to get them to the right place.”
Mayor Bien-Willner has been wildly successful with creating a groundswell of support at the state capitol for both improved short-term rental regulations and the continued use of photo radar within town limits. But there was one service he pointed out specifically.
The local Paradise Valley alarm system
A few years go, the Town of Paradise Valley was contemplating sun-setting the legacy alarm system — the system allows a direct phone line to the police department once an alarm is triggered, not a remote corporate call center — due to the age of existing equipment and reality of the competitive alarm business.
“When I was on Town Council, I fought really hard to keep the town’s alarm system because as a child, I had a traumatic experience in the in the town where my neighbor was shot and having that alarm system made me feel safe, way safer than having, you know, a monitored alarm with some person at a call center,” Mayor Bien-Willner explained.
“I knew that if something happened when I was home alone when I was 12-years-old, that the police would come — and I heard similar feedback. So it wasn’t just about me. It was about the community. I worked really hard for that. Does that matter to me? Ten years from now if somebody knows that I did that and worked really hard on it and made it happen, that’s great, but I don’t care as long as it makes our residents feel good. The only part of it that I care about for myself is that the lesson of how to push in a collaborative way and get the job done.”
The local Paradise Valley alarm system is serving residents of the Town of Paradise Valley as you read this.
“I’d say there were three buckets of things that took up a lot of time and energy,” Mayor Bien-Willner said of his own accomplishments. “Things that come to mind immediately: One would be the dispute with Five Star as that took up a lot of energy for a while. The second would be, dealing with COVID and the civil unrest that ensued, which was an unprecedented situation for me and the town. And three would be the short-term rental situation.”
Mayor Bien-Willner says he is optimistic for the future.
“There’s a reason why it has a term,” he said of term limits in local government that often forces local elected leaders to respect their constituents.
“And I’ve done everything I can to get the town in the best position I could. I think the town’s in great shape. All the metrics would support that. And, you know, we’ve got an experienced mayor coming, a high functioning government overall and a great police department. So there has to be a time to transition and why not now? Why not now for the town? Why not now for me?”
