Councilman James Ward has been named deputy mayor, new Mayor Josh Nathan announced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
In making the appointment, Nathan said Ward, who was reelected to the City Council in November, was a “visionary and deep thinker.”
He called his fellow Democrat a “perfect partner” and added that when Ward “suggests we do something, it always makes fiscal sense.”
“The beauty of this council is that everybody brings tremendous and diverse talent to the council as a whole — we’re going to benefit from all of that,” Nathan said.
Ward, 57, first joined to the council in January 2024, filling the seat that opened after Councilwoman Sara Goddard stepped down from her interim appointment, which followed the abrupt December 2023 resignation of Ben Stack.
He ran uncontested in a special election in November 2024, after Rick McCabe, his Republican opponent, dropped out of the race over health issues.
Prior to beginning his council tenure, Ward served as a member of the Rye Sustainability Committee for five years, including four years as its chairman.
Although the deputy mayor position is largely ceremonial, Ward would fill the void in the event of a Nathan absence. The deputy, however, does not hold any power of appointment or the ability to remove anyone from office, according to the city charter.
A Boston native, Ward moved to Rye in 2011 with his wife and two children. He earned an MBA from the University of Washington, a master’s in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s in science from Salem State College.
He currently works for a hedge fund in Stamford, Conn.
Ward follows Julie Souza, who served the last two years as deputy for former Mayor Josh Cohn.
