I'm Running For Ketchum City Council

Who the heck is Perry Boyle and why should I vote for him?

I will be on the ballot for the Ketchum City Council this November. I ran for Mayor in 2021 and came in third. I ran for Council in 2023 and came in third. I need to come in at least in second to get a seat.

In this post, I share a bit of my journey, explain my motivations for running, and ask for your support in getting me elected.

He wasn’t born in the Wood River Valley—how “local” is he?

My definition of a local is someone who puts more into Ketchum than they take out of it. Whether you were born here or just moved here, if you live here, appreciate its history, value the contributions of the people who arrived before you, and have committed yourself to making this place the best it can be, you are a local in my book. That includes people outside of the city limits and part-time residents—many of you make substantial contributions to Ketchum’s quality of life.

While I was born in Ohio, for most of my life, Ketchum has been where I wanted to be. I spent three decades working on Wall Street in a career that was intellectually challenging and financially rewarding, but emotionally draining. But it allowed me to earn enough to move here full-time. I quit my job in Connecticut the day I realized I could afford to make the move.

I first came to Sun Valley in the summer of 1989 as a guest of the woman who is now my wife. Her father, the late Neil Ryan, moved to Sun Valley in the mid-1980s. For over 30 years, my family spent almost all of our vacations, summer and winter, in the Wood River Valley.

Neil was a role model to me. Even though he worked into his 90s (and skied into his 86th year), he was always involved in the community. He helped lead the fundraising efforts for both the YMCA and St. Luke’s Hospital and was a mentor to many young people. Likewise, Neil’s wife, Phebe Thorne, was skiing the trees into her 70s, was a long-time member of multiple non-profits, acolyted at St. Thomas, and rode her Peruvian Paso every year in the Wagon Days parade. She is a force of nature.

My son, a competitive freeskier, went to Community School and was the first person to graduate from its boarding program. He has never really left, working and living in Ketchum. Both he and his younger brother worked many seasons for Barb Amick’s party rental company (“Pitching Tents Since 1989”). My younger son worked at Sun Valley Museum of Art in the development area (“Dad, I know every 80-year-old in Blaine County.”). My daughter was married at Trail Creek. My wife teaches yoga locally and sits on the board of a local non-profit.

After a successful first career in Baltimore, New York, and San Francisco, and a second career in Connecticut, my wife and I moved to Ketchum full-time in 2019.

How Does He Make a Living?

I have had three careers, with an interesting transition before the latest one. As the eldest son of an orphan who grew up in challenging circumstances, I felt compelled to achieve financial success so that I could take care of my family, including my parents.

I have worked since I was nine years old, first as a paper boy, then in a boatyard during high school. I have been financially independent since I moved out of the house at 16. I rushed through college in three years and went into investment banking because I thought that’s where you could make a lot of money. True, but not tech bro money. In 1999, I was a co-founding partner of Thomas Weisel Partners, where I ran equity research.

In 2004, I started my second career at SAC Capital (which morphed into Point72). I managed most of the portfolio teams, including hiring, capital allocation, talent development, and risk management. I opened offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco and helped grow the firm into one of the largest and most successful hedge funds in the world. In 2013, the firm nearly shut down due to an insider trading issue involving one of our portfolio managers. As part of the settlement, the government retained me to ensure the firm's compliance. There is a show called “Billions” and a book called “Black Edge” about this time.

After leaving Point72, I chaired a small VT-based non-profit called The BOMA Project, a provider of poverty graduation programs for the poorest women in Africa. Having studied international development in college and getting a master’s degree in it, I knew most interventions don’t work. BOMA does. My mission was to reach as many women as possible. While unpaid, I worked this like a job, and over six years, we grew it by a factor of 10x into BOMA.ngo, headquartered in Nairobi, is now the largest African provider of poverty graduation programs. I transitioned out at the end of last year and replaced myself with a Kenyan woman.

In 2022, I decided to do something to help Ukraine. I applied to fight with the International Legion but was rejected. Instead, the Ukrainian government asked me to help raise money for Ukraine. In 2024, I embarked on a new career as the founder and CEO of MITS Capital, a US company operating in Ukraine. Our mission is to bring investment capital into Ukraine’s defense industry to get Russia out of Ukraine and Ukraine into NATO. In a little more than a year, we have grown MITS into the largest merchant bank for Ukrainian defense technology companies. I plan to run it until we achieve our objective of building a substantial Ukrainian defense company and then turn it over to my Ukrainian partners. I am also on the board of a Ukrainian company that 3D prints bioabsorbable bone material for use as an alternative to amputations and titanium body part replacements.

More on me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perryboyle/

How Did I Get Involved?

I first became involved in Ketchum’s governance in early 2020, when the developer of Bluebird stated in a public meeting that I lacked the intellectual capacity to understand tax credit-financed housing. Not only am I intellectually capable, but I have participated in several such projects in Baltimore and New York City; I know that this kind of housing is for cities with chronic unemployment, not a labor-short rural paradise like Ketchum.

So I started looking into things and going to public meetings. The more I learned about how Ketchum was run, the more disturbed I became. Not only was Bluebird being promoted to the community with blatant lies about its intended tenants, but the City placed it in its highly-expensive location through a legally questionable change in a footnote to a table in the zoning code. This was not good governance.

I advocated for a different approach to workforce housing. Having invested in workforce housing in other communities, I met with the Mayor to offer suggestions. This is when I learned that Ketchum's leadership, despite its appearance of inclusiveness, isn’t interested in listening to what the residents want for their town. To minimize scrutiny, they conduct the people’s business with as little input from the people as is legally mandated. Poor governance is not a bug; it is a feature.

And then I watched Ketchum eject hundreds of its working people as the City stood by and did nothing to stop the conversions of hundreds of long-term rentals for locals into short-term rentals for tourists. Some of them had lived here for generations.

That’s when the lightbulb went off. This was the hidden plan! Replace low-revenue locals with high-revenue tourists and second homeowners—tax residents to subsidize low-income housing projects, to depress wages for the tourism industry. When you view the last eight years through this lens, it all makes sense.

We are rapidly losing what made Ketchum Ketchum—its working people, with the complicity of our Mayor and City Council.

Then I made a mistake. On the last day to file for office, a friend called me and told me I had to run for Mayor because the incumbent was going to run unopposed, and we would get four more years of the conversion process. So I rushed to the courthouse and filed to run for Mayor. Major error. By running for office, I helped get the Mayor re-elected when 2/3 of the voters voted against him. And I subjected myself and my family to one of the dirtiest campaigns in Ketchum's history. I contributed to the worst possible outcome, and I've been kicking myself every day for my hubris and naivete.

Given the makeup of the Council and the lack of journalism from the IME, I did what I could to learn how Ketchum is run. I wager I have been to more public meetings than any non-public official (and most of them, too). Council meetings, P&Z meetings, KURA meetings, FMAA meetings, BCHA meetings—I have been to countless. I ran for Council in 2023 and lost to Tripp and Spencer. I was happy with that—they seemed like they would work for residents. Given their actions as council members, I am not as confident in that.

I sent emails to a few people about what I was learning. One suggested I write a Substack. The Ketchum Sun was born a year and a half ago and now has over 1,300 subscribers.

I have used this blog to share my perspective on what has been happening in Ketchum. My mission was to get people to pay attention, and I believe I've achieved that. Now that I am running for Council again, I need to pivot. I plan to continue writing this blog if elected, so people know how I think about the issues and come to decisions on their behalf. However, the tone will change, as I would no longer be an outsider looking in, but elected to do the work.

Why Am I Running?

My vision for City Hall is a government that serves the interests of Ketchum’s residents, taxpayers, and workers transparently and inclusively.

The key things I want to help accomplish include:

• Implement Best Practices of Good Governance

• Preserving Ketchum’s Character with Comprehensive Planning, Land Use, and Zoning

• Housing to Address Workforce Shortages

• Budgeting to Achieve Residents’ Goals

I will be putting out posts on each of these topics as we move toward the election. They seem like obvious things that everyone should agree on. Other candidates will say they will do similar things.

That’s where you need to do your work as a voter—which candidates have a track record of achievement? As we see who files to run, that’s the work I will be doing to figure out who I will vote for.

I have a 30-year track record of getting hard things done in some of the most challenging environments on the planet: Wall Street, Rural Africa, and wartime Ukraine.

I will be launching a website in a week or so to share my thoughts and collect your ideas. While I have solutions to propose in each area (and others, like parking), what is ultimately important is that we have a council that will listen to all of the community, weigh pros/cons, look at costs/benefits, and make decisions openly and transparently. And can actually get things done.

How Can You Help?

First of all, thank you! As we have learned with all too many examples, being a good campaigner and a good council member are not the same thing. I think I would be a good council member, but I fear I am a poor politician. I can use all the help I can get. Can you do the following?

• VOTE: This is critical. Get your friends and family to vote. Typically, only half of Ketchum’s registered voters participate. I believe that a bigger turnout increases my probability of securing a seat.

• SUGGEST: Ketchum is your town. Your voice is essential. If you have ideas on how to improve Ketchum's quality of life or suggestions on how I can get elected, please call me at 208-806-1305 or email me at boylehp@me.com.

• HOST: I love meeting neighbors—especially when they ask me the tough questions. If you'd like to host a group meeting for me in October, shoot me an email, and we will make it happen. Boylehp@me.com

• ENDORSE: If you are willing to endorse me publicly, I would love to make that public in my campaign ads.

• ADVOCATE: Write to sarah@5bgazette.com and letters@mtexpress.com to express support for my candidacy.

• CANVAS: I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide to help me convey my message and encourage people to vote. We will be organizing some get-out-the-vote door-knocking sessions in October. You can volunteer by sending me an email. Boylehp@me.com

• DONATE: If you’d like to support my candidacy financially, you can send a check to Perry Boyle, PO Box 6319, Ketchum, ID 83340. All amounts appreciated. The legal maximum is $1,000. Keep in mind that political donations are not tax-deductible, and donors are a matter of public record.

Even if you aren’t a voter because you don’t live within Ketchum city limits or aren’t a full-time resident, if you put more into Ketchum than you take out of it, in my book, you are a valued member of the community, and I want and need your support.

If You Think I’m the Wrong Guy, What Might You Do?

First of all, reflect on why you don’t want to vote for me. Is it because you disagree with my ideas for Ketchum? If you agree with them, you should probably vote for me, even if you have an issue with something about me. We need people on the Council who can be trusted to represent and implement those ideas.

Is it because you think you don’t like me? If that is the case, have you met me? If you haven’t, let’s have a chat—I want to hear your views.

Elections matter! This is an opportunity for you to take back Ketchum for the people who live here. VOTE!