Ben Wyatt
Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt guest starred in two episodes of season two and was upgraded to a regular in season three. Ben is a state auditor who comes into Pawnee with Chris Traeger to evaluate the town's funds at the end of the second season. Compared to the exuberant Chris, Ben is very serious and straight, willing to tell the truth no matter how harsh - the two used to do budget meetings individually, but it didn't work out because Chris would never get anything done and Ben received multiple death threats.
When Ben was eighteen, he ran for mayor of his hometown of Partridge, Minnesota, and won on the strength of, in his words, "anti-establishment voter rebellion." However, being so inexperienced, he quickly ran the town's finances into the ground and was impeached after two months.His signature failure was spearheading the development of a winter sports complex called Ice Town which bankrupted the town, leading to the newspaper headline "Ice Town Costs Ice Clown Town Crown."
When Ben comes to Pawnee, he immediately clashes with Leslie Knope, as she yells at him three consecutive times for his seemingly callous attitude towards firing people and slashing her department's budget. However, when he asks her out for a beer, they begin to show respect for one another. He shares his past as the mayor of Partridge, and that he became a state auditor to prove he can be responsible and eventually run for office again. Their new friendship turns sour when Ben and Chris reveal that the town is virtually out of funds and the government will have to be shut down until further notice.
Despite the seriousness of the problems, Chris presents the situation in an extremely positive light and tries to make all the city hall employees around him happy, leaving the hard decisions and delivery of bad news up to Ben. Chris and Ben form a the budget task force, consisting of several government employees including Ron. When Ron accidentally reveals that Leslie was trying to set up an annual children's concert that was supposed to be canceled on Lot 48 behind Ann's house, Ben tries to shut it down. However, after seeing the effort Leslie put into it, which included having the equipment donated from local vendors, he pays the entertainer Freddy Spaghetti to come back after he booked another event, getting back on Leslie's good side. Ben is also surprised, but quietly pleased when Ron authorizes Leslie to take his place on the budget task force.
When the government shutdown ends, Ben informs the department that due to the shoestring budget, they will only be on maintenance for the time being. Ben suspects that Leslie is trying to have Ann convince Chris to distribute more funds to the department and confirms his suspicions when he crashes their date at the same time Leslie crashes it, but Ben decides to let it play out. While at a gay club, Ben mentions the failure of the Ice Town project, showing that he used to be just as ambitious as Leslie, but Leslie gives him credit for trying. Ben listens to Leslie's presentation regarding the Pawnee Harvest Festival idea that will allow them to do their jobs properly and bring funds into the department. When Ben asks what will happen if it doesn't bring in funds, Leslie says they can shut down the department, and Ben allows them to go forth with the festival.
Ben assists Leslie with the festival preparations, and is thoroughly impressed when she gives a flawless presentation despite being stricken with the flu.When Leslie and Ben try to ask the police force to handle security for the festival, Ben is shown not to have very strong social skills, although in this case it could be attributed to the fact that he doesn't understand Pawnee as well as Leslie. He and Leslie continue to build a strong friendship over their development of the Harvest Festival, and it is implied he starts to show romantic interest in her when he inquires the police chief about her relationship with Dave. He also becomes better friends with Tom, supporting him when he is rejected by a cologne magnate, although the latter repeatedly teases him about his Star Wars references and other nerdy attributes.
While doing the media blitz for the festival, he is continuously asked about his disastrous tenure as mayor of Partridge. After freezing up at the majority of questions asked, he then goes on a furious tirade at a later interview, prompting businesses to pull their sponsorships at the festival and putting the parks department in jeopardy. At the last interview at Pawnee Today, Ben finally stands his ground, stating that everyone does stupid things when they were teenagers and that he has since saved at least five cities from bankruptcy as an auditor. During the festival itself, a series of catastrophes leads Ben to feel he is cursed and leave the festival, returning later to admit he is not over his past. Leslie assures him that he is as responsible for the festival's success as she is, and has the local Indian chief Ken Hotate perform a fake ceremony to remove his "curse."
Following the conclusion of the festival, Chris is installed as interim city manager of Pawnee, and offers Ben a job as assistant city manager, which he eventually accepts. It is implied that he made the decision to be closer to Leslie and that he and Leslie are attracted to each other, but a new policy of Chris's forbids city employees to date and has halted any potential relationship. But, after being assigned to a road trip that would cause them to be alone, Ben tells Leslie that he likes her. At the end of the episode, Leslie approaches Ben to hand him receipts and he kisses her.
Though their relationship had become rather serious, Ben and Leslie are forced to break up to avoid a scandal which could derail Leslie's city council candidacy. Ben understands, giving Leslie a "Knope 2012" button he had made.
When Ben was eighteen, he ran for mayor of his hometown of Partridge, Minnesota, and won on the strength of, in his words, "anti-establishment voter rebellion." However, being so inexperienced, he quickly ran the town's finances into the ground and was impeached after two months.His signature failure was spearheading the development of a winter sports complex called Ice Town which bankrupted the town, leading to the newspaper headline "Ice Town Costs Ice Clown Town Crown."
When Ben comes to Pawnee, he immediately clashes with Leslie Knope, as she yells at him three consecutive times for his seemingly callous attitude towards firing people and slashing her department's budget. However, when he asks her out for a beer, they begin to show respect for one another. He shares his past as the mayor of Partridge, and that he became a state auditor to prove he can be responsible and eventually run for office again. Their new friendship turns sour when Ben and Chris reveal that the town is virtually out of funds and the government will have to be shut down until further notice.
Despite the seriousness of the problems, Chris presents the situation in an extremely positive light and tries to make all the city hall employees around him happy, leaving the hard decisions and delivery of bad news up to Ben. Chris and Ben form a the budget task force, consisting of several government employees including Ron. When Ron accidentally reveals that Leslie was trying to set up an annual children's concert that was supposed to be canceled on Lot 48 behind Ann's house, Ben tries to shut it down. However, after seeing the effort Leslie put into it, which included having the equipment donated from local vendors, he pays the entertainer Freddy Spaghetti to come back after he booked another event, getting back on Leslie's good side. Ben is also surprised, but quietly pleased when Ron authorizes Leslie to take his place on the budget task force.
When the government shutdown ends, Ben informs the department that due to the shoestring budget, they will only be on maintenance for the time being. Ben suspects that Leslie is trying to have Ann convince Chris to distribute more funds to the department and confirms his suspicions when he crashes their date at the same time Leslie crashes it, but Ben decides to let it play out. While at a gay club, Ben mentions the failure of the Ice Town project, showing that he used to be just as ambitious as Leslie, but Leslie gives him credit for trying. Ben listens to Leslie's presentation regarding the Pawnee Harvest Festival idea that will allow them to do their jobs properly and bring funds into the department. When Ben asks what will happen if it doesn't bring in funds, Leslie says they can shut down the department, and Ben allows them to go forth with the festival.
Ben assists Leslie with the festival preparations, and is thoroughly impressed when she gives a flawless presentation despite being stricken with the flu.When Leslie and Ben try to ask the police force to handle security for the festival, Ben is shown not to have very strong social skills, although in this case it could be attributed to the fact that he doesn't understand Pawnee as well as Leslie. He and Leslie continue to build a strong friendship over their development of the Harvest Festival, and it is implied he starts to show romantic interest in her when he inquires the police chief about her relationship with Dave. He also becomes better friends with Tom, supporting him when he is rejected by a cologne magnate, although the latter repeatedly teases him about his Star Wars references and other nerdy attributes.
While doing the media blitz for the festival, he is continuously asked about his disastrous tenure as mayor of Partridge. After freezing up at the majority of questions asked, he then goes on a furious tirade at a later interview, prompting businesses to pull their sponsorships at the festival and putting the parks department in jeopardy. At the last interview at Pawnee Today, Ben finally stands his ground, stating that everyone does stupid things when they were teenagers and that he has since saved at least five cities from bankruptcy as an auditor. During the festival itself, a series of catastrophes leads Ben to feel he is cursed and leave the festival, returning later to admit he is not over his past. Leslie assures him that he is as responsible for the festival's success as she is, and has the local Indian chief Ken Hotate perform a fake ceremony to remove his "curse."
Following the conclusion of the festival, Chris is installed as interim city manager of Pawnee, and offers Ben a job as assistant city manager, which he eventually accepts. It is implied that he made the decision to be closer to Leslie and that he and Leslie are attracted to each other, but a new policy of Chris's forbids city employees to date and has halted any potential relationship. But, after being assigned to a road trip that would cause them to be alone, Ben tells Leslie that he likes her. At the end of the episode, Leslie approaches Ben to hand him receipts and he kisses her.
Though their relationship had become rather serious, Ben and Leslie are forced to break up to avoid a scandal which could derail Leslie's city council candidacy. Ben understands, giving Leslie a "Knope 2012" button he had made.