The seventeen-member Westchester County Board of Legislators is the legislative, policy-making branch of county government. It is to Westchester what the U.S. Congress is to the United States. Each legislator is elected for a two-year term and represents a district of approximately 54,000 residents. Every other Monday evening, with exceptions, they meet in White Plains for Board meetings open to the public to pass laws. To influence what laws are made, write a letter to your legislator, email them or turn up to board meetings to voice your opinions. 

For more information, here is their website: https://www.westchesterlegislators.com/

I’ll be here every other week to recap what happened, and if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. 

Only one speaker went up to make a public comment. However, here is a condensed list of what happened in no particular order:

• The legislative chamber appointed both Salvatore Alonge as the Master Plumber member for the Westchester County Board of Plumbing Examiners for the term October 31, 2022, to December 31, 2025, and Noah Maitland as a member of the Westchester County LGBTQ Advisory Board for the term September 29, 2022, to December 31, 2025.
• The legislative chamber reappointed Maria Hlusko as a member of the Westchester County Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board for the term July 11, 2022, to December 31, 2024, and Edith Charles as the District 13 representative member of the Westchester County Council for Seniors for the term May 23, 2022, to December 31, 2023.
• The legislative chamber settled five different lawsuits.
• The legislative chamber reviewed two letters of Resignation.
• The legislative chamber passed three bond acts and recommitted to two bond acts.
• But wait, what exactly is a Bond Act? Definition. 1 In this Act, “bond” means a security of any kind, including money, given to ensure the performance of an obligation arising under an enactment, a license, a permit, a contract, or another similar commitment, and includes the terms under which the security may be realized. In more straightforward terms, “Bond acts generally allow the state to take on debt to fund projects for a specific purpose. They authorize the state comptroller to sell state bonds up to a certain amount and are voted on by the public as a ballot initiative following their passage in the legislature”  
• There were 2 Amend to Agreement Acts. One passed, and the other was amended and recommitted. Amend to Agreement Acts means to Amend a previous contract or commitment already made, in the case of an outside party/contractor, which is different from amending an Act itself.
• There was an Act to authorize the County of Westchester to enter into Intermunicipal Agreements with 45 local municipalities to implement and operate Enhanced 911 service and to address any liability issues associated with the operation thereof. It passed. 
• Finally, they ended with Memorial Resolutions.

Here is a recent announcement from their website: 

“White Plains, NY – On Monday night, the Westchester County Board of Legislators voted unanimously to set a date to fill the vacancy for County Legislative District 12. The seat became vacant on January 1, 2023, following the resignation of MaryJane Shimsky, who successfully ran to represent District 92 in the New York State Assembly.

The special election will take place on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.

Upon certification of the election results by the Board of Elections, the winner can be seated immediately to serve the remainder of the 2022-2023 county legislative term. However, the special election winner must run again later this year to retain the seat.”