A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

December 31 was my final day as the Republican minority leader of the Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL). I want to thank the GOP county legislators and our excellent staff for being so supportive and helpful over the past four years. It’s been my honor to serve as minority leader, and I’m very proud of all that our caucus accomplished, especially our work in fighting for fiscal responsibility and ethical, open and good government. There were 4 Republicans when I began in 2010 and now we have 7, and we had an important impact on the county budgets and other policy issues. My priority was to ensure that the GOP Caucus was an independent voice in our county government by providing checks and balances over both the Democrat county legislators and Republican county executive, and to do so in a positive, thoughtful and professional manner.

Tomorrow night, Monday, January 6, I’m running to be Vice Chair of the BOL in a bipartisan team with Democrat Mike Kaplowitz as Chair. We’re excited about the opportunity to move our county forward in the 2014-15 term and committed to running the BOL in a bipartisan and collegial way with the emphasis on seeking consensus, fair procedures and respectful dispute resolution. I will let you know if I am successful on Tuesday!

The GOP Caucus leadership for 2014-15 is John Testa – minority leader & Gordon Burrows – minority whip. Best of luck to Legislators Testa & Burrows.