Catherine Borgia, an Ossining lawmaker, will lead the county Board of Legislators”™ Democratic caucus in the new year.
Board Democrats met Dec. 23 to choose new leadership, just four days after a bipartisan coalition announced its own leadership plans for the 2014-15 legislative session. The coalition was formed with Democrats Michael Kaplowitz and Virginia Perez joining the seven Republicans on the 17-member board.
The coalition announced it would support Kaplowitz as the new board chairman and Republican Jim Maisano as new vice chairman when the board votes on new leadership at its first meeting of 2014 on Jan. 6.
Borgia, a former Ossining town supervisor, is entering her second term in office and has chaired the board”™s Government Operations subcommittee. She represents District 9, which includes part of Ossining, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Peekskill and Briarcliff Manor.
“Important values like job creation, smart spending and protecting our environment should guide this board”™s decision-making in the upcoming session,” Borgia said in a written statement.
The caucus announced Borgia as the new Democratic majority leader and Mount Vernon”™s Lyndon Williams as next majority whip. They will replace current Majority Leader Peter Harckham of North Salem and MaryJane Shimsky of Greenburgh, respectively.
There is some question how the majority and minority caucus dynamic will play out, though, due to the coalition leadership and the expectation that the coalition will represent a coalition majority. Both Democratic coalition members are reportedly continuing to participate in the Democratic caucus, meaning their 10-member group remains the majority despite the coalition.
Harckham, who decided not to seek another term as majority leader, said, “The Board of Legislators”™ new Democratic leadership team represents excellent choices to articulate the Democratic values that voters stood for in sending 10 Democrats as a majority back to the board.”
