The newly elected chairman of the county legislature announced his picks for board committee posts and announced four new “task forces,” including two focused on minority issues.
Michael Kaplowitz, a Somers Democrat who was voted in as county Board of Legislators chairman Monday, said he lined up his slate so that all 17 legislators serve either in a board leadership position or as a committee chairperson.
Kaplowitz announced his picks Thursday, naming four Republicans to head committees after the previous legislative session had only members of the Democratic majority as committee leaders. Kaplowitz and Virginia Perez had sided with the board”™s seven Republicans to form a coalition that propelled Kaplowitz to board chairman and saw Republican Jim Maisano become vice chairman.
In total, there will be 11 standing committees. The committees are determined by the chairman except for two mandated by county law, the legislation and budget-and-appropriations committees. Perez and Tuckahoe Republican Sheila Marcotte will head the Legislation Committee and Budget and Appropriations Committee, respectively.
The committees new for this session include an Infrastructure Committee, Federal and State Affairs Committee and a Law Committee, topical after the last legislative session produced seven lawsuits from the board against County Executive Robert P. Astorino, a Republican.
The four task forces are the Hispanic Affaris Task Force, Minority Affairs Task Force, Families Task Force and a Charter Commission Review Task Force. The charter committee will oversee the review and adoption of a Charter Revision Commission”™s recommendations.
The appointments are as follows:
Budget & Appropriations: Sheila Marcotte, Republican
Legislation: Virginia Perez, Democrat
Economic Development & Capital Projects: Michael Smith, Republican
Infrastructure: MaryJane Shimsky, Democrat
Labor/Parks/Planning/Housing: Peter Harckham, Democrat
Community Services: Alfreda Williams, Democrat
Public Safety: David Gelfarb, Republican
Seniors & Constituencies: Bernice Spreckman, Republican
Appointments: Ben Boykin, Democrat
Federal & State Affairs: Ken Jenkins, Democrat
Law: Lyndon Williams, Democrat
Environment & Energy: Catherine Parker, Democrat
Click here to see a PDF from the Board of Legislators with more details. 2014-15CommitteeStructure