Nancy Barr is in her third two-year term as County Legislator representing District 6, comprised of Port Chester, Rye Brook and Harrison, and was privileged to be elected by her colleagues in January 2022 to serve as Vice Chair of the Board. This is the first time in the Board’s history that both Chair and Vice Chair positions are held by women.

As Vice Chair, Legislator Barr brings an acute awareness of the challenges faced by our County and its residents, a collaborative, forward-looking mind-set with a focus on building relationships, and honed problem-solving skills to meet these challenges with innovative solutions.

Vice Chair Barr is committed to addressing climate change, storm mitigation and infrastructure improvements. She also prioritizes responsible development to benefit Westchester’s economy, protect small businesses and provide affordable housing. Quality of life issues such as protecting workers’ rights and equal rights for Westchester residents, increasing access to childcare, healthcare and mental health services, and improving Westchester’s treasured parks system are equally important.

Vice Chair Barr currently serves on all Board committees, is Vice Chair of the Board’s Environment, Energy & Climate Committee, Co-Chair of the Families Task Force, and BOL liaison to the County’s Airport Advisory Board. In her prior term, she was Chair of the Committee on Law and Major Contracts and Vice-Chair of Planning, Economic Development and Energy.  She is also past Chair of the Committee on Environment and Health.

Legislator Barr has followed through on her commitment to help Westchester families by introducing and voting for legislation designed to protect the health, safety and economic well-being of the County and its residents. This legislation includes the Immigration Protection Act, the Wage History Discrimination Act, and laws banning gun shows on County property, spurring the hiring of service-disabled veteran-owned businesses in County contracts, and raising the age for sales of tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21. Legislator Barr co-sponsored the County’s expanded polystyrene (aka Styrofoam) ban and lobbied strongly for Westchester County to take a role in helping municipalities make food scrap recycling affordable and composting accessible. Legislator Barr was also instrumental in creating the People with Disabilities Advisory Committee. For more on Legislator Barr’s role in shaping County policy and helping her constituents, see her annual newsletters below.

As the current Vice President of the Council of Community Services of Rye Town, Port Chester and Rye Brook, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring together local leaders and stakeholders to assess and meet the needs of the community, Vice Chair Barr has worked hard to find solutions to community challenges via advocacy and mobilization.

Prior to becoming County Legislator, Ms. Barr volunteered in the community for many years. She served on the Blind Brook School Board for six years, including as President and Vice President, on several school district committees, and coordinated meals for Blind Brook/St. Peter’s Soup Kitchen in Port Chester for over a decade while her children were growing up. During these years, she joined the Board of the Council of Community Services, which gave her insight into the problems faced by residents in the area.

After earning her Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University, Ms. Barr worked for the American Kennel Club in their Education and Public Affairs department. She later graduated from Yale Law School where she volunteered in the Yale Law Immigration Clinic. She spent a summer at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Children’s Rights Project. Before moving to Westchester, Vice Chair Barr was a Trusts and Estates attorney at the Manhattan law firm Milbank Tweed Hadley and McCloy.

Ms. Barr was born in Queens and grew up in Stony Brook, Long Island. She and her husband Tom Kratochvil have lived in Rye Brook since 1996 and have two adult children.